Do you employ risk management?

Toby Startygen
4 replies
Starting new ventures is probably one of the most risky business moves one can take. Also, there a many frameworks to manage risks. Do you use any of them? Do you manage your risks? Examples for some risks: - Technological - Financial - Market (competitors, clones/substitute products, wrong timing or offer, etc.) A simple framework to approach managing risks: - Identify • What are your goals? (risks ultimately always affect your goals) • Reflect the environment you're operating. • Think of risks associated with this environment • Think of risks associated with (developing) your product. - Asses • Asses each of the risks you identified • What is the likelihood of the risk manifesting? • What is the (financial) impact if the risk manifests? - Plan • What can you do to reduce the likelihood of a risk or its impact? • Think of ways to reduce the risk • Create contingency plans or set aside some risk-response budget - Implement • Execute the steps to mitigate the risk from your plan. I.e. prepare the contingencies. I'd like to know: Do you employ risk management or do you just concentrate on building and shipping a product (and hope for the best)?

Replies

Elena Tsemirava
You're right. But on PH, many users aren't thinking about that just yet. They're dealing with other issues first.
Toby Startygen
@elenat Thanks for your thoughts. And yeah, I agree and can imagine that. Maybe this post helps some people to assign a minimum amount of time planing ahead for the obstacles to come. Many risks are easily manageable if you planned just a bit. OTOH if you get caught unprepared a small risk could be devastating. Data loss and a lack of a recent backup is probably the best example for that. I'm pretty sure that if founders would allocate 5–10 minutes thinking about risks and how to handle it every other day, they would be well ahead of the curve.
Gurkaran Singh
Managing risks in new ventures is crucial for success! Take a proactive approach by identifying, assessing, planning, and implementing strategies to mitigate potential obstacles. It's like investing in a safety net for your business - a smart move for any entrepreneur. So, what's your risk management strategy in the ever-evolving world of startups? 😉
Toby Startygen
PS: The goal of the simple framework I outlined isn't to eliminate all risks—you wouldn't be able to build a product anymore. It's just to be prepared if one manifests. Also: I could write more about handling risks, if you'd like. Please, let me know if you do.