Top Business Risks
According to Forbes magazine, here are six very real risks that every business should consider:
Credit Risk.
The pain of the credit crunch persists.
Legal Risk.
Being sued for compromised data, faulty products or hazardous working conditions is a real possibility.
Regulatory Risk.
Making products and delivering services while covering costs is hard enough. Anticipating how governments might change the rules of the game — and are they ever changing them now — is virtually impossible. But you have to try.
Operational Hiccups.
These in-the-trenches risks include inventory gluts and shortages, poor quality, unattractive product mix, ballooning overhead, culture clashes, overaggressive expansion, data breaches and fraud.
Concentration Risk.
Many small businesses double down on a few big customers — a dangerous strategy in a bad economy.
You.
Entrepreneurs are eternal optimists. This keeps their energy and enthusiasm up, but it also can cloud their vision.
Minimize your risks
Bankrate.com offers seven ways for small businesses to manage risks:
- Be cash-conscious.
- Insure against your specific risks.
- If your business changes, your insurance should, too.
- Insure key people.
- Use contractual indemnification clauses.
- Give yourself an out.
- Create separate entities.
To read the complete article go to "7 ways to minimize small-business risks."



