Business Risks and How to Prepare for Them

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article | Business Risks and How to Prepare for ThemBusiness is a risky game and one threat that arises that you weren’t ready for can have a devastating impact. Risk management plays a big role in the finance department who are constantly assessing for risks that could impact the company’s cash flow or investments. However, there are a number of other risks that all departments have a view of that can cause big problems if not assessed and prepared for in advance.

Data Breaches

One of the biggest risks to all businesses in modern times if the risk of being the victim of a cyber-attack. Criminals are on the hunt for a range of information from businesses. The most common data they go after are customers personal details. These could include, names, addresses, bank details, and credit card numbers.

There can be huge fines and PR consequences if businesses are found to have been incompetent with their data management. Another piece of information that criminals are looking for is IP information. Stealing intellectual property is becoming very common now and businesses need to have the right systems and processes in place to protect IP that could be worth millions or billions of dollars.

Injured workers

It’s estimated that every 7 seconds a worker is injured in their place of work. Many of the injuries sustained are avoidable but it costs businesses millions of dollars and time in lost production to compensate workers for losses.

Among the questions employees regularly have about workers compensation are ‘how long does it take to receive workers comp’ and ‘are workers comp benefits taxable’. Being clear with your employees about the processes and health and safety procedures you have in place will help to minimize the risk of people being injured at work. This, in turn, will lead to fewer claims if people are more aware of the safety precautions that they need to take.

Product Recalls

There have been many high profile cases of product recalls in recent years, one of the main ones being the Volkswagen emissions scandal. This originally began in 2015 when the EPA found that Volkswagen had been deliberately tampering with their emissions outputs.

There is no limit to the damage a product recall can have on a business. Some businesses have been so badly affected that they have declared bankruptcy and closed down. Implementing tight quality controls and regularly auditing processes, machinery and staff are good ways to ensure that the risk of having a product recall issue is lowered.

Even if your business has never had a product recall issue, you should have a process in place in case this does ever happen. Along with how you will identify a defective product you must think about how you will get the message out to consumers that they need to return the product and what your policy will be on refunds or exchanges. Just as important will also be your PR strategy and how you manage a potential customer or industry backlash.

 

Risk Management Solutions For Your Business

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article | Risk Management Solutions For Your BusinessIt’s highly likely that you have spent a significant amount of time setting your business up to get it to a point where it’s sustaining a positive growth rate. However, it’s also highly likely that you haven’t spent as much time sussing out the potential risks that could damage or stunt your company’s growth. The earlier you decide to instigate risk management into your business processes, the better. This will help protect what you have built this far, and hopefully prevent, control, or reduce any problems that may occur in the future.

Protect Your Work

When you are using digital devices, it’s essential to save your work on your device, at all times. But not only this, you should be storing it somewhere else too. One of the reasons being, an increasingly problematic issue that occurs for small and large businesses alike is the threat from hackers. And so, a backup solution is necessary (along with anti-virus software and IT systems) to prevent intruders and strategically prevent the stress that these issues shall cause you. Keeping your digital files on one device is extremely risky. Although not just because of hackers, other threats such as office fires that could damage your electronics, and burglars who could steal your equipment. Depending on the amount of intel you need to store and protect shall decipher what services and solutions are best for your business. You need to weigh up whether cloud services, external servers, or external hard drives are adequate enough for your business intel.

Safety Equipment

In terms of health and safety, there is some equipment that your physical business premises simply can’t legally do without. Such as fire doors and fire alarms in the event of an emergency. Alongside this, there are other precautions you can take to prevent cost inducing damage to your premises that may cause accidents. For instance, if you own or are storing large quantities of fluid on-site (oil, chemicals, fluid, etc.), you may want to install a liquid level switch to consistently and reliably monitor the fluid levels. This shall help to indicate whether there is a leak before it’s too late. Other forms of equipment are CCTV, to monitor the premises and alert you if there is a risk that could be detrimental to your business activities.

Business Insurance

Chances are you don’t have the means to purchase a new building, settle claims against your business and buy brand new equipment outright if the need arises due to a natural disaster or criminal activity. Because of this, it’s a good idea to purchase business insurance to cover you if something awful (and expensive) occurs. This is the last port of call in your risk management program so that if the other steps you’ve implemented have not protected your business as planned, there’s hope that the insurance company will cover the damage. In light of this, read through the terms and conditions of your insurance policy carefully, to check that you have adequate coverage for your business needs and the possible eventualities.

To begin managing potential risks that could occur at work, you can either walk around the premises and assess any areas that need attention. Such as faulty doors, or untidy cables that could cause a nasty fall. Otherwise, you may wish to hire a professional to check the business premises for you.

What to Do When Your Walk in Cooler Isn’t Cooling

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Walk in Cooler|What to Do When Your Walk in Cooler Isn't CoolingYour business has finally invested in a walk in cooler, and you want to make sure you do everything possible to keep it in great shape. The last thing you want is to have to throw out all of your food, losing hundreds of dollars or more, because the cooler wasn’t working properly.

This post is here to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Read on to learn the top signs of a problem with your commercial cooler, how you may be able to fix it on your own, and the benefits of letting an expert fix things.

Know the Signs of a Walk In Cooler Problem

First, let’s make sure you know how to spot a likely problem with your walk in cooler refrigeration unit.
Start by checking the door. Does it often get stuck or have trouble completely closing? Can you feel cool air leaking out? If so, you’re losing money and putting your customers’ health in jeopardy by potentially feeding them spoiled food.

Other indications of an issue include excess frost build-up, puddles all over the floor, a leaking ceiling/water stains on walls, and strange smells.

There’s also likely an issue if your walk in cooler starts making clanging and banging noises instead of the standard humming.

Quick Walk In Cooler Troubleshooting Tips

Looking for minor walk in cooler repair tactics you can handle on your own?
First, make sure you establish a system for checking that the doors are properly closed before leaving and that at the end of each day, you look for the above signs.

Melt off any ice buildup on your evaporator, and ensure that the drain line isn’t blocked. It may also be time to clean out the grills, coils, and other panels.

Seal up any obviously loose gaskets on the door. Sometimes, it’s as simple as ensuring that the power wasn’t accidentally turned off. It’s important to learn more about how each part of the unit functions, so you can easily spot an issue.

When in Doubt, Call the Pros

The truth is that most walk in cooler problems aren’t things you can handle yourself.
You may need to call in an electrician, a mechanic, or even a walk in cooler specialist to replace the parts and correctly identify the issue.

Never put off the issue, as doing so could potentially open your restaurant up to a lawsuit. Plus, it’s much more expensive to replace the entire freezer than to have it repaired.

Don’t Put off a Walk In Cooler Problem

We hope this post has helped you to learn how to identify potential issues with your walk in cooler, and that you’ve learned why getting expert help quickly is usually the best option.

Need to know how to boost restaurant profits so you can pay for that much-needed repair? Want to know which restaurant equipment is worth investing in, and which you can get away with renting?

No matter how you want to grow your restaurant business, check out our list of service partners that will help you to connect with the top consultants to make it happen.

10 Technology Problems Modern Business Owners Have To Deal With

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Technology|10 Technology Problems Modern Business Owners Have To Deal WithOvercoming Common Tech Issues

To set your business up for the greatest success, you need to understand the sort of issues you’ll deal with regularly, and have some plan of action to handle them. Following we’ll briefly explore several key tech issues your business is likely to encounter today, and how to counteract them.

I: Cybercrime

Cybercrime is like the mirror image of “white hat” technology use. Presently, the global tech market is estimated around $5 trillion. But by 2021, it’s estimated that the black-hat “cybercrime” market will be worth $6 trillion.
That means right now, a fluctuation between the two put them on a similar plane in terms of the total impact. Modern businesses need cybercrime deterrent solutions to maintain the security of operations. Monitoring, support, firewalls, antivirus solutions, and the latest technology patches are all key means of fighting cybercrime, as is internal education.

II: Internal Employee Error

Some of the biggest threats to your company are going to develop internally. Employees will make mistakes by playing the wrong video at the wrong website, and downloading a ransomware virus onto your network. There are going to be issues where security is compromised owing to improper access protocol management pertaining to user names and passwords.

Working with MSPs or internal security groups to develop best-practices can be key here. Additionally, you’ll want to educate employees on how to operate securely throughout your company at intervals, as new threats develop in the tech world all the time.

III: Corporate Espionage

Competitors and governments that have something to lose from your success will try to sabotage you. Sometimes they’ll just steal information, sometimes they’ll deliberately try to malign your system.

This can happen from the outside or inside. Depending on your business, you may be a bigger or smaller target. Continuous monitoring and support is key in deferring associated impact from corporate espionage.

IV: Technological Transition Along Moore’s Law Lines

Every eighteen months or so, the ability of computers at the hardware level doubles on itself. Moore’s Law was observed by Gordon Moore in the sixties, and as yet technology hasn’t quite transcended it.

This means that your business will still need to upgrade in the near future. Such transition isn’t easy, and can be quite expensive—depending on your needs. Consultation helps you do so at a minimum of expense.

V: SLAs And SLM

Service Level Agreements, or SLAs, define what tech companies will provide for you in the event of some sort of technology issue. Check out this guide on using Service Level Management (SLM) solutions to help you ensure varying SLAs are in alignment with operations. Some divisions of your company need more or less service than others.

While it can be worthwhile to have some sort of “one-size-fits-all” tech solution, this may involve spending resources unnecessarily. SLM management ensures you’re getting the service you need at the level you need across operations. Without careful SLM and proper SLAs, the service you pay for won’t cover operational issues when they arise, and that’s an issue.

VI: Scaling Out

You’re naturally going to have to scale out your business at intervals; if not for the sake of Moore’s Law, for the sake of maintaining competitive viability. But scaling out can be quite expensive. Cloud computing options reduce costs for many businesses large and small. Additionally, solutions like VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) make scaling-out less costly.

VII: Transitioning To And Maximizing The Mobile Market

People access the internet today through mobile devices with greater regularity than through desktop devices. This transition happened in 2018, and with it, more mobile tech use will likely develop. The Internet of Things (IoT) is ever-expanding, and it’s wise to capitalize on this reality. But making such a transition can be difficult and costly without proper consultation.

VIII: Deliberate Sabotage Internally Or Externally

Corporate espionage can lead to deliberate internal sabotage, but it’s just as likely some disgruntled employee or tech worker may be the culprit of technology damage. Also, external sabotage can happen from both under-handed clients and cybercriminals.

Contingency plans are necessary to sidestep such issues. Digital “quarantine” protocols are key, as are PAMs, or “Privileged Access Management” solutions. Only let the right people should have access to your data. Also, monitoring of applications on the cloud helps you keep a finger on the pulse of performance, as well as monitor for possible intrusion anomalies.

IX: Unconsolidated Software Between Departments

One department may use Apple software, another might use Microsoft software. Some programs could be compatible with either OS (Operating System), most won’t. Cloud computing options can provide solutions which are compatible across departments. Ideally, your technology should be consolidated so as to be in agreement even in diverse locations.

X. Backup And Data Recovery Considerations

BDR, or Backup and Data Recovery, is key in deferring pernicious downtime losses—which can be as high as $5,600 a minute for some enterprises. You need some sort of BDR solution in place. DRaaS, or Disaster Recovery as a Service, can also be useful here; again, consultation helps determine which solutions are most cost-effective for your business.

Maximizing Tech, Minimizing Issues

There are many tech issues businesses contend with today. There are just as many solutions. Thinking such possibilities out in advance, and planning response protocols, helps your business be ready when the unexpected forces you into action.

Should You Put Dash Cams In Your Business Vehicles?

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Business Vehicle|Should You Put Dash Cams In Your Business Vehicles?Having a fleet of commercial vehicles is more important than you may think. Not only does it allow your team members to get from A to B with a consistent level of style and professionalism, but it also serves as an advertisement for your company, whether your employees are out on the road, or arriving at meetings with clients.

However, there are many questions that you need to ask before you get a fleet of vehicles, and one of them is whether you should install dash cams. We’ve done a brief rundown of some of the pros and cons here!

Pro: it’s easier for insurance purposes

Let’s be honest, no business wants to go through the headache that is associated with an accident concerning one of their vehicles. In fact, getting to the bottom of what has happened could be the hardest thing to do, and a lot of time – and potentially money – could be wasted in the process.

However, if you have a dash cam, you can easily see what has happened, and speed up the process of any insurance claims.

Pro: you can keep an eye on the standard of driving

If your name is on the side of a business vehicle, you want to know that the person driving it is doing a great job at showing your potential customers how professional your company really is. This is especially the case with vehicles that are used for long distances, and a truck dash cam will allow you to see this, no matter where they are.

You’ll be able to monitor your employees on the road, which will put your mind at rest that they’re not making your company look unprofessional!

Con: it can be misconstrued

OK, so there are many, many benefits to dash cams in business vehicles. However, it can be misconstrued by your employees as a way to spy on them, rather than just trusting them to do their jobs. It’s important to remind people that this isn’t the reasoning behind dash cams; they are used to uphold the driver’s safety.

Be sure to consult your team before installing them, and tell them all of the benefits that will come with doing so.

Pro: it comes with GPS options

If you’re thinking about opting for dash cams for your business fleet, then you may want to look into all of the added bonuses of doing this. Not only can you protect the safety of your drivers and monitor the standard of driving, but you can also see where they are, which comes with many benefits.

Firstly, it’s helpful if there are any cases of vehicle theft, and secondly, it allows you to see the real time progress of your staff.

So…

If you’re thinking about putting dash cams into your business vehicle fleet, then you could benefit in many ways by doing so. In the 21st century, these small pieces of tech can make our lives much easier, and as such, they are great additions to any company with a fleet of vehicles!