How Mismanaged Risk Management Costs Your Business

Risk management is all about evaluating financial risk in order to protect your business and minimize potential losses; a vital task that companies must take seriously. When executed properly, risk management can keep your business covered while saving you hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more.

But when risk management is mismanaged, it can leave your business open to unnecessary financial risks in a number of ways, including lack of insurance, litigation, risks, and other preventable disasters. Risk management is about foreseeing and preventing problems that could cost your business a great deal of money, and if you don’t have a reliable risk management plan in place, your business could be vulnerable on a number of fronts.

You May Not Be Covered in the Event of a Crisis

Insurance may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about risk management, but having the right business insurance in place can provide significant financial protection in case of an emergency. But not having the right insurance can also leave you vulnerable, and this can occur if your risk management team doesn’t properly assess your insurance needs. 

For example, if you ran a hospital, you could be out of pocket millions if your malpractice insurance wasn’t sufficient. Although not all businesses require malpractice insurance, many businesses do require other types of insurance, and it’s important to evaluate your policies to make sure you're properly covered.

You Could Be Held Liable

Another potential problem of poor risk management is that your business could be at serious financial risk if a lawsuit were filed and you were found liable for damages, an injury due to an accident, negligence, or something else. Risk management can help you avoid this possibility by evaluating different areas where your business might run into trouble and taking steps to mitigate the risk. For example, if you ran a warehouse where there were hazardous materials being handled, then a risk management assessment would identify problem areas and make sure there were proper safety procedures in place to keep everyone safe.  

You Might Be Overpaying for Insurance

Insurance companies are all about risk management, because each time they insure a client, they're taking a risk. The more risk a client poses, the more their coverage will cost. But if you can demonstrate that you're a low-risk client, then you may be rewarded with less expensive policies and lower premiums. Being responsible is a great way to prove to an insurer that you're a safe risk, and that means having a solid risk management plan in place. Otherwise, you're likely paying more than you have to for business insurance.  

You Won’t Be Prepared for the Unexpected

Risk management is all about forecasting risk, and that means being prepared for unexpected circumstances. That’s because risk management isn't about predicting the future, but rather about evaluating past and present situations to anticipate potential outcomes. So even though a risk management plan may not tell you exactly what could happen, it can give you enough information about potential events to protect yourself against threats. Here's how risk management can help prepare you for unexpected events: 

• Identifying potential risks and areas where things may go wrong.
• Analyzing the impact of those risks.
• Determining the best way to prevent risks and address them should they occur.
• Having a financial contingency plan in place to cover any costs incurred if a risk does become a reality.

The right risk management plan will protect your business from costly mistakes in a number of ways. These include ensuring that you have the right insurance in place needed to operate safely without overpaying, and that you take steps to reduce the threat of potential risks that could cost you in terms of money and reputation. 

Along with having a professional risk management plan in place, it’s also important to ensure everyone in your organization is properly trained with all the policies that provide coverage. This is the best way to protect your employees, your business, and yourself from potential losses that could be caused by mismanaged risk management.