What is Risk Management and Why Should you Practice it?

Risk Management is the ability to identify, assess and control the potential risks to your business’ operations. There are so many possible risks to your business; some you can try to control, like forecasting hiccups in your supply chain or technological issues, and some that may be harder to manage or foresee, like managerial errors or an accident. But the most resilient companies will not only be able to determine the most vulnerable aspects of their company, but also create strategic plans to navigate those problems and minimize the damage.

Organizations must constantly anticipate potential risks to all aspects of operations – positive or negative. It might seem a bit paranoid, but maintaining a vigilant eye on potential problems is the best way to protect your business. Of course, it is impossible to eliminate all risks, instead, you must do your best to minimize them as much as possible.

While the nature of business has always be complicated, there is no doubt it has grown more complex in our modern, global world: maintaining partnerships, satisfying stakeholders, the transition to a global market, third-party automation and technological advancement are all examples of the complexity of modern business. While these features often contribute to the growth of your company or alleviate the burden of overseeing certain tasks, they may also invite more risks that may negatively affect your business.

That’s why practicing risk management is the best way to keep your business operating at peak efficiency. Any disruption to daily operations may impact sales or a loss in potential investors due to what may be viewed as a careless oversight. More businesses than ever are exercising risk management as key part of efficiency and planning.

Ask yourself:

Where is our business most vulnerable and why?

Who would be most affected by a disruption posed by that vulnerability?

What controls can we put in place to minimize those risks as much as possible?

How can we prevent this from happening in the future?

Then, use your imagination to create scenarios in which one of those processes go wrong, and a strategic plan to remedy the issue. Thinking critically about your business’ operations and processes will allow you to see how they could be challenged. Having a plan in place for when something could go wrong will help reduce the impact to your employees and consumers.

It is inevitable that things can and will go wrong, but your anticipation and response to those issues is what will set your organization apart from the rest. Practicing risk management will permit you to make the best, most informed decisions about your company and recognize the areas in your internal and external business infrastructure that may need to be reconfigured or protected. It can also allow growth within your organization, as you evaluate your risk appetite and the potential rewards associated with expansion, welcoming a third-party, or a possible new project or client. When making these commitments, be sure to always monitor the risks associated with it, whether it is an existing procedure or a new venture.

risk management

See more posts like this on Tumblr

#risk management

More you might like

Business Continuity During Daunting Times

Business Continuity Planning

2020 has been a year that highlights the unexpected difficulties that a business might face, from COVID-19 and fires to protests and riots. Business continuity planning is the process of developing plans to handle threats that may arise during business operations and can help keep business going through turbulent times.

Risk Assessment

Every business has risks and will eventually face challenges. Many of the difficulties that arise are specific to the situation and may be impossible to foresee, such as the concept of shutting down for long periods of time, reducing staffing and customer presence in response to a global pandemic, or widespread fires forcing people away from the business. Creating a business continuity plan for a variety of different situations helps develop problem solving skills and creates best practices for handling situations as they arise. The greater the spread of scenarios that have been evaluated and planned for, the lower the risk of rushed decisions and panicked actions that will to costly mistakes.

Some tasks and functions will take priority over others, or need to be dealt with relatively quickly, depending on the situation. Having the business continuity plan ahead of time helps organize the critical tasks and provides a list of potential contingency options to implement rapidly. Without a plan in place, business teams will waste time seeking out backup options in the midst of crisis while their competitors implement strategies that were carefully designed beforehand.

Turbulent times can also significantly affect employee emotions, which can also affect the work and perseverance needed for the business to succeed. In addition to considering the needs of the business itself, managers should anticipate long periods of uncertainty and include plans for boosting the morale of the team. Any necessary changes should be designed with the intention of making the transition as stress-free as possible.

Operations Changes

The success of a business relies heavily on getting goods and services to the customers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses that were heavily dependent on in-person purchases and experiences, like restaurants and theaters, were forced to limit the number of customers that could be served at one time or were shut down entirely. Many of these were forced to switch to delivery services and take out options quickly to stay in business. This impacted the critical functions needed to keep these businesses operating.

Small businesses and family owned restaurants are not likely to have invested resources into their own fleets of delivery vehicles due to the high costs associated with these services, so other companies have specialized in delivery services and offer to deliver the food for a commission of the profits. A business owner would need to compare each of these delivery options based on quality of service, reliability, timeliness, and cost, spending ample time evaluating which option is best for their own business. Without having put effort into business continuity planning, many small businesses were caught off guard and forced to frantically make important decisions about their operations, often resulting in a poor and costly decision for the business. Considering the business continuity of operations would have greatly reduced the panic and uncertainty that followed.

A business may also be forced into offering their goods and services through web applications and using digital or contactless payment options to cope. In the age of technology, ensuring that business data and transactions occur securely is critical. Best practices for technology include using the most up-to-date systems, which often include improved data security measures, or relying on trustworthy companies to handle the backend work. When crisis strikes, digital scammers and hackers tend to become more prevalent, often coaxing desperate business owners into trusting these scam services with critical business and consumer data. This leads to lawsuits and a loss of trust with the consumer, both negatively affecting the success and longterm credibility of a business. It is best to consider the technological needs of a company in advance and perform proper research. If possible, it is also best to adopt critical technologies sooner rather than later to work through issues that arise in daily operations. Adopting them before a crisis also helps build consumer trust and increases chances of the business succeeding.

Communication Interruptions

Communication is a critical part of a properly functioning business. In person is often the best way to assign work, get tasks done, or communicate changes. Sometimes, however, this form of communication becomes impossible for the business, especially at the most critical points of a crisis. When the situation changes rapidly, the entire team needs to be able to smoothly transition together. Without a plan, employees will become confused and frustrated as management changes its mind figuring out the next move on the fly. This negatively affects worker performance and attitude for the company, and could jeopardize their trust in management when the time comes to revert back to “business as usual” or to update operations timelines and projections.

In extreme situations, employees may be forced to work from home to reduce the number of people in one place. This type of work environment necessitates computers, software, and internet access for all staff that will be working from home. For businesses, this may be costly to implement if the business did not already assign work devices for employees. With many options for computing devices and work software, each with differing capabilities and compatibilities, a business manager would want to spend time ensuring that there was ample budget for such a situation to invest in the necessary software, or taking advantage of bundles and bulk purchasing options to save money. Hasty decisions can result in purchasing equipment that does not properly meet the needs of a company, thereby wasting funds.

Another consideration is the time it takes for employees to learn software and hardware they are not familiar with, and using the same equipment for extensive periods of time. There will be a learning curve when operations change, resulting in reduced efficiency of employees and customer service and meeting effectiveness, at first. Being able to look at a plan ahead of time alerts the team of what sorts of changes to prepare for and can keep similar operations for the long run. Continuously changing software in the midst of changing operations will only serve to frustrate employees further.

Summary

Every business will face uncertainty and challenges in operation at some point in time. Business continuity planning can help a business owner better prepare for whatever situations may arise and enhance resilience. Planning for different circumstances, understanding the critical functions of the business, and ensuring the team can transition smoothly will help the business remain competitive and reduce the stress that unexpected changes bring.

business continuity business continuity plan risk management

The Benefits of State-of-the-Art Risk Management Software

With the current circumstances being faced by businesses around the world, the idea of risk management has been floated within meetings a lot more frequently than usual. The COVID-19 pandemic has shaped how every business interacts with their clients, but also their fellow co-workers as well. Businesses have been forced to move quickly during these times through altering their work environment and changing the ways they meet customer’s needs. These circumstances have further showed the many benefits to risk management software, especially when you need it most. Here are some of the biggest benefits of utilizing risk management software for your business, big or small.

Standardization & Visualization of Data:

More and more data is being collected and stored more now than ever before. The trend of data collection and management is only going upward for the future. Your business has many sources of important data. Whether it is complicated spreadsheets or simple email chains, all of these details need to be stored cleanly and safely. Risk management software allows all your important data to be standardized into a single form and protected on one platform. This allows your business to easily pull and analyze data when you need it most. Different areas of your business may have their own formatting quirks. It is important to have a single format to make data easy to read for all parties across your business. On top of data organization and standardization, risk management software allows for useful data visualization tools. The ability to visual critical data will allow for newcomers to your company to quickly learn processes and deliver important information in the easiest way possible.

Signals of Future Risks:

Operational resilience is an important pillar of a risk management strategy. Operational resilience allows for businesses and organizations to be able to withstand operational drawbacks and continue to serve their end-users efficiently. Risk management software can aid that effort by highlighting potential causes for future risk issues. Great software will identify natural lower risk areas of your business, so you can allocate resources and energy into areas where real threats lie. Prevention of problems can be a lot easier than simply dealing with them when they arise.

Integration of Processes:

Proper risk management software allows for better visibility of every incident across your whole business. This visibility allows for managers or officers to understand how different risk incidents affect one another. In some cases, a series of incidents could be caused by one single incident, which is important to identify and handle accordingly. Managers will have the ability of greater control and increased input for when issues arise no matter if its in their department or not. Integration doesn’t only benefit management, but also associates. Risk management software allows for associates to become more aware of potential issues and repercussions in the event of an incident. This awareness allows for increased transparency and accountability across your company.

operationalresilience riskmanagementsoftware

The Four Strategies of Risk Management

Risk Management refers to an organization’s ability to identify, minimize and respond to disruptions. After identifying the risks to your organization and their impact, you can begin devising a strategy that will address the threat. Choosing the right risk management strategy for your company can play a critical role in properly managing risks to your business.

There are four main risk management strategies:

Risk acceptance
Risk transference
Risk avoidance
Risk reduction

Risk acceptance

Risk acceptance refers to when a risk is tolerated with no action taken to mitigate it. This approach is often used when dealing with threats that have a low chance of occurring and also have a minimal impact if and when they occur. A firm will simply accept and absorb the risk without trying to prevent it. This strategy is often used when the attempt to minimize the risk would cost more than the risk itself. Say taking action to prevent a particular $20,000 risk would take $50,000 to eliminate it. It wouldn’t be worth it. For these reasons, firms will simply accept the threat and focus instead on how to remedy or absorb it if it occurs.

Risk transference

Risk transference shifts the risk via a contract to an external party who will assume the risk on the organization’s behalf. However, this doesn’t eliminate the risk, it just simply transfers the responsibility of it to the third party. This often saves your company a headache, as the work and its risk are outsourced externally from your business.

Risk avoidance

In this approach, a risk is eliminated by not taking any action that would allow the risk to occur. This aims to completely eradicate the risk by not taking it. This strategy is usually applied to risks that are considered too risky, and could have a major negative impact on your business. However, it’s important to carefully employ this approach, as the saying goes, “no risk, no reward.” Continually avoiding risks may cause your organization to miss out on the possible upside. It’s important to carefully analauze risks against their rewards and negative impacts.

Risk reduction

Risk reduction is a common strategy in which an organization tries to minimize the effect of a risk by taking action to lessen the impact. Many, if not most risks, are unavoidable, and when they must be taken, it’s best to try to make the impact severity as minimal as possible. This is where strategy comes to play. Take a close look at your operations and ask yourself what processes can you put in place to lessen the threats to your business?

Which strategy you take depends on the risk itself and your organization’s ability to identify, evaluate and consider those risks. It’s important to carefully look at each potential issue in depth with a keen eye to determine the best course of action. These four strategies are common approaches to lessen, accept, or avoid risk. Each one has it’s own pros and cons, and should be meticulously considered when looking to apply them.

Simple Email Marketing for your Salon

Having an online presence today is almost as important as the real experience you give your clients. Having a strong marketing relationship with your client base can attract new customers and help keep existing clients engaged and returning to your salon or spa routinely. Using the correct salon software can make all of the difference when it comes to your salon and growing your client list.

Email marketing is a crucial feature to every salon, allowing you to drive customer engagement and heighten your business with tailored messages designed to inspire your guests and increase loyalty. Emails are a simple and effective way to keep your customers engaged when they are not in the chair.

You can create beautiful, unique email campaigns to share with your customers that will keep them informed on promotions, new services or limited time offerings. You can also use software derived data to target your audience and personalize email campaigns with personalized messages for your customers.

Automated campaigns are a great way to keep your business at the forefront of your customer’s minds. Automated emails allow you to choose predetermined times to email specific audiences. This makes it super easy – you just choose your times and allow the software to work on its own. The industry specific pre-written messages are designed to catch the attention of your customers.

Not tech savvy? That’s alright. Most salon softwares utilize simple, easy to use platforms that make creating a campaign effortless for anyone at any tech level. Beautifully crafted templates and images allow your emails to look professional and polished, too. Simply choose a template with pre-written text, and modify it to your style and specifications.You can even compare your templates with A/B testing, where you can view two versions side by side before making a design decision.

Every customer is different, right? When it comes to marketing, you can cater to those differences by using segmented customer lists. This makes it easy to personalize emails to the right audience at the right time to encourage higher engagement rates. It also allows you to tailor messages to new clients, acknowledge monthly birthdays, or remind overdue clients and client loyalty members to stop back in.

When it comes to your business, it’s important to know what works and what doesn’t. Luckily, many softwares collect and analyze all of your email data. These analytics show if your email was opened as well as click-through rates, bounce rates, and much more so you can strategize your campaigns in the most effective way possible. Use your email analytics to better understand performance and make improvements that lead to real results.

Email marketing campaigns are an important way to keep your clients engaged and returning to your salon. Luckily, no one needs to be a marketing expert or hire external firms to manage email campaigns or marketing strategies these days. Salon software will allow you to handle these marketing strategies in a simple and effective way that is unique to your individual brand.

Take customer engagement in your own hands by using marketing campaigns to inspire loyalty and returning business, resulting in overall business growth. It’s never been easier to do than now thanks to the many convenient features of salon booking software.

tech business salon software

Why It Is Beneficial To Have Your Home Power Washed

Home remodeling and maintenance often feel like a never-ending chore that costs you more than it really should. In reality, some of these maintenance tasks like power washing are important before and after you have made your desired changes. Many folks do not realize this because they are not experts. The right move is to call a Painter in Moorestown that offers this service and is able to share their own expertise. If you have not consulted anyone locally, here are some of the benefits a company like Rainer Painting would share with you:

Ideal way to prime your home’s exterior: Not power washing before adding paint or stain to your exterior surface is a pretty common mistake. You would be wise to complete the process the right way rather than the quick way. By power washing you can remove dirt, mildew, and mold. Getting all this off your surface will save you from premature deterioration and other durability issues.

Saves you a lot of money in the long run: As talked about above, early deterioration is everyone’s biggest nightmare after investing ample amounts of money into a horse. Power washing a surface is much cheaper than having to redo a whole project.

Shows you care about your home’s appearance: Appearance always leaves an impression. A well-kept home from the outside shows your neighbors you have pride in your property.

Increases property value: Again, a well-kept home also increases its value. Especially in older neighborhoods, it helps a seller to be the best kept within the community. When realtors sell to buyers, they will be able to compare the positives of your upkeep with neighbors that lack it. Buyers also feel more comfortable buying from an owner who puts care and work into the place.

5 Features Every Good Spa Booking Software Should Have

There are many Spa Booking Softwares available, but not all of them have the needed functions to keep your business on top. When it comes to your business, you need the best Spa Booking Software. Here are some features every good software should have.

Booking and Scheduling Appointments

Scheduling appointments is the cornerstone of your salon. A full schedule makes for a successful business. Online appointment scheduling makes booking sessions easier for your clients and frees up your employees’ time. Software that effortlessly allows you to book, change or cancel appointments is crucial for any spa or salon business. Some software will also automatically generate messages to confirm appointments and send reminders. This gives your employees less busywork so they can focus on your clients and gives you peace of mind knowing that the software is looking out for upcoming appointments.

Reporting and Analytics

How can you know how to better grow your business when you don’t have the current critical statistics of your sales and transactions? Sophisticated reporting and analytic software will gather crucial data on your business that you can use to better increase sales, retain clients and gain new ones. Run a variety of reports from daily registry summaries to weekly and monthly reviews to keep you informed at a glance. This measured data will give you the proper information to not only understand where your business is now, but what it can be in the future.

Payment Card Processing

Receiving payments plays a basic role in your software, but a very important one. Some software allows for chair-side payment processing through mobile apps for an easy check out experience. They also allow contactless payment methods for a convenient and faster check out. These transactions will be logged for easy reference and be utilized to generate reports on your sales and order history.

Memberships

Maintaining memberships is a great way to inspire loyalty among your customers as well as reward them. Easily manage clients and services with software dedicated to analyzing and enhancing client retention with memberships. Memberships and loyalty programs drive repeat business to your salon or spa. Membership services can automatically charge your clients’ membership dues, freeing up hands at the front desk and securing payment. You can also reward your customers and employees by offering discounts or other perks. This feature also make its easy to select or change services and easily tracks it all for you.

Managing Employees

Customers aren’t the only ones you need to manage. Scheduling features make it easy to plan the week ahead using a simple interface and tools to schedule employees and vacations. View employees, manage timecards and submit your payroll. You can also schedule reviews, plan promotions and set goal posts for your employees to keep them on the road to success. Clock in and out functions will automatically log your employees hours for one less thing to worry about. Have your payroll and employee information all in one convenient place.

When looking to install spa booking software for your business, be sure to do the research on the best options. While different software providers offer a variety of services, look out for these five features when making your selection to ensure the best option for your business.

The Stages Of Cancer

The severity and level of cancer are categorized into stages. Staging is a universal way to describe different forms of cancer. Staging tells a doctor and patient a lot of information that can help them develop treatment plans moving forward. There are five total stages of cancer that range from 0 - 4. Stage 4 means the cancer is in the most advanced form possible while stage 0 is the earliest form. Medical oncologists work frequently with NJ’s best hematologists to diagnose and treat various stages of cancer. Here is what to know.

Why Is Cancer Staging Helpful?

Cancer staging is super beneficial for medical professionals, especially during the treatment planning process. Doctors will identify the stage of cancer and use the information to develop the type of surgeries and therapies to utilize for the patient. It allows multiple medical professionals from various hospital networks to communicate cohesively as well. Staging is a universal language. Cancer staging allows doctors to monitor, treat, and predict how a particular form of cancer will change over time.

When Does Cancer Staging Occur?

Cancer staging can be conducted multiple times throughout a person’s journey to beat cancer. There are three main types of staging. Clinical staging occurs before any treatment begins. It is the initial assessment of cancer. Clinical staging will include various x-rays, scans, biopsies, and medical background checks to assess the stage of cancer. The clinical staging is extremely important as it sets up your care team for treatment planning. Pathological staging utilizes information gained during treatment procedures in addition to information gained during the clinical staging process. This type of staging can occur after certain milestones are hit throughout treatment. Post-therapy staging is a type of staging that is conducted before surgeries are done, but therapies have already been administered. Doctors would like to avoid surgery at all costs. Post-therapy staging helps gauge how aggressive the cancer is and if surgery is needed.

What Does Each Cancer Stage Mean?

There are five different types of cancer stages. Stage 0 is the earliest stage of cancer. A person that has stage 0 cancer has the earliest known form of the disease. Stage 0 is classified as an abnormal growth that has not yet moved elsewhere in the body, even nearby tissue. This is the most curable stage of cancer and can be removed quickly through surgery. Stage 1 is an early form of cancer where spreading has just begun to nearby tissue. The levels of cancer in the nearby tissue are very low and are not found anywhere else in the body. Stages 2 and 3 are advanced stages of spreading in nearby tissue and lymph nodes. Stages 2 and 3 detail the spreading, but shows no signs of cancer anywhere else in the body. Stage 4 is the most advanced stage of cancer where cancer can be found elsewhere in the body. This is the hardest stage of cancer to treat due to the level of spreading that is occurring.

Hematology NJ

Your Diet’s Role In Beating Cancer

Cancer is one of the most challenging diseases that affect the world today. A lot of research has gone into ways to prevent, treat, and recover from cancer-related illnesses. One of the hardest but most effective forms of prevention and treatment comes from your overall diet. Diet influences your risk for cancer as well as other parts of your overall health. You don’t need to see professional medical oncologists in NJ to know that a strong diet can make a world of a difference. Here is what a proper diet can do for you.

Sugar & Refined Carbohydrates

Many processed foods that pack on a lot of sugar and have dense carbohydrates can be very taxing on the body. Sugar and refined carbohydrates can contribute to many different illnesses including cancer. Sugar and refined carbohydrates can cause intense glucose level spikes that can increase the likelihood of many different forms of cancer. With glucose spikes, insulin levels can spike as well. Insulin can incidentally, support cancer growth in people that have cancer present. Sugar and refined carbohydrates should be avoided as best as possible.

Processed Meat

Processed meat is deemed a carcinogen by many cancer research communities around the globe. Process meat is considered any meat that has undergone treatment to preserve its flavor. A diet that is high in processed meat can cause major digestive issues as well as increase your likelihood of certain cancer forms.

Dairy

High consumption of dairy products can cause health issues. Studies show that dairy has a high level of calcium as well as hormones which are linked to cows having hormones in their diets. Dairy can be very taxing on the digestive system and raise your risk of cancer.

Benefits Of A Strong Diet

It is common for people who are undergoing treatment for cancer to experience muscle loss and malnutrition as side effects. It is important to try to minimize these side effects as much as possible. This is where the diet comes in handy. A healthy diet should contain a balance, of vegetables, fruits, lean meat, and unsaturated fats. Lean protein can help with reducing muscle loss during treatment which can keep your strength higher than without. Vegetables and fruits are a great source of natural antioxidants that can help reduce inflammation throughout the body. Unfortunately, many cancer treatments make it hard to eat due to appetite loss, nausea, diarrhea, and so forth. An expert dietician can help you navigate through these struggles to find a plan that works for you. It is important to avoid heavy supplementation because it can have adverse effects with certain medications you may be taking for treatment.

I hope this helps!

dieting cancer health

Beauty Trends Emerging In Early 2022

2022 may not feel too much different than 2021 so far. Luckily, different beauty trends are emerging as the world seems to be stuck in the same old panic mode that recent years have been stuck in. A lot of these popular trends that we are about to discuss are coming from social media influencers on various platforms such as TikTok, Pinterest, and YouTube. Here are some of the most popular ones that we see blowing up in the space and should be considered being added to your salon systems.

Ingredients In Products

A major shift in terms of beauty product ingredients is occurring. Society is becoming more in tune with a product’s ingredients that are used on their bodies, especially skin and hair care products. As 2022 continues, you will see a lot more products that include organic and fermented ingredients. In skin care, fermented ingredients are becoming very popular due to their efficiency in clearing skin and their ability to protect the skin by producing natural bacteria as a preservative.

Lip Blushing

A particular trend that started picking up steam on TikTok is lip blushing. Lip blushing refers to getting a somewhat permanent tattoo to the lips to create an appearance of fuller lips. On average, lip blushing usually lasts about a year and a half due to the area of the tattoo being hard to protect. This trend is very similar to microblading for your eyebrows. Adjustments to a person’s lips are no stranger to innovation. Lip fillers, injections, moisturizers, and so forth have been trends for quite some time. Lip blushing is a new and popular one to add to that list.

Embellished Looks

Bejeweled beauty trends have been on a slow rise since early 2019. Hit shows that detail drama-filled high school life like Euphoria have caused the trend to spark back up since it aired that year. Rhinestone pedicures have seen a resurgence in popularity as well as crystal eye makeup styles. In extreme cases, gems and stones being incorporated into dental work have seen quite the uptick as well.

Water Conservation

All of society is becoming more health and environmentally conscious as the years go by. Waterless products such as waterless shampoo and waterless shaving products are early riders of this trend. As time goes on, more waterless variations of popular products should continue to show up in the beauty and wellness space.

I hope this helps!

salonsystems beautytrends

Thoughts — What is Risk Management and Why Should you...

See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

More you might like