What risk have you become blind to in your business?

Risk is all around us.

Every day, we make decisions based on risk. We look both ways before crossing the road, check the weather before heading out, put passwords on our devices and insure our homes and vehicles. We do these things, just in case something should happen.

Yet, when it comes to business, we can be surprisingly good at ignoring it. Why is that?

It is not because we don't understand that risk exists, but I truly believe because we become accustomed to it.

Something starts as a problem. We react quickly and we find a workaround. We adapt. We put a process in place that allows us to keep moving. This process is not always ideal, but it works for the moment. Unfortunately, this intermediate “fix” eventually becomes the new normal. That's where risk can become dangerous.

When risk becomes the norm

Take a moment and think about the things you have learned to “work around” in your business.

• Perhaps there is one person who holds all the important knowledge. If they're away, everything slows down.

We justify the situation by say, “No worries, we can address this issue when they get back.”

• Maybe there is an employee whose behaviour creates tension, but everyone has learned how to manage around them.

We justify the situation by say, “That’s how they behave, we need to just accept it.”

• Perhaps you're the person who needs to approve everything because “it's quicker if I just do it myself.”

• Maybe your business relies heavily on one major client, but because you've had the relationship for years, you don't see it as a risk.

We justify the situation by say, “They have been with us for years, they’re not going anywhere.”

• Or perhaps you haven't reviewed your processes, financial position, succession planning or business continuity for some time.

We justify the situation by say, “We’ll do this when we get quieter, or we’ll tackle this in the new year.”

None of these situations necessarily feels like an emergency and we’ve done a great job at justifying them.

This is precisely the point.

Risk doesn't always announce itself with flashing lights. Sometimes or most of the time it’s pretty subtle, it looks like business as usual.

Our brains are very good at adapting

As humans, we are remarkably adaptable. When something is present for long enough, we can stop noticing it. The same thing happens in business.

We compensate for the inefficient process. We remember the information that isn't documented. We step in when a team member doesn't perform. We stay late because that's what we've always done.

The business keeps operating, so we assume everything is okay. A business can function while carrying significant risk. The real question is:

What happens if something changes?

What happens if your key employee resigns?

What happens if your biggest client leaves?

What happens if you can't work for several weeks?

What happens if your systems fail?

What happens if the market changes?

What happens if you are suddenly unable to be the person holding everything together?

That's when the risk you've normalised can become very real.

Risk management isn't about predicting the future

We can never eliminate risk from business, nor can we predict every possible scenario. Good risk management is about identifying what could disrupt your business and putting sensible measures in place to reduce the likelihood or impact. It starts with awareness.

Take some time to step outside the day-to-day operation of your business and ask yourself:

• What currently depends too heavily on one person?
• Where are we relying on a workaround rather than a robust process?
• What conversations are we avoiding?
• What would cause the biggest disruption if it happened tomorrow?
• What information exists only in someone's head?
• Where are we most vulnerable financially, operationally or with people?
• What risks have we simply become used to?

That last question may be the most important.

Don't wait for the crisis

A risk assessment shouldn't be something you pull out when something goes wrong. It should be part of running a healthy, sustainable business. The goal isn't to create fear or spend endless hours preparing for every possible disaster. It's about creating enough visibility to make better decisions. Sometimes the biggest risk isn't the thing you don't know about. It's the thing you know about, but have stopped seeing.

So, when was the last time you genuinely looked at the risks in your business?

Risk isn't always obvious. Sometimes it's the issue we've lived with for so long that we've stopped noticing it. Take a step back, look at your business with fresh eyes and ask yourself: What have I normalised that could become a problem tomorrow? Identifying the risk is the first step to doing something about it.