Any business venture comes with a measure of risk, but the key to being successful is knowing when those risks are worth it, and when you should walk away. Business risk management and assessment are one of the most important skills an entrepreneur can have. Because risk taking in business is such a big part of any endeavor, today’s discussion will focus on what you have to consider when taking risks, other elements that are equally important if you’re contemplating becoming an entrepreneur, and how you can minimize risk when you’re planning a career move.
Risk Analysis Is the Key to a Prosperous Business Venture
As an entrepreneur, it’s vital that you can calculate the kind of risk you are taking when you start out. For instance, for a retail business, bringing a new product into your line is always a risk, because there's no way to foresee how the market will react.
However, if the product has been successful in other markets and is becoming trendy, then that’s a much safer risk than a product that doesn’t yet have any sales to back it. And that is the heart of business risk assessment: weighing the probability of something going wrong versus the consequences of that happening. Being able to do this effectively can make you extremely successful where others might only break even. Here are the major considerations you must make when evaluating risk:
- Costs associated with the decision
- Loss of revenue and time
- Safety and the potential for physical harm
- Legal implications of a failure
Skills and Traits that Are Just as Important as Risk-Taking
So what other qualities are crucial for an entrepreneur to have? For one, the ability to manage stress, particularly when risks are demanded. People who are unable to perform under pressure don’t tend to make sound business decisions, so if you want to be your boss, it’s integral that you can handle a measure of stress.
Resilience is another key characteristic because starting your own business doesn’t just happen overnight: being successful takes time, patience, and perseverance, and you have to be able to get back on your feet if something doesn’t go the way you planned. Finally, optimism is just as important as anything else, because you have to believe in yourself and have hope for the outcome if you want to make a business work.
The Closest You Can Get to a Risk-Free Decision
Starting a business and becoming your boss always takes a leap of faith, but it is possible to mitigate the risk. Just like the retail store that decided to go forward with the successful and trendy new product, so too can you choose the proven and safe option: a digital franchise with a company that’s been around for over 20 years. Instead of going it alone and starting your own business from scratch, you can become a franchise owner and reap all the benefits of being an entrepreneur plus the safety and security that comes from partnering with an industry leader.
The low start-up and overhead costs make a WSI franchise a low-risk business decision, and the training, support, and expert reputation that come with a franchise are the next best thing to a no-risk business venture.
Whether franchising was the first thing that came to your mind when you started thinking about your career move, or not, a digital franchise may just be the perfect opportunity for you to be your boss and explore what the future has to offer. When you have the skills, drive, passion, and curiosity to be an entrepreneur, WSI is an ideal low-risk option.
