Last post we discussed the importance of risk management and the protection of ones assests. This time I’ll discuss the importance of finding your weaknesses and potential threats to those assets. Though these two things sounds a little bit alike they are actually different.
Weaknesses can be identified as the things that are inherent to your business that makes it susceptible or vulnerable in the face of threats. Threats on the other hand is an external source of danger.
At first glance weaknesses may seem easier to identify and address since they are internal factors, hence easier to control, right? Wrong! The funny thing about weaknesses is that they are not always that obvious since one of the major weaknesses of any business is that we can all be oblivious about something. What this means is that even if you have successfully done risk management planning there must be continous search for weaknesses in your business system. Of course the same is true for potential threats, it can be easy to overlook potential threats, especially if some seem farfetched. However, there must be a reason why the saying “Better safe than sorry” is so popular.
To help you differentiate the weaknesses and potential threats in your business I will give an example. For a simple online crafts shop some weaknesses may include lack of knowledge in web design, search engine optimisation and internet marketing methods, as well as more traditional weaknesses like production limit and storage capacity. On the other hand potential threats include fire and theft (on the place of production and theft even during the delivery process), hackers, computer virus, etc.
As you can see it is becoming more and more obvious that risk management is not that simple.
To be continued…
Originally posted on March 24, 2011 @ 8:00 am