Future-proofing your business can increase your chances of survival. Here are some tips on how you can prepare your small business to face unforeseen challenges. 

• Small businesses are usually prone to financial risks, workforce risks, operational risks, legal risks, and reputational risks. If you are into manufacturing, you also have to be prepared for compliance risk. 
• Conduct an internal evaluation to find out if you are financially prepared for losses that you might experience due to the changing economy, rising costs of raw materials, change in taxes, loss of clients to a new/other competitor, credit defaults, etc. You may hire a business risk consultant or an experienced accountant to do it for you. 
• Being a small business, you may not have a replacement ready for one of your staff in case he falls ill and is found to be abusive/drug addict, etc. which could affect his performance. Workforce risks also include thefts, frauds, intentional or unintentional non-performance of duties, mental health issues, injury, etc. Keep evaluating these risks routinely. 
• Prepare your business for operational risks such as process failure, equipment failure, power outage, human errors, incorrect billing, incorrect inventory maintenance, product shortage, technical failure, etc. 
• If you are doing well, your competition might try to tarnish your reputation by posting fake bad reviews or poaching your best employees. Keep an eye on such activities and deal with them without any delay. 
• Make sure you adhere to all relevant regulations so there is no risk of compliance. 

Risk evaluation is not a one-time thing. You have to keep doing it routinely. You have to be vigilant. You have to document the risks and the necessary action plans to avoid any guesswork. 

More information: https://www.significantgps.com
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Franne McNeal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frannemcneal