The Benefit of Risk Management in Business; Legal Lesson Deep Dive |109

"Preventative planning prevents problems down the line"
-An Old Saying

Risk management is the process of identifying, analyzing, and responding to risk factors throughout the life of your business and in the best interests of its objectives. As you grow and scale your business it's important that you identify and assess risks, develop response strategies and take action to minimize negative impacts and capitalize on opportunities. In this episode of the Don't Skip the Legal Podcast, we do a deep dive into the benefits of evaluating risk management in your business so you can learn how to effectively manage business risks to make better decisions for your company.

And the best way for us as business owners to address and take on these risks is to know what to look for  [1:27]
here are the types of things that a risk management consultant, somebody here at our firm can actually help you accomplish. [2:38]
If you're growing and selling your business, maybe you have some legal issues that need to be addressed with the other party.[3:05]
The second one here is staying on top of customer service. [5:59]
  certainly important that you have a risk management team or a consultant or a lawyer who you can engage and make a part of your team [7:57]
You want to hire big and you want to hire strong. [9:57]
Next, you want to focus on building business management strategies[10:56]
 Love to sit down with you live to figure out what risks you are facing in your business [14:24]

Quote from the show

"Advice and support are invaluable to your success and your growth. Think about this, excellent business management at the start can pave the path for success."
-Andy

Important Links

https://contiguglia.com/blog/how-a-startup-business-should-be-managed/

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Disclaimer:

Please note that the legal information shared in this podcast is for general informational and entertainment purposes only. It is not a substitute for consulting with a licensed attorney for specific legal matters. Past performance does not indicate future results; every legal case is unique. Consult your own attorney for personalized legal advice.

Transcript

00;00;08;18 - 00;00;24;21
Andy
I'm Andy Contiguglia your corporate casual Denver based business attorney bringing you the Don't Skip the legal podcast where you can listen in on the real stories, the real stakes, and the real legal lessons from real business owners just like you, these behind the door conversations about business are instrumental to your success.
This is where the deals are made and negotiations are discussed and company problems are identified, leading you to overcoming the challenges we all face in our business. This podcast is your invitation to where the real business happens and also where the best ideas take place. So let's get behind the doors and business and break down these legal lessons in overall. Remember, don't skip the legal. This is Andy Contiguglia bringing you the Don't Skip the Legal podcast.

00;00;50;07 - 00;01;07;22
Andy
Today we're going to do a deep dove into the legal lessons gathered really not about one of our past episodes, but really sort of a preemptory to a future episode that we're going to have giving you a deep dive and an opportunity to learn and apply some legal context to some stories and other interviews that you're going to hear.

00;01;08;05 - 00;01;27;07
Andy
This way, you can hone your own legal strategy for success in your business. So if you're a business owner or an entrepreneur looking to start or grow your business, I want you to stay tuned and listen in. Today. I want to do a deep dive into really a future episode that I'm going to have sitting down with one of the attorneys here in our office, Tara Rismani

00;01;27;18 - 00;01;47;03
Andy
And I want to discuss the nature of risk management in your business. Having risk in your business is something that happens all the time. And the best way for us as business owners to address and take on these risks is to know what to look for and how to adapt and make sure that we can address these issues before anything comes up.

00;01;47;18 - 00;02;09;05
Andy
There's an old saying about preventative planning prevents problems down the line, and that's really what I want you to be thinking about as you were thinking about risk management in your business. Risk management is something to prevent future problems by addressing these risks now, you are preventing your problems later on in the future. And that's what this deep dove is about.

00;02;09;05 - 00;02;37;29
Andy
It's about avoiding the common legal mistakes made by start up businesses. And this is your special risk management edition in preparation for your holidays. So let's dove in. One of the things we do here at the Contiguglia Law Firm is we address and help our clients in the area of business risk management. We really take on the idea of business risk management consultant to help you as a business owner analyze and mitigate existing and potential risks.

00;02;38;10 - 00;03;05;13
Andy
So giving you a quick overview here, here are the types of things that a risk management consultant, somebody here at our firm can actually help you accomplish. We can help you grow your business sustainably, preemptively, avoid lawsuits, determine the profitability of various options as you grow your business, have proper representation in the event a lawsuit comes about helping you enjoy peace of mind, knowing your business is protected, practicing due diligence, things like making sure that your documents are in preparation.

00;03;05;22 - 00;03;35;10
Andy
If you're growing and selling your business, maybe you have some legal issues that need to be addressed with the other party. Also, we're helping you analyze market and industry trends, clarifying risks to do with laws and regulations, risks relating to financial and invest, financing and investing, as well as supply chain and resource problems. So as we engage with your business, we are helping you navigate these types of risks in order for your business to thrive in the long term, it's important for you to address these risks.

00;03;35;24 - 00;04;16;14
Andy
I don't believe there's any doubt that founders of startup companies can benefit from following some essential business management tips to help them through the early stages of their growth. The relatively fast growth is necessary for success. Startups are in an interesting position. They're vulnerable to setbacks because they are often in a precarious position without having financial stability. So when owners move too fast to scale their business, but they lack a strategy and they lack the management opportunities and their vision for business growth, they run into a position where there is a higher chance of them making mistakes in the growth of their business.

00;04;16;27 - 00;04;41;27
Andy
So really what I want to do in this episode is give you a few tips to keep in mind for your startup business management. And if you're interested, feel free to reach out to our law firm for more business management tips. Contact us for a consultation. So the first one here is automation is your friend. Today, it's really easier than ever to take advantage of free or inexpensive tools to ensure that certain elements of your business are handled automatically.

00;04;41;27 - 00;05;09;13
Andy
This can be a very beneficial tool for you. Some examples of the areas that are relatively simple to automate from inside your business include things like social media planning tools like Hootsuite, project management tools like Basecamp, Dropbox, Clio if you are a lawyer, email marketing software like HubSpot and a variety of other ones that are out there and available to you as well as A.I. and chat bots to help with customer inquiries.

00;05;10;01 - 00;05;29;16
Andy
So really what you need to do is sit down and evaluate what the needs of your business are and figure out as early as possible what exactly you can automate within your business. Then what you need to do is base your hiring around some of these automations that you have available to you. But keep in mind that not all of these tools are made the same.

00;05;29;26 - 00;05;58;22
Andy
So make sure all of the founders of your business or your core team structure, your KPIs, your key personnel. All right. Have a solid grasp of all of your software before you start to hire and train them, you need to make sure to help and manage the information in the context of these tools. But you also need to make sure that your team is trained well on these tools so you can essentially move off of those tasks, take them off your plate and move quickly and smoothly as you scale.

00;05;59;11 - 00;06;20;13
Andy
The second one here is staying on top of customer service. If you are in A, B to C or a business to consumer business that relies heavily on customer engagement. Your founding team really needs to frame business management around profit building activities. You don't want to waste time. You don't want to be throwing your money down the drain as you grow and scale your business.

00;06;20;22 - 00;06;49;23
Andy
So while it's wise to hire out the more minute menial tasks first and keep the founders working in key management roles, it's important not to neglect the power of top notch customer service, especially in light of some huge competition. So something as simple as a follow up survey immediately responding to customer inquiries, including on social media, answering those comments, reaching out to people who are engaging with your community or getting to know the names of your regular customers.

00;06;50;05 - 00;07;12;00
Andy
This is essential to building trust and loyalty. So even if they're not legitimate, right? We've all had a few bad online reviews. And while those could set your business into a downward spiral, it's important to minimize that as much as possible. And also, I think it's important not to stick your head in the sand when it comes to these negative reviews.

00;07;12;08 - 00;07;34;20
Andy
Take these opportunities to learn from any mistakes that you've made and to address the concerns that your customers have given to you. You also want to take the right risks. So good business management always hinges around some risk. Startup ventures are some of the riskiest types of businesses that you can build in scale, but there are some risks that are more worthy than others.

00;07;35;06 - 00;07;56;22
Andy
So when it comes to creativity and innovation, these are areas that you want to take risks at the outset of a business. All right. So long as you have a balanced approach where it's balanced with financial and budgetary needs, you can address these issues and make sure you don't get underwater out of the gate when the fit. On the flip side of this, you don't want to take the risks in any legal matters.

00;07;57;00 - 00;08;20;05
Andy
It's certainly important that you have a risk management team or a consultant or a lawyer who you can engage and make a part of your team so you don't take risks in legal matters that can be unnecessary and that might be something you're not worth, or that's something that might not be worth experiencing for you. The last thing you want to do is you try to get your business off the ground, is run into a legal problem.

00;08;20;14 - 00;08;46;27
Andy
And unfortunately, avoiding these discussions and thinking, you know, everything is right or hiring an employee or taking on the form from some legal website that could put you in a position that is difficult because even if you download a contract, that doesn't necessarily mean you understand what is in it. So make sure you get the proper consultation, especially in legal matters.

00;08;46;27 - 00;09;06;21
Andy
So risk management team, a consultant or lawyer can help you understand what risks are more pertinent in your life, especially in your business, and which ones you can't afford to take. When it comes to hiring, people don't hire. In desperation, when founders are in the first stages of their startup, they undoubtably feel like they are running the business.

00;09;06;21 - 00;09;29;10
Andy
24 seven to stay on top of everything. This is important to them because they want fast growth, they want opportunistic scale, they want to achieve success as quickly as possible. And in this case, they may be tempted to hire people cheaply and quickly. There is an old saying, hire slow, fire fast, and there is an important concept here.

00;09;29;25 - 00;09;57;00
Andy
Better business management choices would be to be strategic about your hiring, even if you're not handling the high level tasks. Any new team member on your team should have a well-developed, specific skill set, including these sort of soft skills such as communication, emotional intelligence, anything demonstrating a commitment to business growth. It's not a good idea to hire on the fly or hire inexperienced people willing to work for minimum wage.

00;09;57;09 - 00;10;17;21
Andy
You want to hire big and you want to hire strong. You don't want people who are just passing through and looking at just looking for just a job. You want somebody who is committed to your vision, somebody who is committed to your mission, somebody who is really going to take advantage of the opportunities that your business is presenting.

00;10;18;08 - 00;10;34;18
Andy
So one really good thing that you can think of is taking advantage of tools like LinkedIn, helping you sift through qualified applicants, reaching out to people who you think will be a great fit as you go and build your business. That way you can develop a roster of qualified individuals and you can engage with these people over time.

00;10;35;04 - 00;10;56;05
Andy
So if you're looking about hiring, how to hire and delegate in your startup, we have written a couple articles in the past. We have a great article about startup organizational structure that you might find interesting and educational, which will cover some of these issues. You may also want to consider investing in a part time human resources consultant to help you find great candidates.

00;10;56;05 - 00;11;24;01
Andy
Why You Focus on your business. The link to that startup organizational structure is here in the show notes. Next, you want to focus on building business management strategies around what works for you and your business. Now this may sound obvious, but keeping tabs on what aspects of management works and what doesn't is key to sound growth. Every few weeks or so, we sit down as a business and we look and see what we are doing well and what we are not doing well.

00;11;24;12 - 00;11;53;16
Andy
This takes time and it takes attention. In order for us to monitor and evaluate the progress of our activities and of our KPIs are key performance indicators throughout the company. But keeping in identifying these KPIs and the financials from an outset, checking them regularly, being diligent to meet our goals, this works well in the long term. However, you need to understand, as you have managers or as you manage your business, you need to keep in mind what you need to stop doing.

00;11;54;11 - 00;12;23;15
Andy
When certain activities are coming about, you need to be able to adjust. You need to be able to adapt. You need to make sure that your strategy for success continues moving forward. And I think it's really important that you don't hesitate to go back and reevaluate your original assumptions, sitting down, evaluating what you would Ridgley walked into realizing it hasn't worked or isn't working is a really good opportunity to for you to sort of pivot and make future growth opportunities out of the change in those strategies.

00;12;23;27 - 00;12;51;14
Andy
And using us as a business consultant or as a business risk management consultant can help you stay on top of these core business activities as you go through these continued evaluations. Importantly, also listen to your team and your customers. We talked about this a little bit earlier, but communication is a two way street. When heading full throttle into a new business and trying to scale your business quickly, it can really be easy to lose sight of your most important assets.

00;12;51;14 - 00;13;27;12
Andy
This your team. Without your team, you don't have your business. The last thing you want to be doing is running around switching hats every two steps because you are the entire team. So never underestimate the importance of listening to new ideas from everyone who is on your team. What you can do through a founder's agreement can help you structure a an organization, help you with your bylaws, help you with the way the organization is going to be managed, making sure that you have regular meetings and other activities to ensure that everyone is getting the chance to speak and listen.

00;13;27;22 - 00;13;51;09
Andy
And as the company grows automated, follow up surveys also is a simple way of doing something that you can do to keep listening to your customers or your clients. Last but not least, don't be afraid to ask for help. We here at the accountability law firm are here to help you take advantage of the people who are in your circle, in your network, of people who can help you grow and scale your business.

00;13;51;09 - 00;14;14;21
Andy
The first few years of your startup are really a crucial time. Most businesses don't make it past five years, so your small business is likely to fail in the first few years asking for help from qualified people. This can make a difference in your business management, even if you feel you have plenty of experience under your belt. The business world is constantly changing and getting outside.

00;14;14;24 - 00;14;42;16
Andy
Advice and support is invaluable to your success and your growth. Think about this your excellent business management at the start can pave the path for success. Getting started on your start a business plan or getting help with a new startup, you should consider giving us a call. Schedule an appointment, go to our website, visit w WW Dot Contiguity Income Color Offices at 3037807333 for consultation.

00;14;42;24 - 00;15;03;05
Andy
I would love to sit down with you live to figure out what risks you are facing in your business. And more importantly, I would like you to help. I would like to help you avoid those risks. Check out our website. We have other resources available to you as well. And remember, like always, my name is Endicott Goglia, reminding you to don't skip the legal happy holidays.

00;15;03;16 - 00;15;17;16
Andy
And good luck. Thank you for listening to the Don't Skip the legal podcast. I'm your host and accountability. I hope you enjoyed our time together in this great opportunity to peek behind the.

00;15;17;16 - 00;15;19;07
Andy
Business door and examine the legal.

00;15;19;07 - 00;15;35;25
Andy
Lessons in business. If you're keen to hear how these lessons can be applied in the real world, well, join us next week for another episode where you can listen in to another business success story. As always, you can head over to contemplate AECOM Forward Slash podcast to sign up to our email list as well as check out all the links and resources in our shownotes.

00;15;35;28 - 00;15;50;03
Andy
If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social media, or leave a rating and review to catch all the latest for me. You can follow me on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok at age. Q Thanks again. This is Andy.

00;15;50;03 - 00;16;05;09
Andy
Contiguglia reminding you to don't skip the legal. Good luck. The legal information contained in this podcast is intended for general informational and entertainment purposes only. It should only be used as a starting point for addressing your specific legal issue.

00;16;05;10 - 00;16;05;20
Andy
The legal.

00;16;05;20 - 00;16;07;10
Andy
Information I talk about does not.

00;16;07;10 - 00;16;12;08
Andy
Create an attorney client relationship between you and me. This podcast is not a substitute for an.

00;16;12;08 - 00;16;13;05
Andy
In-Person or.

00;16;13;05 - 00;16;36;23
Andy
Telephonic consultation with a lawyer whose license to practice in your jurisdiction about your specific legal issue. And you should not rely on this legal information for those purposes. You understand that questions and answers or other information contained in this podcast are not confidential and are not subject to attorney client privilege. I am not providing you legal service. Every legal case is different and past performance is not indicative of future results.

00;16;36;26 - 00;16;46;19
Andy
Please consult your own attorney.