If you stop for a moment to think about all of the risks your business is potentially exposed to, the list can be mind-boggling. A customer could not pay you for a large order. Your building could burn down. An employee could be involved in an accident resulting in a lawsuit. Your financial data could be stolen. The list goes on and on.
Because most CEOs prefer to focus on the positives and the growth that goes with it, many areas of risk are often overlooked or ignored. Industry experts will tell you that you need to be reviewing your risk exposure in all areas at least once a year. This should involve a comprehensive look at your entire business and involve all of your top people as well as your insurance agent or some other outside expert who can help guide you through the process.
As CEO, you need to not only ask the right questions to protect the business and those who work for you, you also need to follow up everything in writing to make sure there is a paper trail in the event that something goes wrong.
There are companies out there that market themselves as risk management specialists. Most are reputable and qualified, but some are nothing more than a marketing slogan. Odds are, you probably don’t have a risk management expert in-house. If your agent or broker isn’t interested in helping you with your annual risk review — or doesn’t have anything to contribute — that might be a sign the person is in over his or her head and you may need to look for a firm with expertise that better matches your needs.
As companies grow, it’s easy to outgrow your experts. Your needs as a midmarket company may be completely different than what you needed as a small company, and the experts who were so vital in the early days of the company may no longer have the expertise you need to go to the next level. It can be hard to make these changes, because a lot of times these experts are also your friends or people you have had a long-standing relationship with. But as CEO, you need to do what’s best for your company. If the friend has the experience and expertise, then great. But if not, you owe it to yourself and your company to find someone who can help you manage the risks that your growing business faces.
Once you find someone, make sure everything you discuss actually makes it into your policy. Have the person show you where in the policy each item is and make sure it reflects a coverage level that you are comfortable with. You should also expect comparisons of what coverage other companies that are similar to yours have so you can see how your package stacks up with the competition. Ask for the pros and cons of getting coverage for each area of risk you face.
There are many areas that you could handle on your own and won’t need to buy coverage. But others will pose so much financial risk that it’s not worth gambling your business just to save a few dollars in the short term.
When all is said and done, send your risk management firm a letter explaining that you are relying on its expertise to guide you through these hazards. This should make it clear that the firm shouldn’t assume you know what you are doing and that you will need its guidance. If something goes wrong, you will have it in writing that the onus was on the firm to provide the proper coverage.
In this economy, there are a lot of things that can go wrong and we’d all like to not think about them. But the CEO’s job is to think through the “what ifs” and make sure the business is protected against all of the risks that are out there.
