How to Start Your Own Business for Entrepreneurs, 2nd Edition

Chapter Twenty-three

How to minimise risk and sleep well at night

Nothing we do in life is without risk. When we work for someone else, our employer makes sure our workplace is safe and that we are adequately trained for the job. They also bear the financial risks that go with the business they’re in. Even in the public sector there is the very real risk of budget cuts and policy changes.

Now you’re becoming an entrepreneur, you are suddenly taking responsibility for risk. It can be daunting to find yourself responsible for things that in the past would have been taken care of by somebody else. Now you alone make the decisions and you alone carry the can if things go wrong.

The skill of managing risk is to keep it in perspective. The media ...