Small businesses neglect crucial survival tool, says e-book

BEAVERTON, OR, January 21, 2011 (Press-News.org) In spite of recent tax cuts and new loans for small entrepreneurs in the U.S. and other countries worldwide, an astounding number of small and medium businesses continue to fail before passing the five-year mark. "It's a never-ending battle and a global phenomenon, although statistics may vary from country to country," says Michiel Jonker, a business risk management consultant with over a decade of experience in the field.

Jonker believes that profit erosion is an important reason why small and medium businesses often do not survive and grow. "I noticed that big corporate companies look at their risks, but that small and medium businesses often don't do it at all," he says. In part, Jonker blames the business-planning guides that many entrepreneurs rely upon. "These guides tend not to discuss how to protect profits from business risks. But it's as old as the hills, and a crucial part of a business plan."

"It's a strange way of thinking, but profit protection planning turns the risk into a new business opportunity: an opportunity to protect and rescue profits," argues Jonker's e-book, Survival Kit for Small and Medium Businesses: Profit from your Business Risks. Jonker wrote this inexpensive guide after realizing that many small business owners can't afford to hire a consultant or take an expensive course to learn about managing their vulnerabilities and risks.

Profit protection planning involves three steps: the first is identifying the business's risks and vulnerabilities, such as improper business planning, fraud, errors, bad business decisions or irresponsible employee behaviour. The second step is identifying controls to counteract them, such as policies, procedures, standards and an appropriate division of duties among employees. Finally, the business must calculate whether implementing certain controls is a good investment, based on the cost of the controls and the seriousness of the risks.

Jonker recalls helping a marketing company to identify one of its vulnerabilities: it had no procedure for increasing its rates to keep up with inflation. The company employed a clerk who adjusted the rates at her discretion, but once she passed away, the company lost potential profits because her replacement did not think to do so.

Jonker is not the only expert who stresses the importance of profit protection. "Charlie [Munger] and I detest taking even small risks unless we feel we're being adequately compensated for doing so," wrote Warren Buffett in a 2004 letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. "About as far as we will go down that path is to occasionally eat cottage cheese a day after the expiration date on the carton."

Business owners who are interested in learning more about protecting and maximizing their profits may visit http://www.business-around-the-globe.com/

E-BOOK SUMMARY
Title: Survival Kit for Small and Medium Businesses
Subtitle: Profit from your Business Risks
Author: Michiel Jonker
Distributing website: http://www.business-around-the-globe.com/
Price: $27.95 USD
Free review access to e-book available

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