(Expansion) – One of the most complex and relevant issues in the business ecosystem is risk control. On the way to consolidating a company, you rarely want to take into account the obstacles and problems, as well as the learning curves, that moments of crisis entail.
However, in times of economic complexity, it is important to look at mitigation plans and corporate risk maps to try to overcome problematic situations.
Annual inflation rates are currently rattling markets in a way not seen in a long time. In the United States it is around 8.6% per year, while in Mexico it is around 7.88%. This is combined with less than ideal scenarios internationally, in which supply chains have considerable delays since the economic revivals began in 2021.
Companies that want to stay afloat in a complex 2022 -which drags two years of economic crisis- will have to make risk control their ace up their sleeve. Faced with the specter of recession, the only way to survive is to maintain ideal growth expectations and have strategic planning.
investor fear
In different sectors, the ravages of inflation and uncertainty in stock markets are already beginning to be felt; Even in industries that have been on the rise for years, such as fintechs and the very worrying cryptocurrencies in recent months, the venture capital (VC) bonanza appears to be starting to recede, particularly in the face of investor fears of what that the world is yet to live through the second half of 2022.
In this context, both developing entrepreneurs and consolidated businessmen must adequately map the possibility of investment losses in the coming months. For this, it is necessary to plan the worst imaginable scenarios, in order to contain larger losses in the long term.
It’s not about surviving, it’s about growing
It is not a simple task, nor is it about starting the imagination and thinking about the most catastrophic scenarios, risk control obeys a well-founded strategy in which a company not only imagines failure, but also devises possible ways of emerge victorious in extremely challenging contexts.
In this planning, the participation of all areas and the definition of measurable objectives is vital. It’s about getting over the bitter pill and literally planning for the near future. Many companies did not have ideal risk management during the pandemic, that is, they planned to survive, but not to grow. What happened? They held out as long as they could and today they closed their curtains.
Risk control should not mean surviving one catastrophe and collapsing in the next, but rather learning from the crisis and becoming stronger with it. Without risk control in this area, any company would end up being, as they say in the English language, a “sitting duck” (a duck waiting to be hunted) that will not be able to cope with the changes that the market itself will determine with enormous shocks.
The importance of decision making
A company’s risk control is equally important at this juncture, since, at least in the medium term, COVID-19 should be considered a potential risk. Each new wave of the pandemic brings with it new obstacles and challenges that must be overcome in due measure.
The current context is, without a doubt, worrying. It considerably impacts the growth expectations of any company, as well as the bets of investors, both traditional and VC.
This should lead the leaders of any company to make their decision-making process one that is conscious, parsimonious and, above all, with a well-established culture of risk control, knowing that 2022 is a year that requires perpetual and constant improvisation.
All the elements that influence the value chain of a company must be mapped and try to shield all the parts of its operation. If the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020 made anything clear, it is that sensible planning with a view to mitigating risks is not a delicacy, but a real necessity.
The year 2022 will put this principle to the test again. It will be a matter of seeing who has the real ace up his sleeve to overcome (again) an uncertain future.
Editor’s Note: Edgar López is a Partner at Asesores de Consejo y Alta Dirección (ACAD). Follow him on . The opinions published in this column belong exclusively to the author.
