Calculated Risk-Taking Is Essential To Business Success
Thursday, September 23, 2010, 12:22 PM | Leave Comment
Understand that risks are absolutely necessary to succeed in business. The word risk has negative connotations to it. Usually, it is associated with potential loss and danger and for understandable reason. Whenever you start doing something with an uncertain outcome, you are taking a risk. The higher the uncertainty, the higher the risk.
Before you take risk, calculated or not, try to convince yourself that you will come out the winner in any risky situation. Otherwise, the risk may lower your chances of success.
This is why you absolutely need to learn how to take calculated risk. Don’t associate risk with the word failure. Instead, think of the word success to follow any risk you take.
Calculated risk can be the door to your success…
Calculated risk is always based on facts as against your feelings. Whether it’s research in your market niche or a product or service you sell, you must do research first so you have an idea what’s involved in the risk and how best to rectify any failure even before it occurs.
Gather as much information as you can from people, online, and from books about your niche market. You must have a back-up plan – frequently known as plan B – in case something goes wrong. Learn from your mistakes and study some hardcore case studies online so that you are aware of other peoples’ success and failure. You can learn from others’ mistakes as well.
Humans are “manufactured” with luck embedded in them…”
There must be a reason or some sort of logic behind the risk you take and manage your risk by how much tolerance you can afford. Warren Buffett once said “If you have the attitude of letting panic ride your existence, don’t invest in stock market” or something to that effect.
It can be the dumbest risk (without research) or the smartest risk (calculated). It can be the difference between success and failure. With calculated risk, you will try to take luck out of the equation even though you will need it. Humans are “manufactured” with luck – good or bad – embedded in them.
In a Nutshell
Risk-taking is always associated with the psychology of a person. Some are born with those characteristics. Steve McQueen once said “Unless I die doing it, I will keep performing my own stunt in bike-riding or car-chasing in the movies.”