Free Risk Assessment

Please note that this is not to be seen as a comprehensive review of your risk management practices, but simply aims to assess your high level risk position.

Dott Risk Treats Client Information As Strictly Private & Confidential. See Confidentiality Statement.

*Free Risk Assessment

Business Type *

Individual/Sole-Proprietorship/Micro Business

Company/Close Corporation

Other (e.g. Trust, NPO, NGO, Association, Club)

Partnership (including Incorporated Partnerships)

First Name *

Surname *

Name *

Company Name *

Name of Partnership *

Email *

Does your organisation/ business place a high priority on risk management and good governance?

Yes - we take risk management and good governance very seriously and try and follow best practice wherever possible. We have a formal risk management plan, have done detailed risk audits and actively manage risk in our business.

Yes - we do see the importance of good risk management but don't always properly document these policies and do miss some risks.

Yes to some degree - we do manage the obvious risks but don't have a formal plan and have / could well suffer losses for not being as thorough and prepared as we should.

No not really - we do the minimum (e.g. insuring assets), but are weak at risk management.

Not at all - we don't see risk management as important or a priority.

How strong are your Human Resources / People Management processes in terms of recruitment , background checks, monitoring employees for high risk behaviour, disciplinary and performance monitoring?

Very strong - we see our staff as our biggest asset, but also a big potential risk. We have policies in place to ensure that we only recruit quality staff (by doing very thorough background and criminal checks) and we also monitor staff for high risk behaviour (e.g. gambling and substance abuse - drugs/alcohol).

Quite strong - we take our recruitment process seriously and do proper background checks for more senior appointments. Our processes are not always very strictly followed and/ or we don't monitor staff for high risk behaviour.

Reasonably strong - we do basic reference checks on potential candidates, but need to improve in the areas of recruitment, disciplinary and performance measurement processes and don't really monitor existing staff (for high risk behaviour). Our HR area and processes do need to be greatly improved.

Quite weak - we have basic guidelines on HR, but these are not strong enough and are sometimes not strictly applied, especially when we are pressured to fill a position or deal with staff disciplinary issues.

Very weak or non existent - we don't have HR policies or laid down processes and/ or don't follow these policies strictly enough. We believe that HR is an area of real weakness for us.

How diversified is your business in terms of products/ services/ customers and sales mix?

Very - our business is very well diversified. We have a wide range of markets (products/ services), a broad client base and would typically have less than 10% of our sales/profit in any 1 product or customer.

To a large degree - we are reasonably well diversified with a range of products/ services, customers etc. (e.g. no more than 20%) of sales or profit comes form 1 product or customer.

To some extent - we are somewhat diversified in our products and/or customers but do get a significant percentage (e.g. more than 40%) of our profit or sales from a handful of bigger products and/or customers.

Not really - we have a narrow product/ service range and/or are exposed to a couple of big customers. For example over 70% of our sales/ profit comes from a single product/ service/ customer.

Not at all - we only have one product and/or one big customer.

We have no idea what our diversification mix is.

Do you have robust financial controls, processes and disciplines in place (e.g. separation of duties, have good discipline around budgeting and controlling financial risk)?

Not at all - our financial controls are very poor. For example, we don't follow a rigid budgeting process, don't manage our debtors as well as we should and leave much of the financial management to junior staff.

Not really - we do have some financial discipline in the budgeting process, but often fall short on the active monitoring and management of daily/ weekly/ monthly matters (e.g. cash flow management, reconciliations and debtors).

Yes - we are fairly good at financial controls. We have well drafted policies and controls, and generally apply these quite strictly. We could however improve, given the occasional problem.

Yes absolutely - our financial controls, from budgeting and management accounts to monitoring debtors, payment controls and cash flow etc. are very strong.

Have you suffered a material loss in the past few years, whether due to criminal activity (robbery), payment fraud, having been scammed, the loss of an asset, a material bad debt or any other loss?

No - we haven't suffered any loss in the past few years.

Yes - we suffered a loss, but this was some time ago and had little impact on the business as we had insurance.

Yes - we suffered a fairly significant loss during this period. The impact was however limited.

Yes - we suffered a significant loss in this period. The loss did impact our business.

Yes - we suffered a very material loss in the period and this had a significant impact on the business.

How vulnerable are you to IT / technology issues (e.g. theft of computers, hardware failure, loss of data lines, cyber threats, loss of data, failure of website)?

No not at all - we are not vulnerable as we have good physical security controls, extensive IT redundancy plans (e.g. a disaster recovery site), our systems are very secure and all our data and records are backed up off-site. We don't have proprietary software.

Yes to a lesser degree - we are somewhat vulnerable to a collapse in IT and cybercrime, but have taken some action to mitigate these risks and are looking to do more.

Yes to some degree - we are increasingly exposed to IT/ technology risks given our growing dependency on technology and need to do more to manage these risks and in particular our data.

Yes to a large degree - we are very at risk of a collapse in our IT/ technology and should take urgent action to reduce this risk.

Yes very vulnerable - our business has become totally dependent on IT/ technology and our survival requires effective management of these risks. This should be a top priority for us which it currently isn't.

We don't really know how vulnerable we are.

How strong is your business financially (reliance on weekly/monthly cash flow, recovery of debtors, profit growth and access to funding)?

Very weak - profits are under pressure and our cash flow is very tight. We desperately need our weekly/monthly cash flow, as we don't have ready access to credit or funding from shareholders. We are very vulnerable (e.g. to bad debts).

Quite weak - profits are steady at best and we generally need our weekly/monthly cash flow cash-flow to survive. We have very limited access to funding (e.g. shareholder loans or overdraft). Our financial position is uncomfortable, with great risk if we are faced with big bad debts.

Not very strong - profits are steady and we do need our regular cash-flow (e.g. to collect outstanding debtors). We do have some access to funding (e.g. to cover a month's operating expenses) via shareholders loans/overdraft if required.

Quite strong - profits are growing and we have access to funding (bank debt or shareholder loans) that doesn't make us too dependent on monthly cash flow.

Very strong - our profitability is improving, our cash generation is strong and we have adequate resources in the business to sustain us. We are not at all reliant on monthly cash flow.

We don't know or haven't really thought about it.

To what extent have you provided for emergencies (e.g. disaster recovery plans or the loss of key staff)?

Fully - we have comprehensive disaster recovery plans and have strong management continuity plans (including key person insurance and leadership succession plans). While a disaster or the loss of key staff will be disruptive, it is unlikely to have a real impact on the business.

Reasonably well - we have a disaster recovery plan and some leadership succession plans. A disaster or the loss of key staff will therefore have an impact on our business, but the impact should be limited (in impact and duration).

To some degree - we have some disaster recovery plans and have done some basic succession planning, but these are fairly limited. We would expect a disaster or the loss of key staff to have an impact on the business for a prolonged period of time.

Not much - we don't really have a proper disaster recovery plan and our succession planning is very limited. A disaster that affected our ability to operate in our regular premises or the death or departure of key staff would hurt our business quite significantly for a few months at least.

Not at all - we have no plans for disaster recovery or for the loss of key staff. The future of our business is questionable in the event of a disaster preventing us from doing business or in the event of the loss of a key staff member.

We don't know/ have never thought about it.

Which answer best describes your operating environment (including the socio-economic, legal, physical and the regulatory environment)?

Our operating environment is highly predictable and manageable and as such we experience very little risk from our operating environment.

Our operating environment is somewhat unpredictable, with changes in different areas representing potential risks (e.g. a big change in the socio-economic world such as economic growth or a country down-grade) could have a moderate impact. The impact of most issues would however probably be fairly small.

Our operating environment is quite risky. While we manage many of the risks as best we can, we deal with a great number of unknowns, external factors, regulatory issues etc., many of which could have a significant impact on our business.

Despite our best efforts, the majority of our potential bigger risks in our operating environment are outside our immediate control making us highly vulnerable.

We are totally at the mercy of our operating environment. There are a number of potentially devastating risks that could have a significant impact on our business. It is almost impossible to plan for all potential scenarios.

It is almost impossible to currently operate in our world. Changes in any number of areas could almost wipe us out. The risk is unbearable.

To what extent are you operationally vulnerable (i.e. the inability to deliver products and services) in the event of equipment/ vehicle/ machinery breakdown or loss, supply chain disruption/suppliers being unable to deliver required inputs (materials or services), the loss of a major agency/ licence or distribution agreement, pandemic, loss of computer systems and/or data links, the loss of key staff, a disaster making your primary location unusable or as a result of any other material incident?

Not at all - we have very limited operational risks and have robust plans to minimise the impact of these e.g comprehensive business continuity plans and insurance cover, vehicle monitoring and strong physical security.

Moderately - we are reliant on a few key suppliers/ staff, but have plans to counter the impact of these on our operations.

Quite significantly - we are materially exposed to a handful of suppliers (of materials and equipment/ spares) and key staff and would be significantly impacted if any of our suppliers/ key staff or agency holders triggered a crisis.

Very vulnerable - we face a number of operational risks on a broad front and haven't been able to deal with any of these adequately.

Highly vulnerable - we are totally dependent on a single supplier/ agency arrangement for our business to be able to produce or supply goods and services. Failure of a supplier and/or major piece of equipment could cause our business to fail.

We have never thought about or analysed our level of vulnerability.

Are you concerned that you might suffer an unexpected loss as a result of e.g. staff fraud, bad debt, cyber crime attack, loss of a contract, regulatory change, natural disaster or legal action?

Yes very - we are acutely aware of potential risks and the impact they might have on our business.

Moderately - we are aware of potential risks but have not focused sufficiently on their potential impact.

To some degree - we do not believe we are exposed to many potential risks.

We have tried not to concern ourselves with potential risks and to largely focus on our core business.

We have never thought about our level of vulnerability to potential risks.

Do you have a strategic plan and detailed business plans for your business?

Yes - we have a very focused strategy and detailed supporting business plans which we adhere strictly to.

Yes to some degree - we have plans but are inclined to not adhere to them from time to time.

Yes - but these are never followed or adhered to opening us up to the unexpected.

No not really - we had some initial plans but really take each day as it comes.

Not at all - we have never had a clear strategy or any real business plans.

Score

Score is less than 30 - You are massively at risk!

Your score is below 30 and this highlights that your business faces massive risks and that these are not being effectively managed. The survival of your business could be at risk if you don't urgently and deliberately identify, assess and manage these risks. Your immediate and urgent action is required. We would strongly recommend that you start a risk management process without delay, starting with membership of DottRisk.

Score is between 30 and 45 - You are seriously at risk!

Your score highlights that your business faces very real risks and that these are not being effectively managed. If left unaddressed, these risks will could seriously affect the viability of your business. Your urgent action is required. We would strongly recommend that you start a risk management process, starting with membership of DottRisk.

Score is between 45 and 60 - You are significantly at risk!

“Your score highlights that your business faces very significant risks and that many of these are not being effectively managed. This requires your attention and action is required. You are advised to become a member of DottRisk to help you better manage your risks. This will also enable you to identify the areas of greatest risk facing you and enable you to prioritise these. This will have a real effect of helping you reduce your areas of vulnerability and overall risk. By registering as a member at DottRisk your risk identification will be greatly improved and you will get access to tools and advice on how best to manage these risks.”

Score is between 60 and 74 - You are moderately at risk!

Your score highlights that your business faces a number of risks, resulting in a moderate level of average risk. While the weakness may be limited to a few key areas and is not seen as excessive, we would encourage you to take the time to identify the areas requiring attention sooner rather than later. It may be wise to identify the areas of greatest risk by following a systematic process to identify the risk areas. The DottRisk risk tools may be of use to you should you wish to adopt a formal risk management program.

Score is 75 and above. You are at a low risk level

Your score indicates that you do not face a high level of risk. We would recommend that you become a member of DottRisk and take our detailed assessments in each risk area to establish any potential risk factors.

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