Risk Management: Plan for Problems That Haven't Happened Yet
Business risks are important factors you must carefully consider in the business plan, and they are of greater importance in large businesses. You have gathered a great deal of information in the market research and analysis section. Out of it, write under this title whatever comes to your mind as a risk. After making a list of risks, analyze what consequences each of them can bring upon you if it happens. Have a list of variable factors and possible problems.
Write the possible obstacles in your business and make the necessary predictions. Add a topic under the title "obstacles" to your business plan, as a subset of the risk section or as an independent part. Many of these obstacles may be simply predictions and won't happen in the real world, but have a list of them, so if you encounter them, you will have plans to overcome them. This gets you to think and create solutions for problems that are yet to occur. Sometimes in practice your mind stops and you don't know how to solve a problem, but when you refer to your business plan, you realize that you have already prepared some thoughts for this section.
In businesses where the final product is sold in a guaranteed manner to a customer such as the government, the risk is higher. For instance, in a power plant, the government purchases your generated electricity for the next ten years. Contrary to popular belief, this type of business is quite risky because it is dependent on a certain customer. If this customer goes after purchasing its needs from somewhere else, you will be crushed. As governments come and go, policies change, or the economy improves or deteriorates, the government in control may have to change its mind. If you have guaranteed customers or lack control over your customers, define your flexibility and risk much more precisely.