Prioritizing Risk: An Exercise to Clarify Exposure and Focus

Published On: August 10, 20252 min read

Too often, owners make decisions based on urgency or instinct. This simple but powerful exercise helps you slow down for a moment and better understand which risks actually matter most. You’ll gain clarity on where you’re most vulnerable, where you’re overestimating threats, and what should be on your radar but isn’t.

Just 15 minutes of structured reflection can unlock sharper decision-making, less stress, and greater alignment with your path to financial freedom FROM your business.

The Risk Prioritization Exercise

Step 1: Identify Key Risks

For each item, assign a score from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) in two categories:

IMPACT: How big would the effect be on business performance?
LIKELIHOOD: How likely is this to happen?

Then, multiply the two scores:
Impact × Likelihood = Priority Score

Step 2: Score Each Risk

List things that could disrupt or damage your business. Consider:

Key team members or customers
Market competition
Product development or innovation lag
Legal or regulatory changes
Vendor or supply chain dependencies
Internal systems or financial controls
Capital needs or cash flow unpredictability

Be specific. “Losing a top client” is clearer than “customer risk.”

Step 3: Rank and Focus

Sort the risks by their total scores. At this point, you should have a list of perhaps eight, ten or even 15 risks, ranked in order of importance.

Now, pick the top 3–5 to focus on this year. This helps you invest wisely in mitigation, processes, or decision-making—without getting distracted by noise.

Tip: If you can, tie top risks to financial metrics (e.g. margin pressure, revenue volatility) for dashboard tracking.

Bonus: Assess Your Personal Risk

Just as important as business exposure is your personal financial risk. Ask yourself:

If my business faced a crisis, how quickly could I access personal funds?
Do I have diversified assets beyond my business?
Am I on a path to financial independence—from the business?

Use these reflections to identify what you might need in your own dynamic financial planning going forward.

Let’s Talk About It—My Invitation to You

Once you’ve completed your risk assessment, I invite you to send it to me.

I’ll offer a free 30-minute 3Rs® consultation, no strings attached. We’ll talk through your insights, priorities, and where you go from here.

📩 Email: ccarr@epwealth.com