Business Risk Management

man on rope
Type: Vocabulary
Originally published on November 2, 2020 and last updated on February 4, 2023

Risk management is an important part of any business and especially for new businesses starting out. How risky a business is to start depends on many factors including the economy, location, target market, etc. A business that may have been great to start last year might be a disaster to start now.

When starting a new business, carrying out a risk assessment is vital, but often overlooked, and it is usually the businesses that do not analyse the risk that end up failing.

Instructions:
Go through the vocabulary below with your students and ask them to try and use this vocabaulry where possible when discussing the different conversation questions.

Useful Vocabulary

Try and use the following vocabulary when answering the question. Click to look up the definition in the dictionary

  • risky (adjective)
  • risk factor (noun)
  • risk assessment (noun)
  • economy (noun)
  • market (noun)
  • overlook (verb)
  • analyse (verb)
  • end up (phrasal verb)
  • risk management (noun)
  • depend on (phrasal verb)

Conversation Questions

  • What is the riskiest business to start at the moment?
  • What risk factors should people think about before starting a business?
  • What would have been a low risk business to start two years ago?
  • What would be a low risk business to start today?
  • What type of business would be very risky to start today?
Gregory
This conversation topic was prepared by Gregory

Gregory is a qualified TEFL teacher who has been teaching English as a Foreign Language (ESL) for over a decade. He has taught in-person classes in Spain and to English learners around the world online.