BREXIT AN OPPORTUNITY

Since the British people decided to vote out of Europe, we have all been plagued by negativity, uncertainty and some fear of the unknown along with some feelings of hope and encouragement subject to who we may or may not be listening to at the time. It should be no surprise how the British decide to do things or not do things as the case may be. For example, we still drive on the left; we maintained the £, and we continue to be different or refuse to adapt in other ways too. I voted to remain due to the fact I felt nervous about the uncertainty and how it would change business as we know it. Now the country has made its decision, and so far, the impacts have not been quite as bad as we were told by the media as they were going to be. Now we are told it is still early days, so there is plenty of time for it all to go pear-shaped. It is almost as if some people want it to all go wrong, so that they, can be proved right. So, to prepare, it is no good just hoping everything is going to be ok and doing nothing. What we need to do is ‘hope for the best and prepare for the worse’. This is where implementing an effective management system comes into its own, where we can turn a negative into a positive and convert a threat into an opportunity. Risk management, everyone in business does some risk management, we all do it in our everyday lives, or we would only be responsible for our own endings. Risk management is looking both ways before crossing the road or, simply looking for a safe place to cross, and taking care. So, we need to identify what hazards there are, such as heavy traffic, or fast cars, steep kerbs, slippery road surfaces or poor visibility. We assess the situation and make a decision. Why do we do this? Because we want to survive. If we are fit, we stand a better chance of (reducing the risk) crossing the road safely and efficiently. If, however, we are not fit and not prepared we may hesitate and miss an opportunity.