Manage HR Magazine | Friday, July 10, 2026
Companies must deal with various broad categories of financial risk.
FREMONT, CA: A company's management has varying degrees of control over risk regarding a business enterprise. Any business enterprise carries risk, and good risk management is essential to success. Some risks can be directly managed; others are largely outside the company's management. Companies may need to anticipate potential risks, assess their potential impact on their business, and prepare a plan to deal with them if they occur.
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A company's financial risks can be categorized in many different ways.
Market changes: Changing market conditions can threaten a company if it competes in a specific marketplace for business. Traditional retail businesses have faced substantial challenges due to this aspect of market risk. Consumers are increasingly shopping online, which presents a significant market risk. The companies that have been able to adapt to the changing marketplace and serve a growing online shopping public have thrived, while companies that have been slow to adapt or made poor choices have suffered. In addition to the ESG trend, companies are now being called upon to shift away from polluting industries to cleaner ones and to seek profits while giving back to communities. Another element of market risk is the risk of being outmaneuvered by competitors. Lacking companies will have poor capital, short talent, and low branding. In a highly competitive global market, often with narrowing profit margins, the most financially successful companies are most successful by offering a proposition that sets them apart from the competition and helps them establish a strong market presence.
Managing risks: The risk associated with extending credit to customers is called credit risk. In addition, it refers to the company's credit risk with suppliers. If a customer defaults on the payment for the purchase, a business takes a financial risk. The company must ensure sufficient cash flow to pay its accounts payable bills on time by handling its credit obligations. The supplier may stop extending credit to the company if this occurs or even stop doing business with it altogether if this happens. Risks related to liquidity include asset liquidity and operational funding liquidity. When a company needs to convert its assets into cash quickly, asset liquidity refers to the relative ease with which it can do this. Operational funding liquidity refers to daily cash flow. A company's ability to pay its basic expenses if it suddenly finds itself without enough cash when revenue is down or seasonal can pose a substantial risk. Business success relies heavily on cash flow management—and that is why investors and analysts evaluate companies as equity investments using metrics such as free cash flow.
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