smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

All companies, especially small enterprises must understand risk management in order for the business to prosper, specialists have warned.

Thomas Miller, a firm of risk experts, claims that SMEs have a lower recovery rate than their larger counterparts and must understand the potential perils of their business.

Lee Tricker, director of Thomas Miller, says: 'Risks affect small businesses just as much as large or medium-sized business.

'If the business is running ahead without any full understanding of what its risk exposures are, it could be potentially disastrous. It could be very serious.'

But warning small firms to be especially careful, he adds: 'The rate of recovering from a major event is worse for small businesses than it tends to be for larger ones.'

According to research by Experian Business Strategies and Harris Interactive, just 26 per cent of firms have a strategy in place to deal with a media crisis.