According to recent research from Protivit Inc. and North Carolina State University, loss of business income relating to specific issues (such as economic slowdown, increasing competition, legislative changes and volatile financial markets) has grown 14 percent in only 2 years, while risk management and crisis readiness have fallen 7 percent. These figures indicate that many organizations have been unable to anticipate and respond effectively to evolving business threats. By simply identifying and assessing these risks, you can protect your organization and take advantage of favorable circumstances which will help boost your bottom line. Here are the top seven risks businesses should fear most in 2014.

Workers compensation fraud can be a major expense and therefore a significant risk to any employer. However, it is easier to prevent that you think. With a few easy steps, you can help prevent fraud from happening within your company.

Earlier this year the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority was forced to postpone the planned demolition of the Regency Hotel, located on airport grounds. In September, the authority announced that it would rebid the demolition project due to an increasingly common issue faced by contractors and local authorities – bad surety bonds.

The lowest bidder, Nelson Inc, was awarded the $485,000 contract to demolish the hotel, but the bid went out the window after it was found that the surety bond, bearing the name of Chubb Insurance, was bad.

Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery or BC/DR can be a frustrating topic to nail down, but it is a critical part of any business risk management strategy. Outlining the process is quite frequently harder than actually implementing it, and there are a number of fundamental concepts worth understanding that will easethe process and make you feel comfortable knowing you have a reliable roadmap.

During 2012, 55 percent of small businesses experienced at least one data privacy breach and 53 percent encountered multiple breaches, according to the Ponemon Institute. Despite this, the National Small Business Cybersecurity Study found that only 10 percent of small businesses have an allocated staff member who is responsible for online and cyber security.

A return-to-work program has many benefits, and the pros far outweigh the cons! The proper understanding and communication of the rationale for a return-to-work program will help make the naysayers change their minds. Consider these three benefits:

A bartender is legally liable for serving alcohol to a patron who becomes intoxicated and then injures a third party. Does a business face a similar exposure when it hosts a social event where alcohol is served, such as an open house, holiday party or employee picnic?

With winter fast approaching, and now is the time to properly safeguard your home from the harsh elements of this season. These steps can lessen your chances of a loss due to inclement weather.

Workers’ compensation fraud can be a major expense and therefore a significant risk to any employer. However, it is easier to prevent than you think. With a few easy steps, you can help prevent fraud from happening within your company.

Monitor The Trends Of Workers’ Comp Claims

Effective communication plays a central role in every successful corporate initiative. When we first created the GESOP in late 2010, we intended to do a great job of communicating its benefits with all our employee-owners. Unfortunately, we got busy running the business, and frankly didn’t work on the communication of our GESOP. We got serious about communication in late 2012, and established our GESOP Communication Committee.

As the Trustee, I work directly with the committee to establish a plan for increasing everyone’s interest in the GESOP and their knowledge of the plan and how it works. When we established the committee, we strategically planned representation from the various areas of our business. We started meeting in early 2013, with our first task to establish a game plan for the year, culminating in a lot of activity in October -National ESOP Month.