SMBs need to embrace risk management. Hereâs how.
September 13, 2023
Everyone: Wow, look at the new iPhone, I wonder how all the new features are gonna work.
Us: Wow, look at the new iPhone, we wonder how Apple trained their employees on the new features.
Hot off the SMB press this week:
- Why even small companies need to prioritize risk management.
- Trainual tips: Helping you maximize your accountâs potential.
- A template that outlines your businessâ feedback training process.
- Real businesses that transformed with Trainual.
RISKY BUSINESS
Follow these 3 steps to take risks (the right way)
Theyâre called risks for a reasonâĻ
After all, thereâs always a chance they could flop. And your small businessesâ resource restraints make it all the more easy to play it safe.
But small businesses that don't take risks are like a pair of running shoes still in the box â safe, but stagnant. Risk-taking is not an optional luxury, itâs a necessity for operational optimization, growth, and success.
So, how do you apply effective, positive risk management techniques? This simple framework requires three actions:
1. Put the most care in the biggest risks.
Sound like a no-brainer, right? But companies tend to put the most energy towards preventing smaller, day-to-day losses, just because they occur most often. Remember that even though the big incidents are rare, theyâre much more detrimental. So donât sweat the small stuff â focus on preventing serious damage.
2. Analyze your success.
Thatâs right â success. Donât hyperfocus on your failures when youâve got the perfect example of a win right next to it.
đĨTip: When a risk that you took paid off, document it! Your whole team will thank you for the blueprint of the most efficient processes that developed as a result.
Focusing on ideas-turned-risks-turned-losses tells your team that risky ideas arenât worth trying (or will just get vetoed by the dreaded downers). On the other hand, celebrating wins encourages your team to not only come up with new ideas, but to voice them and give them a go!
đ See the last step.
TRAINUAL TIPS & TRICKS
Help your team stay on top of changes with this tool
Have you ever made a change to a process that you immediately needed to share with your team? Or updated a policy that required a new review and test from your employees? If only there was a way to alert your team to your documentation updatesâĻ
đĻ Thatâs why this week, weâre shining the spotlight on a feature that might have escaped your notice while building content: sharing changes.

When youâre done with all your changes, notify your team with an email right away â with just the click of a button. You can even reset completion scores so your team is required to review the material again. Jump into your account and try the feature for yourself!
đ Donât have a Trainual account? Try for free.
STARTER PACK
Template of the week: Feedback Training Process

Remember all those reasons risks are important? (If not, we got you â look up!) Now, itâs time to answer the big question: How do you get your team to take risks?
Because itâs not just the owner or risk managerâs responsibility to bring new ideas to the table and daringly execute them. Every employee â in every department â has to get creative and find out what they can do to take your business to the next level.
That means you need to foster a culture where your team feels that they have the autonomy to take risks. And, more importantly, one where theyâre comfortable analyzing the risks of their peers and receiving constructive criticism on the risks they take â AKA, a high-feedback culture.
We know, we know. The word âfeedbackâ can spark some not-so-comfy heart palpitations. But a high-feedback culture is proven to increase profitability, engagement, communication, and growth. Itâs just a matter of teaching your team to give and receive feedback (the right way).
đ Good news for you: Weâve got a Feedback Training Process template that you can send to your team today! It covers why feedback is important, when and how to give it, A+ examples, tips for giving and receiving it, and more! Just give it a once-over to make sure it fits the high-feedback culture you want to establish and hit publish.
âWant more templates to help you build your business playbook? Check out our entire template archive of free, multimedia-enhanced, and customizable policy, process, and role starters. New to Trainual? Try for free.
NAME YOUR CHAMPION
How 3 companies used Trainual to transform their businesses
Sometimes, you need another perspective.
You may have noticed that we talk a lot about all the ways Trainual can help you streamline your business operations and make scalable growth a reality. And yes, weâre biased, but weâre not the only champions of Trainual â our customers are, too.
Thatâs why at this yearâs Insider Summit, our annual customer conference, we invited three customers â from financial services, trucking, and childcare industries â who have taken advantage of everything Trainual has to offer to organize their businesses and aim for serious growth.

Hereâs how these Trainual customers have taken advantage of the product to transform and grow their businesses:
The creation of the âhero model.â
Advisors Excel (AE) is a financial marketing organization that helps financial advisors create solid businesses. At a conference they put on a few years ago, AE asked their clients what their top pain points were. The most common responses? Onboarding, training, accountability and reporting.
So, AE instituted Trainual. They hired an independent consultant to set up a âhero modelâ (AKA, a model account they can use for all their clients), which contains the company info (with an introduction on how to use Trainual), workflows, processes, and policies any office would need. Now, whenever a new advisor signs up for Trainual, they have all that information ready for them within the product.
AEâs tip for those getting started in Trainual?
Make use of the âGetting Started with Trainualâ subject â it outlines the best sequence to getting a subject (AKA, training) into your own account and ready to share with your team. (Want to see for yourself? Try Trainual for free.)
Then, âget your butt into Trainual U.â Also known as Trainual University, this free program sets you up for success by teaching you how to develop content that will engage your team and how to best use Trainual to hold them accountable.