Cincinnati, OH – November 4, 2004 – When it comes to running a small business, there are two very distinct schools of thought clearly delineated by generation – on how business risk is managed. Bulletproof Your Business author Brad Forsythe has found that as more and more younger workers are willing to take risks to enter the world of entrepreneurship and aggressively grow their business, their successful baby boomer counterparts are working to manage risk in order to hang on to what they have.

Forsythe says that the amount of risk a small business owner or entrepreneur is willing to take is directly related to their age and their length of service to a given organization. “Young entrepreneurs are more apt to take risks to grow their business, while older business owners are more interested in keeping their slice of the pie to pass along or to sell for the maximum profit,” Forsythe said.

He explains that in either case, risk management is the most crucial program any small business owner can undertake, because it allows the young entrepreneur to focus on growth and the older business owner to maximize profitability and sale value. By having a solid risk management process in place that proactively mitigates the risks associated with clients, suppliers, and employees, banks and venture capitalists are more likely to find a young entrepreneur’s dream more attractive.

Likewise, for the older business owner who is looking to sell their business, risk management is a powerful ally in securing the most dollars for the company. Logically, Forsythe explains, a business that is well run and has well documented procedures in place for proactively dealing with risk issues is quite simply more attractive to a buyer.

“It’s like buying a house,” Forsythe analogized. “Having the right infrastructure in place and having inspectors give the house a thumbs up make it significantly more attractive. The best thing an entrepreneur can do is develop a risk management process that can be augmented over time – it is that solid foundation. A risk management protocol makes the dream more attractive in the beginning to a lender, and it makes the realized dream more enticing to a buyer in the long run.”

Bulletproof Your Business is a plain-English guide that shows companies how to simply and cost-effectively conduct risk management on a do-it-yourself basis. The book is available online at www.bradforsythe.com and retails for $59.95.

Brad Forsythe is certified from the Harvard Business School in small business strategic finance and is a 1975 honors graduate from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, completing his bachelor’s degree in communications. Forsythe began his career as an incentive travel manager and later moved to group sales manager within the hospitality division of American Airlines. In 1981, he co-founded Frequency Marketing, Inc. and served as its executive vice president overseeing legal, human resources and risk management. In 2003, Forsythe founded Best Practice Advisors, LLC., and teaches the professional practice of risk management for companies with less than 500 employees. He released his debut book, Bulletproof Your Business – Cutting Risk for Small Business Owners and Managers, in 2004. More information can be accessed at www.bradforsythe.com, and the book is available for purchase via the website.

Note To Editors:
A 300 DPI Photo of the Cover of the Book is Available Here:
http://www.bradforsythe.com/images/bookcover300.jpg

Brad Forsythe is Available For Interview; Headshot Is Available

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