Vectors of Risk

Overview

Risk might only be four letters, but it is a big word! When we talk about "risk," it is important to define the realm of risk we are referencing. To help increase of self-awareness about our risk tolerance, we will be identifying where on the various risk continuums we are.

This assessment is a way to increase your awareness of your risk tolerance and begin to think strategically about whom you should connect with for a project team, as you will want varying degrees of risk-tolerance to ensure the diversity of thought and experience needed to successfully actualize and sustain your innovations and ventures.

Quiz

Please take a moment to rank where you fall on the following risk continuums. The risk continuums we are exploring in the context on entrepreneurship include:

• Economic Risk: Monetary gains and losses is about the risk of running a sustainable business. Entrepreneurs need a high tolerance for economic distress in order to run a business successfully. You will need to manage the ups and downs of the market, the peaks and valleys of your sector and the perseverance to push through the stresses of operating on a shoe-string budget.
• Career Risk: Taking the entrepreneurial path means leaving the well-trodden path of employment. This can mean halting a journey you have been on, starting at the bottom of a hierarchy, removing yourself from the job market and chasing a dream that could result in a strange gap on a future resume. Personally, I have struggled to get hired because my resume (Links to an external site.) is full of entrepreneurial endeavors, which potential employers have read as a "flight risk." 
• Relationship Risk: Entrepreneurs do not take the easy road, and thus find themselves walking away from the security of employment and employment protections. Taking on this level of risk means that those that depend on you (e.g. partner, parents, children) are exposed to the inevitable ups-and-downs of the entrepreneurial journey. Stable relationships can be difficult to manage in w life that is full of uncertainty. Miscalculated risks can result in relationship stress, inside of,  and outside of your venture.
• Psychological/Physiological Risk: Entrepreneurs lay their well-being on the line by pursuing their passions. The stressors inherent in this path place a high degree of strain on your mental and physical health. Internalized stress, long work hours and demanding clients can manifest in illness, sleep-deprivation and neck-knots. Furthermore, the relational, financial and career stress can be fertile grounds for mental breakdowns. Having unwavering mental and physical health practices can safeguard you from the emotional and physical toll that entrepreneur life can take.

Take the following quiz to identify where you fall on these vectors of risk. In this quiz, 1 = "Not at all" and 5 = "Very much so!"

Click "next" to advance the course.