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A risk treatment plan groups your assessed risks by risk type (e.g. physical, financial) or impact (e.g. marketing, industry) and provides a blueprint of the next actionable steps to removing or reducing the negative impact of the identified risks.

Following your risk assessment, create a risk treatment plan for your identified unacceptable risks. The risk treatment plan aims to increase the likelihood and impact of positive events and reduce or remove the impact of potential negative events.

The following is a list of recommended items to be addressed in your risk treatment plan:

What - the type and level of risk to be treated
How - suggested strategies to treat each risk
When - timeframes for each strategy
Who - who's responsible for specific parts of the plan
Requirements - resources required such as money, staff and external help
Next steps - future action such as regular checking and updating of risks, if needed.

Share the risk
You can transfer or share some of your business risks, for example by:
- buying insurance
- entering a partnership
- outsourcing tasks, such as getting an IT consultant to manage your IT needs
Be mindful that the risks may still have impacts on your business. For example, purchasing insurance requires ongoing payments and usually an excess. If an event occurs that requires you to claim on your insurance, it may take some time to get back to business as usual.
Reduce the risk
- reduce the chance of negative events or increase the chance of opportunities for your business.
For example, you could cease paper filing due to workplace injuries. This may reduce workplace injuries, save money on the cost of paper and printing, and increase customer and employee engagement for becoming an environmently conscious business.
- reducing the size of expected losses or increasing the expected gains from opportunities.
For example, planning for emergencies and unexpected events may mean you have the correct insurances, a communications strategy and processes that enable you to get back to business faster than without the plan. You may be the first to be back in business and therefore gain an advantage in the market.
Avoid the risk

If you can’t reduce a risk to an acceptable level, you may decide to avoid the activity that creates the risk. So you don't miss out on opportunities for your business, avoiding risks should be a last resort.
Check the risk regularly
Risks to your business are likely to change as your business, industry or customer base changes.

To allow for this, make sure your risk management plan includes steps to:
- regularly check for new risks
- regularly check your existing risks
- update the plan when needed

Planning templates

Use these free planning templates and guides to help you better plan, prepare, manage, and exit a business. Investing time into proper research and planning can help turn your ideas into reality, and prepare you for what’s to come.

Business plan

A business plan works as a guide when your business is operating; how you operate, planning the future and preparing for risks. It is also often a required document for finance applications.

Marketing plan

An effective marketing plan can help you set clear, realistic and measurable marketing objectives for your business. It can boost your customer base increasing your bottom line.

Emergency plan

Your business is critical to your financial wellbeing, so you’ll want to protect it as much as you can against emergencies and disasters.

Succession plan

Planning for the day you leave your business is a valuable investment.

Risk treatment

Planning templates

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