By Brad Forsythe

Bulletproof is written for the owners and managers of America's 22.9 million small businesses (companies with fewer than 500 employees). Its purpose is to help them find quick and affordable solutions to many of the universal risks that threaten their companies. The voice of this book is primarily written to the risk manager, whether he is the company's owner, an employee (likely one who wears many hats, including that of a part-time risk manager) or a dedicated, full-time professional risk manager. Exceptions to that voice will be found in sections relating directly to company owners and chief executive officers.

What Is Risk Management for Small Businesses?
• Risk management is a professional process that allows companies to conduct aggressive operations with low distraction and financial distress caused by risk-related trouble. It starts with strategy -- but it's all about the bottom line.

Bulletproof has Three Objectives for Risk Managers.
1. Provide a strategic road map and tactical tool kit to help small companies implement a risk management process tailored to their specific needs. This management process, called PreAct?, can anticipate and prevent many risk and legal problems, reduce risks that can't be prevented, reduce legal costs, substantially improve the value of risk services received from attorneys and insurance agents, lower the cost of insurance policies and substantially boost the speed and efficiency of company operations that rely on risk management or "Legal" for direction or information.

2. In many small companies the owner, CEO or another high-ranking officer is heavily involved in daily risk management activities. Bulletproof shows how to build a management process under which these officers can confidently appoint a risk manager and delegate much of their work to that manager, freeing the officers to increase their focus on other critical tasks that only they can perform.

3. Increase your company's speed and flexibility, even while reducing risk and error.

Bulletproof has Three Objectives for CEOs and Owners.
1. Your company must be aggressive if it is to fulfill the dreams you envision. But you can't charge forward against a hail of arrows without a shield. Bulletproof shields you against many risks, providing substantial protection and added confidence (both for you and your employees), letting you move forward aggressively and focus more exclusively on the smart risks that build a great company. More protection -- more aggression -- less distraction from preventable risks.

The Roman soldier conquered the world with a short sword and a shield. His shield "enabled" his sword. The shield let him move forward, confidently and focused, even against incoming arrows and spears, advancing his sword to a point where it could be put to aggressive use. Your company needs a similar shield so that it can confidently focus forward, safer from and undistracted by common risks that confront small businesses.

2. Bulletproof reduces and manages risk with a coordinated business process. The process views risk as a whole issue -- not a set of unrelated pieces. The process perspective makes reducing risk easier than you think and gives you much more reliable protection. Many of the solutions are long term in nature so you can use them far into the future.

3. Your day is already filled with critical tasks that only the owner/CEO can perform. Bulletproof is about an ongoing, professional management process. Such processes are designed to be executed by professional managers and don't fit into the classic set of job responsibilities belonging to owners/CEOs. Give this book to your chosen risk manager and let him use Bulletproof as a training guide.

It's Called "Risk Management" -- Not "Risk Elimination"
The first step to success as a small business risk manager is to understand what your owner or CEO expects when he asks you to "bulletproof" the company. Let's examine his actual expectations.

Bulletproof is one of those common words that is often misunderstood. Most people associate the word with body armor worn by police and military personnel. Few would think to ask a soldier, "What are the objectives for your vest?" The answer appears self-evident -- to stop bullets. But that is only partially correct. The real answer has three parts.

Part 1: Protect against a specified range of incoming ballistic threats -- a pure safety issue.

Part 2 : Do little or nothing to impede the soldier's speed and agility, because speed and agility are often more important safety features than bulletproofing.

Part 3: Increase actual physical and perceived psychological confidence, thereby increasing the soldier's offensive capabilities and performance.

Bulletproof vests aren't actually bulletproof. While a vest will stop bullets within a limited ballistic range, wearing a vest that stops bullets of every caliber would be much like wearing a cloak of concrete. That vest's weight and bulk would make its wearer a sitting duck and far too immobile to be effective in doing his job. The soldier understands that all his risk from all bullets can never be fully eliminated. So his job is to manage the risks that confront him. A soldier manages risks and increases offensive capabilities through a combination of "bullet resistance," speed and agility. And that is precisely how your CEO expects you to protect the company.

Like the soldier, you can never fully eliminate all the risks that confront the company. Even if you could create a perfect risk elimination plan, the nature of human behavior would defeat it, and probably sooner than later.

Operating a small company is an inherently risky venture that often requires quick and aggressive action if the company is to succeed. Forget the thought of eliminating all risk by building a concrete cloak around your company. You must also boost the company's speed and agility.

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