Risk Register — The 10 Threats That Can Kill This Company

Every one of the risks below is predictable. Predictable risks are manageable. The only risks that destroy companies are the ones that were never thought about. Read this section once a quarter and ask: which of these is closest to materialising right now?

#	Risk	Likelihood	Impact	Mitigation
1	Client non-payment or delayed payment — a large client pays 120 days late or disputes the invoice.	HIGH	CRITICAL	Require 30% upfront before work begins, no exceptions. Maintain ₦5M operating reserve. Include late payment terms (2% per month) in every contract. Never allow total outstanding invoices to exceed 3 months of OPEX.
2	Founder burnout — you are the primary rainmaker, lead consultant, and operations manager simultaneously in Year 1.	HIGH	CRITICAL	Protect deep work time ruthlessly. Activate the VA to handle operations. Build a weekly non-negotiable recovery practice. Recognize the warning signs: decision fatigue, irritability with clients, inability to think strategically. Burnout at Month 4 kills more startups than competition.
3	Key contractor disappears mid-engagement — your Senior Systems Consultant or Developer goes dark during a live project.	MEDIUM	HIGH	Never single-source critical delivery roles. Always have a backup contractor identified and partially briefed for every active engagement. Include a 30-day exit notice in contractor agreements. Document all work-in-progress in shared systems, never in personal files.
4	Proposal used without engagement — a prospect uses your Phase 1 proposal framework and hires someone cheaper to execute it.	MEDIUM	MEDIUM	Mark all proposals confidential. Do not include so much implementation detail in proposals that they become delivery documents. The value is in the diagnosis, not the framework. Build relationships deeply enough that the client would feel the ethical cost of this.
5	Reputation damage from a failed engagement — you overcommit, under-deliver, and the client tells the market.	LOW	CRITICAL	Never win work you cannot deliver excellently with current resources. If an engagement is going wrong, address it with the client immediately and directly — do not hide. A client who saw you handle a problem with integrity will often remain a reference. A client who felt abandoned will not.
6	Founder illness or incapacity — you cannot work for 4–6 weeks at a critical delivery moment.	LOW	CRITICAL	Document all active engagement status weekly in Notion. Identify one senior contractor who could hold the client relationship in your absence. Consider income protection insurance. Ensure your lawyer has your power of attorney for business decisions.
7	Competitor undercutting on a key bid — a lower-cost firm matches your proposal for 60% of your fee.	HIGH	MEDIUM	Never compete on price. Compete on the quality of the diagnostic, the depth of the systems thinking, and the three-unit capability no competitor can match. If a client chooses the cheaper option, thank them genuinely and maintain the relationship — they may return.
8	Cash flow crisis — revenue is slower than projected and operating costs outpace collections.	MEDIUM	HIGH	Monitor cash position weekly. Maintain the ₦5M reserve. Invoice immediately at every milestone. If cash drops below ₦3M, reduce contractor activations immediately to the essential four (VA, Content Writer, Social Media, Proposal Writer) until the next payment is received.
9	Intellectual property theft — a contractor builds proprietary Crelligent frameworks and uses them independently or for a competitor.	MEDIUM	MEDIUM	Every contractor agreement must include a comprehensive IP assignment clause: all work product belongs to Crelligent. Include a 12-month non-compete for direct clients. Watermark all internal frameworks and deliverables.
10	Market trust deficit — no case studies in Year 1 make it difficult to win the second and third client.	HIGH	HIGH	This is your single biggest Year 1 commercial risk. Mitigation: document everything from your first engagement as a detailed case study (with client permission). Offer to do the first engagement at the lean rate explicitly in exchange for a detailed reference and case study rights. One exceptional case study eliminates this risk entirely.