Risk Management in Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises: An Empirical Analysis of SMEs Dried Fish in Bengkulu Province

Highlight Research Most businesses, including dried fish processing, are decided and conducted under conditions of uncertainty Each type of fish that is processed has different risks, both in terms of the source, level, and impact of the risk Fish processing SMEs in Bengkulu Province face moderate business risk on all sources of risk, except production risk Three important strategies to prevent high production risk, namely, the formation of joint business groups, the introduction of business risk insurance, and the downstream processing of processed dried fish products   Abstract Every business always faces risks, including micro, small, and medium enterprises processing dried fish. Thus, it is crucial to examine the risk's sources, impacts, and response to risk. This research aimed to analyze the risk management process by identifying the risk sources, analyze the probabilities and risk effects, and design alternative strategies to prevent and control business risk that might be faced by MSMEs dried fish in Bengkulu Province. A total of 273 dried fish processing MSMEs were surveyed and interviewed. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and risk management approach. The main risk faced by dried fish producers was the production, included the raw material availability, input prices, and output prices. Each type of dried fish had different probability of risk occurrence where Kerong, Teri, and Gaguk had a high probability of risk occurrence despite their low impact on the scarcity of raw material availability. Moreover, Teri, Kepala Batu, and Bleberan had a high probability and impact risk in the input price. Considering the output price, only Kepala Batu is observed to have the probability and risk impact. Three strategies were designed to prevent and control risk, namely the establishment of joint business groups, introduction of business risk insurance, and downstream processing of dried fish products. SME fish processing does not encounter significant business risks. All risk sources are still regarded as moderate, with the exception of the production risk, which has a high-risk level.