Starting up a business can be challenging, but looking out for your business and its losses does not need to be crippling to you or your business. Many small business owners neglect to consider insurance or why it could be a benefit to their business. This can become a problem when the eventual question of ‘Franchising My Business‘ comes up. You want to make sure you have insurance when venturing into new areas of business.
What is Business Insurance?
The first question a small business owner should answer today is do you have insurance? If you don’t know what Business insurance is for, it is there to ensure the continued running of your business in case of an unforeseeable incident or accident that may happen related to your business and the areas under which it operates. This is the case whether it is to do with delivery drivers, workshop accidents or a member of the public getting hurt. Some business owners unobservantly believe that their business will continue to float in the event of an incident, simply because they have positive cash flow. But if confidence in your business was broken tomorrow, that positive cash flow would stop and you could face paying compensation as well as legal fees. Rather than being able to ride the tide out, you would simply go bust. Not to mention owing thousands to those you may have received a business loan from or if your house is tied up as an asset, losing the lot.
What Possible Risks Are There In Your Business?
The second question posed to any business considering insurance is to think about what risks are unique or specific to your business. For instance, if you own heavy machinery, which is expensive to replace, you might want them insured in case they are stolen from your work site or are damaged by your workers, accidentally. Insurance is there as a help to cover anything that would make a significant loss to your business, whether that is human life or equipment or even damage to your building. The latter is especially important if you are a landlord. What risks you have may determine the type of insurance you chose. How much a quote will be, will often depend on the likelihood of such an event happening in your line of work as opposed to another.
The third question any small business owner should answer is have you protected the public? Public liability insurance is there in case a customer or a member of public was hurt or their property damaged as a result of a business’s activities or a worker’s neglect. A public liability insurance quote will probably be higher if the business goes out to the public or customers and deals with building material or heavy equipment. For instance for both scaffolding and roof tiling, the equipment has a higher risk of falling or hurting a member of the public than the equipment from a business running a small craft shop. However, even if it is higher quote, it may well be worth investing in. If such an incident were to happen, you would want a significant safety net for your business as well as maintaining consumer confidence in your business.
Insurance For Your Workers
The fourth question any small business owner should answer is have you protected your workers? As it is a legal requirement for most businesses to have employer’s liability insurance, it is very important to find an insurance policy and quote that will suit your business. Employer’s liability insurance is there in case an employee or worker is hurt or has a long-term illness as a result of an accident at your workplace. In the case of such inopportune events, the worker can file for a worker’s compensation by contacting a personal injury lawyer and a qualified insurance agency (like https://www.icwgroup.com/workers-compensation/claim-services/ or others). But the compensation quote might differ depending on the type of accident. As an example, the quote will most likely be less for an office business than that of a warehouse that uses forklift trucks.
To add to this, some business owners don’t think they can afford health insurance for their employees but this video goes over what small businesses can do for health insurance.
There are many other types of business insurance out, though public liability insurance and employer’s liability insurance are two central types. Have a look online to find out what is best for your business insurance needs.