Workflows & Systems: Essential Ways to Improve Business Efficiency
October 1, 2018
How to Hire the Right Employees for New Business Owners – Article #14
October 8, 20187 Types of Business Insurance Startups Must Have – Article #13
At this point in our Starting a Business series, let’s assume you’ve found funding and you’re ready to get your business going. However, from the moment you open the front door, you open yourself up to risk. Accidents could happen. Employees could become disgruntled and sue. Your building could burn down. A computer hacker could steal your customers’ personal information. Almost any bad thing could happen. So how do you protect yourself and your business? By purchasing good insurance policies. That’s why, in today’s article, I’m going to cover the seven types of business insurance startup owners MUST have to protect themselves from harm.
Podcast Time Index For “The Types of Insurance a Business Needs to Have”
00:29 – What P&C insurance does a Business Owner need?
01:55 – What insurance must start-up business owners have?
07:40 – Workers Compensation
10:50 – Commercial Auto Policy
12:40 – IT/Internet
13:42 – Specific insurances for Services vs. Professional vs. Entrepreneurial
14:38 – Entrepreneurial & Professional
17:30 – How do you get complete protection is it even possible?
20:29 – Any common areas of risk that might be overlooked?
22:11 – What’s the Process?
Special thanks to insurance agent and entrepreneur, Matthew Bryan, for providing much of the information for this article. Be sure to listen to my entire interview with him in the Podcast above. If you have any specific questions about insurance, you can reach out to Matthew through hitsoncrumblazer.com.
What is Insurance?
Sure, anybody can talk about insurance. On a personal level, many of you have homeowners’ or renters’ insurance. By law, you should have auto insurance. Hopefully, you have life insurance and medical insurance. Maybe, you’ve been given the opportunity to purchase disability or even cancer insurance. Yet, what is insurance? If you have an insurance policy, what do you really have? Why do you need it? What does it do? Why do I use words like “hopefully” and “given the opportunity” when I talk about insurance? Well, let’s break it down, shall we?
According to Wikipedia, insurance is “a means of protection from financial loss. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent or uncertain loss.” Simply put, insurance protects your personal and professional finances. It keeps you from being held personally liable for expenses that come about as a result of accidents, tragedies, illnesses, injuries, losses, or deaths. Essentially, you pay premiums to agencies or companies for a guarantee that they will assume financial responsibility for the bad things that could happen to you or to others in or around the property you own.
Types of Business Insurance Startup Owners Must Have
So let’s get down to brass tacks. As a startup business owner, what types of insurance do you need?
#1 – General Liability
Although its name is pretty generic, general liability coverage protects business owners from personal financial responsibility if someone or something gets hurt on your business’s premises or on your work-site. The cause of the injury doesn’t matter. Customers could trip over their own purses or bags and hold you responsible. One of your sales displays might fall apart and break over a customer’s head. Perhaps, an employee falls off of a ladder when he’s painting a wall or changing a light bulb. Or, God forbid, you could leave a coffee pot plugged in causing the building to burn down. Essentially, general liability insurance covers expenses incurred when pure accidents happen in or around your business.
#2 – Workman’s Comp
If you have employees, workman’s compensation insurance is vital for you as a business owner. Basically, it’s an employer’s liability coverage, transferring liability from the employer to the insurance company if an employee gets hurt on the job. However, this type of insurance can be quite complicated, as its rules and requirements are state-specific. So check with a licensed insurance agent to find out what you need to know about worker’s comp in your state.
Here in Tennessee, contractors are required to have worker’s comp insurance when they have one employee or more. Professional “four walls” types of businesses are required to have this type of insurance if they have 5 or more employees. Yet, here’s the problem. If you don’t have worker’s comp insurance, you become 100% liable. If you’ve got 2 employees, you don’t have to have coverage. However, if one of those employees gets hurt, you’re responsible. You have to pay for all legal and medical fees. Whereas, if you had workman’s comp insurance, your insurance company would shoulder those financial burdens.
#3 – Commercial Auto
Another type of insurance many business owners need is commercial auto insurance. If you use your vehicle to haul products or equipment, you need commercial auto insurance. Do you have a trailer and a hitch attached to your truck for work-type jobs? Do employees use one of your vehicles to get to or from job sites? Sure, your personal auto policy may cover you up to a point, but many insurance companies are quite skilled in finding reasons to deny a claim. Therefore, if they see that you’re using your personal truck to haul a company trailer, they may deny the claim. Be smart. Ask your insurance agent whether you need commercial auto insurance before you assume you don’t.
#4 – Property
This much-needed type of insurance covers costs associated with theft or damage to the structure business owners rent or own. It also takes care of any personal or business property inside the structure. Typically, general liability insurance protects business owners from accidents that happen on their premises. Yet, property insurance covers the actual premises. In other words, this insurance covers the costs needed to rebuild the structure or to replace equipment, machinery, technology, or furniture should a disaster take place. Sometimes, insurance companies will group property and casualty insurance together. This covers any loss of life that occurs during the natural disaster, vandalism, robbery, or accident that damages the business’ property.
#5 – Professional Liability/Malpractice/Errors & Omissions (E&O)
Perhaps, you’ll recognize professional liability insurance by its synonymous names. Often called Malpractice Insurance or Errors & Omissions Insurance, this insurance covers professionals. Notably, Malpractice Insurance protects medical professionals like doctors, dentists, optometrists, veterinarians, and the like if they accidentally harm a patient in the course of performing their professional duties. Similarly, Errors & Omissions Insurance protects engineers, architects, attorneys, financial planners, tax advisors, insurance agents, and the like if they accidentally make an error or fail to disclose an important piece of information during the course of their work.
#6 – Cyber Liability
If you work with people’s private information, Cyber Liability Insurance is extremely important for you to have in your business. If you keep phone numbers, addresses, social security numbers, or any other personally-identifying information on your customers or clients, you need protection. What happens if your data is breached or your laptop is stolen? What are your responsibilities to your patients if that happens? Cyber liability insurance provides you with financial protection while providing your clients with identity and credit protection if those unfortunate events occur.
#7 – Employee Practices Liability
Additionally, if you have employees, you need Employee Practices Liability. All it takes is one, folks. One employee could sue you for discrimination or wrongful termination. This employee’s claim could cost you your business. If you don’t have financial protections in place to absorb court costs and attorney fees, an employee lawsuit could easily bankrupt you. Therefore, if you plan to hire employees, plan to get Employee Practices Liability. Although they can be your greatest asset, they also open you up to risk.
How Do You Choose the Right Insurance Policy?
Go to the Professionals
Insurance is complicated, folks. I don’t expect you to read this article and know how to purchase and price your own policies. You wouldn’t bring your car to a mechanic for a diagnostic test and then hope to fix it yourself. Similarly, you wouldn’t bring this list to your insurance agent and try to quote your own policies. That’s silly. You need to work with a professional, someone who knows the ins and outs of the trade. Although you can choose any insurance agent, I tend to prefer those who work as independent agents. If your agent is not associated with one particular company or agency, you’ll likely have more diverse premium and coverage options from which to choose. Yet, whatever you do, insure yourself against harm.
So what can you expect when you call an insurance agent? Well, agents go through a process to help you choose coverages, premiums, and policies that are right for you. Here’s what they do:
The Process of Working with An Insurance Agent
- Discovery – First, agents will ask you what seems like a million questions. What type of business do you own? Do you have employees? What are your gross receipts? Do you own any structural or personal property? What types of technology do you use? Do you have home and auto insurance? Do you have life and health insurance? Do you frequently eat pineapple on your pizza? Essentially, the agents are trying to determine what you do and what risks you face.
- Shop products – After agents gather information about you and your business, they’ll shop for insurance products. They want to find one that will offer you the most coverage for the lowest premium possible. They don’t want to leave you under-insured. Yet, they want to protect your bottom-line, too. Believe it or not, insurance agents are a valuable ally in that sense.
- Present multiple quotes – Upon finding policies that will adequately protect you from potential risks, agents will then present you with your policy options. Sometimes, you may only have one option. Nonetheless, agents will tell you what is available to you.
- Recommend – Next, agents will make their recommendations. They’ll tell you what types of insurance you need and how much coverage you need within each policy.
- Implement – Once you approve the recommended products, your agents will implement the policies on your behalf. Depending on the insurance agency, you’ll likely pay for coverage yearly or monthly.
- Monitor/Review – Finally, your insurance agents will follow up with you on an annual or semiannual basis to make sure you still have enough coverage. Reviews are necessary because you may have expanded your business and need more coverage. Perhaps you’ve added a vehicle to your business and need new coverage. Whatever it is that you need, depend on your professional to guide you.
I hope this article helps you protect yourself and your business from the unexpected. Lean on the expertise of a good agent to help you pick the right types of business insurance for your particular needs. And join us in our next Starting a Business article written to help you hire the best employees.
A Trusted insurance agent is an essential part of your advisory team. Likewise, your advisory team wouldn’t be complete without the help of a financial advisor such as a CFP®. Contact the financial experts at Financially Simple for an assessment to determine if you and your business are a good fit for our services, today!
