When you first began your small business, you had the ambition to turn your dream into a reality. Now that your vision has come to fruition (and you’ve invested all your blood, sweat and tears into making it happen) you’re ready to level up!
From the get-go, your countless efforts have all been an attempt to grow your hustle into something bigger and better. But as time passes and your company evolves, so too does everything in the world around you. How do you keep up with your customers growing needs and how do you know when they’re changing? How do you stay ahead of a competing market and advancing technology?
Change and growth is only natural – in living things and in business. So, the need to prepare yourself and your enterprise for this inevitable revolution is a necessity if you’re striving to prosper.
As your business grows, so does the risks surrounding it. Having a plan or system in place to adapt to these changes is your best bet. So it’s important to regularly update your business's insurance policy to ensure it’s covered from the threats it’s vulnerable to. Remember that the policies you currently hold may not suit your growing needs anymore.
For example, if you run a restaurant or café and are expanding your services to cater at events away from your bricks and mortar store, are you covered for the unexpected? Perhaps you don’t have public liability insurance to cover your business or staff in the case of an accident?
Or if you’ve been running a company and have become really great at what you do in the industry and have considered sharing your knowledge as a consultant, are you covered for professional indemnity ? A claim for compensation as a result of incorrect professional advice or services – whether your business is big or small – can set back your business severely.
To avoid pricy costs if a claim is made, and being caught out with inadequate cover, it’s important to determine and address all the possible risks you might encounter as your business continues to grow. Each and every company will have different needs but to help you investigate which insurance policies are right for your flourishing business, we’ve listed a few types below.
Business Interruption Insurance
Once your business is making a reasonable profit, you should consider taking out extra cover to make sure that unexpected events don’t undo all of your hard work. In the highly competitive world of small business, the slightest little hitch can send you into a tailspin. Most small business owners would like to think they are prepared for life’s hurdles, by insuring their premises, their employees and their equipment.
But what if you had to shut your doors due to an unforeseen business interruption? Would your business survive? According to CGU’s recent survey, nearly 500 small businesses found that one in four would not survive if they had to unexpectedly close their doors for three months.
Business interruption insurance covers the shortfall in gross profits caused by the interruption to a business from insured events, helps pay ongoing costs and protects profit margins until the business is back on its feet and back at its profit level before the interruption.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Professional indemnity insurance is an important type of cover for a business and is particularly relevant to professionals who provide advice for a living. If a customer believes they’ve received incorrect professional advice or services, they may make a claim for compensation as a result.
Employment Practices Liability Insurance
Depending on your circumstances, you may need to consider taking out an employment practices liability insurance policy. If you are currently operating as a sole trader, this policy is often a legal requirement if you want to hire employees and build a workforce. As an employer, it helps you minimise the risk and potential cost of claims taken against you by employees related to alleged discrimination, unfair dismissal and sexual or workplace harassment.
Directors and Officers Liability Insurance
You may want to implement a hierarchy system of managers and executives as your business grows and employees increase. In this case, directors and officers liability insurance can come in handy to cover the extra risk assumed by senior staff and is designed to protect the assets of company directors and other individuals of a corporation.
If you’re still not sure about what insurance to get for your expanding company, chat to one of our friendly CGU insurance specialists on 13 24 81 or get a quick quote online.
