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Critical Aspects That Appertain to Small Business Insurance

When it comes to the cost of small business insurance, the amount you pay will be informed by the exposure unique to your enterprise. Indeed the types of exposure may be similar in description from business to the next but the cost incurred by one business will be different from that in the other because the premiums are different. It is therefore prudent to thoroughly understand why these premiums differ for the different areas of exposure i.e. property, workers’ compensation, liability, time element, automobile and crime.

For property insurance premiums, the various factors that may be considered in determining the rate include building use and occupancy, structure construction, public protection, internal protection e.g. fire escapes and sprinklers, etc. In terms of liability insurance the premium cost is dependent on the business type. For example, manufacturing and hotel business’ premium costs are informed by gross sales while the premium costs for service and contracting businesses are informed by the payroll. Enterprises based on payroll or sales are auditable and it’s possible for such to end up in supplementary or return small business insurance premiums. In the case of companies there are deposit and minimum premium requirements to consider and these sometimes vary. Thus, when shopping around for small business insurance packages these requirements should be factored in accordingly.

Having identified a number of insurance companies that you can deal with, the first thing to do should be to make a background check on each company. Next, you should contact the relevant insurance authority in your area in order to ascertain the status of these companies and how long each of them has been operational there. Your search for the most suitable company to deal with may also require you to search for various review reports as published by various established and reputable rating services. Such reviews will offer detailed insights into the financial and rating positions for each firm on your list. The firm with the most attractive credentials should definitely be your preferred small business insurance provider of choice.

After contacting the insurance firm you have identified and having an agent take you through an assessment of your exposure, you will be in an informed position to purchase a small business insurance cover. If this is the case you will be required to complete some application forms and then pay an amount of money. Your agent should then present you with a ‘binder’ that bears his/her signature. This document will among other details identify you as the insured, show the date on which coverage becomes effective, identify the insurance firm, describe the location and nature of the property being insured, show the cost of the small business insurance cover, describe the liability limits, and any other necessary information. This binder can remain valid for up to 90 days before you are issued with the policy.

It is possible for an insurance cover thus issued to be cancelled by the issuing company. An insurance firm has a 60-day underwriting period within which it should review submitted applications and information, have an inspection carried out if required, and also make a verification of the premium calculation and rating. Your small business insurance cover may be withdrawn within this period but you must be issued with a cancellation notice of not less than ten (10) days. After the 60 days elapse the insurance company can only cancel your cover by giving you the reason for doing so and a 30-day notice. Insurance cover cancellation on account of fraud or premium payment can only be done after a 10-day notice is given. The non-renewal of your small business insurance cover by the concerned firm can only be done if you are given the reason(s) for the action and a notice period of not less than 60 days but not exceeding 120 days.

 

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How Small Business Can Use The Cloud To Avoid Liability Problems

You may have started your small business to enjoy the freedom to work and earn money in a way that suits your time restrictions and talents. However, as much as you probably enjoy owning and running your own company, you may also appreciate the liability issues you could potentially face as an entrepreneur.

Rather than risk your livelihood and your small business, you might want to consider ways that you can store your company’s information and protect yourself legally. When you use a data cloud, you could perhaps avoid these common liability challenges that come with owning and operating your own enterprise.

Inventory Losses

With most of your money tied up in your company’s products, it is vital that you keep an accurate record of your inventory. If you rely on old methods of record keeping, such as writing down product counts on paper or relying on outdated computer software to keep track of your sales and ordering, you could end up with inventory that is unaccounted for and money that is lost forever.

Rather than suffer such a financial loss to your business, you can keep better track of your products by storing your ordering and sales information in a data cloud. You can refer to this data file each time you need to refill your store or consider whether or not you can afford to purchase new items to sell.

Missing Tax Documents

You could go all year long never giving much thought to the documents you will need to file your annual taxes. However, when tax time arrives, you may scramble to gather all of this information if you kept these records stored in file cabinets or on outdated computers. When you want to have this vital information at your disposal immediately, you can have that satisfaction when you keep these records online. This information will be kept all year long and escape the risk of being compromised or lost.

Identity Theft and Data Breaches

Business owners who refuse to embrace new technology often put their customers’ sensitive information at risk. As hackers and identity thieves figure out how to compromise some commonly used forms of computer record storage, you can outsmart these felons by keeping your customers’ data stored safely in an online system.

Data cloud storage remains one of the most effective and indeed most secure ways to keep sensitive details safe from such risks. If you want to avoid having to deal with a significant data breach, you could do so by taking advantage of this form of virtual storage and even using it as a backup for other records that you may keep on hand for your company’s use.

Lawsuits and Allegations of Misconduct

While you may go out of your way to please your customers, you could at some point face allegations of fraud or misconduct. Rather than risk your company’s reputation and your own good name, you can defend yourself against such charges by keeping proof of all of your company’s transactions stored online. Along with sales, refunds, exchanges, orders, and other transactions, you may also be able to upload security footage from your business’s security cameras, as well as other surveillance that could be vital to protecting your reputation as a small business owner.

Small business owners like you may face liability issues that must be addressed thoroughly and competently. You can safeguard your enterprise and remain profitable by using a cloud to store your company’s information and data.

 

News

Small Business Marketing Tools to Get You Free Publicity

As far as small business marketing goes, free publicity is gold. It’s not just that you’re getting your company name to the public without having to pay for it; it’s that the news publicity – whether it’s in a magazine, newspaper, or online, weighs more heavily in your prospective customers minds. Even as skepticism reigns, people see information printed by news-type sources (whether in print or online) as being more truthful, more objective, than information that’s paid for by the company (advertising).

But simply sending out a press kit to your local news media won’t guarantee you that free publicity. The cardinal rule you have to follow is that your information must be newsworthy. One of the ways that news media keep their reputation as objective sources of information is that they are – they’re not going to print a thinly-veiled ad for your product or service as a news piece. But if you write a release that accomplishes both goals – offering the news media an interesting, informational story and letting potential customers get to know your product or service – that’s where free publicity really pays off.

To start, you need to develop a press kit as a standard component of your small business marketing materials. Your press kit should include:

Small business marketing press kit component 1: A letter to the editor of the newspaper (or magazine, or internet site) pitching your press release as a story idea. Many components of your press kit can be recycled, but the letter to the editor should change every time to send out a new press release.

Small business marketing press kit component 2: The press release. Your press release is where the journalist will look to find most of the information for her story. In the release, you should describe the news item (the launch of a new product that will revolutionize consumer’s lives, for example). Feel free to quote yourself and others in the press release expounding on the issue (that way the journalist won’t have to contact you or others for quotes when she’s writing the story).

Small business marketing press kit component 3: Your business card. Make it easy for the journalist to contact you.

Small business marketing press kit component 4: Your corporate bio. Journalists often like to add background information into their stories; make it easy by including a corporate bio that offers the important information about your business, including who founded it and when, location, and other interesting tidbits.

Small business marketing press kit component 5: Relevant photos. The keyword here is relevant: include photos of the topic your press release is about. If it’s a new product, offer some interesting photos. If it’s a new day care service, offer some pictures of the employees with the kids. Use photos that will make your story more compelling.

Small business marketing press kit component 6: Testimonials. It can be a great strategy to build quotations from current and past customers right into your press release. But even when you do that, don’t be shy about adding more.

Small business marketing press kit component 7: A data sheet for the relevant product or service. A data sheet with give the details about your product or service (that’s being covered in the press release). Relevant details include pricing, components, materials, size, weight, and part number – if applicable.

You should put all seven small business marketing components of your press kit into a folder – ideally one with your logo on the front to finish off the presentation.

Once you’ve created an appropriate small business marketing press kit, you can think about the kind of media outlets that you want to target. That small business marketing decision should be based on where your customers are – are they online, reading the local daily, or a national newsmagazine? Free publicity won’t mean much if it’s not picked up by your target audience – your prospective customers.

Once you’ve decided the media outlet that you want to target, find out who the managing editor is and send a personalized press kit to her. Or, if the publication is very large, send a personalized press kit to the journalist in charge of your area (for example, the Food journalist if your product is gourmet brownies or the Technology journalist if your product is computer software). You can also send out a press release for mass distribution using one of many online press release wires.