When General Liability Isn't Enough: Three Insurance Policies That Every Small Business Needs
Being a first time business owner opens up a world of new opportunities for you. You've gotten everything you need set in place. Did you remember to get insurance? General liability insurance is not sufficient enough to cover everything that could go wrong within your business. What if someone breaks into your building? What if personal information you have stored in your computer is hacked? General liability won't protect you, your employees or your assets in cases of unforeseen tragedies. Below is a list of policies that you need to add to your insurance in order to protect the things that matter most.
Business Interruption Insurance
It's a no-brainer that as a small business, you need to purchase property insurance in the event of a break-in. Property insurance will cover the damages of any inventory, computers and tools that are destroyed or stolen. However, how are you going to account for lost wages during this time? If your inventory and computers have been stolen, how is your business supposed to operate? It won't be able to and your business is going to bleed money.
Business interruption insurance will cover your business and your employees for the earnings that are lost while your company cannot operate. They will continue to compensate, over a reasonable amount of time, until your company is up and running once again.
Professional Liability
One of the most important insurance policies that a small business must have is professional liability coverage. This coverage often goes overlooked, but it is crucial in case your company has unhappy customers. As amazing as your company may be, there will be at least one person who isn't satisfied with what you are selling. Professional liability insurance will cover the costs of returned items and refunds for services that weren't satisfactory so the costs won't come out of your company's pocket.
Professional liability will also help cover any legal costs should you be taken to court by an unsatisfied customer.
Data Breach
It's safe to say that if you have customers, you probably have their personal information stored in a computer. Whether they give credit card information or you need their mailing address for shipping, your customers are entrusting you to keep their personal information safe and out of the hands of strangers. This isn't a perfect world and sometimes accidents happen.
Data breach insurance will protect you should your customers' personal and sensitive information get leaked into the wrong hands. Data breach insurance will help you find the proper legal services, help with managing the crisis and even give you public relations resources.
With all of the excitement for the future of your new business, don't forget one of the most important things: insurance. Your business insurance policy needs to go above and beyond the simple general liability. As a new business owner you have to plan for the absolute worst. By adding the policies listed above, your company will be able to take a hit and survive.
For more information on insuring your business, check out a company like The Blondin Agency Inc - Nationwide Insurance.