Make Insurance Part of Your 2021 Business Strategy
2021 is here! The much-anticipated new year has arrived and you, as a business owner, are surely working your way to achieving the goals you’ve set this year. While you strategized your plans for the year, did you factor your business insurance into the strategy? Business insurance should be a part of the plan. Having the correct coverage in place protects your business, supports your growth and allows you and your team to focus on the business instead of planning a response to the unknown. In this two part series we’ll explore things to consider when incorporating business insurance into your 2021 strategy.
What products or services am I offering this year?
Last year’s complexity urged many businesses to change their product or service offering and how those products and services were delivered. If you are a new business everything you’re offering is new. Depending on what your business does and the way it is done, it can have any number of new liability exposures. General liability insurance provides coverage for several different exposures. If you don’t have a GL policy at all, GET ONE, as soon as possible. If you have one, now is the time to review it to ensure your business is sufficiently protected.
If you’re offering products that you haven’t in the past or are planning to sell higher quantities than you’ve done in the past, your products liability has changed and your General Liability policy should probably be updated.
If you are opening a store front or an office where the public can enter you now have exposure for someone being hurt or injured on your property. Expanding your service offering can change your exposure as well. For example, a tax preparation service who is going to also offer bookkeeping in 2021 has increased their exposure and this should be addressed with changes to their General Liability and Professional Liability policies. Make sure your General Liability policy correctly covers all the exposure in your new or expanded offering
What are my business’s current and planned assets?
If you have a physical location, it’s a no brainer to think about covering your building with insurance. It’s required. However, may people either don’t consider or undervalue their business property. Think about your furniture, tools & equipment, inventory, décor, supplies and every physical thing your business owns. Now think about what your 2021 plans are for downsizing or increasing these assets. What’s the true value of all your things? Your Property insurance should have adequate limits to cover all the property your business owns or uses, so consider any property you’re leasing as well. Having the proper amount of coverage will have a direct impact on how quickly your business will be able to recover after a loss this year.
One other coverage to consider with your property insurance is Business Interruption coverage. It became a hot topic in 2020 with the closing of businesses due to Covid-19. While it doesn’t currently cover viruses, this coverage does provide financial income for your business if you’re unable to operate due to a covered peril. Including this coverage in your strategy is just smart.
Having the right General Liability and property coverage is a key factor in your business’ 2021 strategy. Planning and obtaining the correct coverage now can prevent a lot of time and money wasted this year. We’re here to help you review your exposures and help mitigate some of those risk. Contact us today to discuss further.
Check back soon for part two of this series, where we’ll discuss other insurance considerations for your business strategy.
