A Business and Risk Update
You buy commercial insurance to protect your business from the unforeseen events that might cause a claim, damage, or loss. Commercial insurance provides the financial resources necessary to help your business recover from a covered loss. As your business grows, so does your risk. As societal norms change, your business risks also change. A commercial insurance review can help you better understand your new risks and how best to manage them.
Common Emerging Risks
1. The connected workplace is allowing employees to work from remote locations. However, this can create new liabilities for businesses. Remote workplaces create increased risk of cyber breaches, undocumented workers’ compensation claims, and other HR issues.
2. The use of imported products can adversely affect your businesses risk. If you use imported products as part of your manufacturing process, you have an increased risk of that product failing. You may then have difficulty recovering your losses in a foreign county.
3. Employee or customer injuries, property damage, or failure to meet contractual obligations are all examples of liability risks that can lead to costly lawsuits and fines for small organizations.
4. The shortage of skilled workers can also increase your business risk. Set up a thorough training program to ensure all new employees have an understanding of their job duties and functions.
5. Business interruption losses can close your business down. For example, a natural disaster could impact the area you operate in, making it impossible to go into the office or causing severe damage to inventory or equipment. Or, if your team is very small as is often the case in small businesses, even something small like an illness could interrupt operations for a day or two. It is important to have the right kind of business insurance to cover a shutdown. Coverage can include payroll, extra expenses, and lost revenue.
6. Loss of brand reputation can kill your business overnight with the use of social media. Make sure you respond quickly to all client concerns and have a social media policy for your business.
Insurance is a key component of every business plan. By understanding these small business risks, you can take steps early on to manage the above risks and protect your property and possessions when disaster strikes.