Small Business Insurance Packages Do Not Have to Be Overwhelming

If you have a small to medium-sized business, you may feel overwhelmed with the number of risks you face and unsure where to even start when it comes to your business insurance. We can help! The risks you face as a business owner are very different than the risks you face in your personal life. An experienced commercial insurance agent can assist you in identifying and transferring the risks your business faces. We’d love to sit down with you, understand your operations and custom tailor an insurance program to meet your distinct needs.

Small Business Tips

As a small business owner, your “To-Do” list and your “To-Have” list are never-ending. We are here to give you advice from trusted professionals to protect not only your business but your wallet too. Read our top 5 tips, preferably before, you get your small business insured.

• Find an agent you know, like, and trust. Our recommendation would be an independent agent because they have more products, markets, and flexibility. In fairness, there are also great captive agents, but they will be tied to a small number of insurance companies. The bottom line is If you know, like, and trust your agent, anything that comes up (claims, accidents or lawsuits) your agent will have your back and advocate for you throughout the process.
• Tell your agent all about your business operations. Don’t hold back because you’re afraid they won’t cover you if you drive elderly people around or deliver pizzas after hours. It is far worse to find out after a loss that something wasn’t covered because it wasn’t disclosed up-front. We are a counselor and advisor to our clients, but we can't properly protect what we don't know about.
• Set up your business properly. Form that LLC and get good legal advice on what contracts, if any, you should be using. Don’t risk exposing your home, cars, and life savings because you wanted to save a few dollars. If you haven’t done this yet, it’s not too late.
• Start with commercial general liability. This protects you from all manner of liability, personal injury, and property damage such as if someone slips and falls, someone gets injured by your product or someone claims you slandered them. The best part about liability coverage is the insurance company has a duty to defend you against claims involving a covered loss. They hire an attorney and pay for it. If you are giving professional advice or doing consulting, look for a policy that can wrap professional liability and commercial general liability together for cost savings, most will.
• If you occupy space such as retail, restaurant, or manufacturing, make sure you’ve got business income coverage. You may already have building and content coverage to recover your inventory and rebuild after a fire. But can your business survive for 3, 6, or even 12 months with no revenue coming in during that rebuilding time?

Tell your insurance agent what’s going on throughout the year.

Did you just hire your first employee? Congrats on your success! Now let’s talk about employee-related coverage, such as employment practices, employee theft, stopgap, and hired an employee non-owned auto. The more information you give, the better we are able to protect your business.

Contact Reno Insurance Agency to discuss your small business and insurance considerations as your business grows. We are here to help!