Business Insurance 101: What SME Owners Need To Know

Photo Under Creative Commons License: Steve Wilson

Whether you’re starting out in your own small to medium enterprise and are looking for basic information on insurance, or whether you’re looking for a refresher, you’ve come to the right place. Knowing where to start can be a little overwhelming, particularly while navigating the many legal and business requirements of starting an enterprise. Don’t fret if you’re feeling confused! Below is a list of some basic information you need to know to get started.

Insurance is everything

Before you even begin to contemplate your business as a whole, you need to think about insurance. Insurance is what will keep you financially secure if something goes drastically wrong. Take plenty of time to consider your options and, if in doubt, speak with someone about what would suit your needs. It’s even a great idea to find a particular industry insurer for advice. If you’re a tradesperson, for example, have a chat to a specialist company like Tradewise Insurance for industry-specific information.

Insure your goods and your business

Asset and revenue insurance will help cover the things that keep your business operating and flourishing. For instance, tradies rely heavily on their vehicle and tools. It’s vital they insure their vehicle against all motor-related issues, and that they insure their tools against burglary and breakdown to help protect their business. You can also insure against unexpected interruption of business or loss of profits due to unexpected circumstances. This protection is vital for small and medium enterprises!

Cover yourself and your workers

Personal and workers insurance is your best way of protecting yourself and other employees as well. Injury, illness or even death in the workplace can cause extreme hardship for the worker and their family. Workers insurance will not only save your business from expensive costs, but it will ensure your workers are protected should an accident occur. Personal insurance will also ensure you and your family are looked after in the event of an accident or illness. This can include short or long-term absences from work, a diagnosis of an illness, or any other type of trauma that will cause you to give up work. While it’s not fun to think about these potential circumstances, it’s incredibly important to look into the right type of cover.

Cover yourself against claims from the public

Public liability insurance means you will not need to pay any costs incurred from illness, injury or damage caused to a member of the public or their property as a result of your business and work. Put simply, if someone trips over your toolkit and breaks their leg, your public liability insurance will cover any legal costs incurred. This is an invaluable type of insurance to have for small and medium businesses.

These are the basic types of business insurance in a nutshell. Have you found insuring your business a confusing process? Or perhaps you’ve been in a situation where you wished you had the right type of cover? Share your best tips and thoughts in the comments.