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Whether you are renting out your old home until you sell it or you own a large multi-unit rental property, it’s important that you are properly insured. If you are not, both you and your renters may get in trouble if anything happens.
Storms, slips and falls, and even equipment troubles can really mess up your bottom line if you are not prepared. Just one big payment to take care of any problems could really hurt you, especially if you can’t have renters for a while.
This is why you need to be ready with the right insurance!
If your home has a rental unit, it may be covered under your personal homeowner’s policy. However, make sure that you read the fine print to make sure that your rental property is, in fact, included.
If you have a separate rental property, there are several policies worth considering. The basic one, often called DP-1, covers the regular things such as fires and vandalism. The next step up, DP-2, would be a policy that covers storm damage, including hail damage and vandalism. There are times when this policy will cover collision in case a car hits your rental property.
The best policy that you could get would be an open peril policy (or DP-3), which covers pretty much everything unless it is specifically excluded in your plan. While you are covered with the basic insurance, the open peril policy will replace things at your cost. This will protect you much better than other policies.
You may also want to consider landlord protective policies, which cover any equipment that may break down. This can be a real life-saver if, for example, the furnace breaks down (or any other piece of large equipment).
Loss of rental income can also be covered. You may want to consider this if you have a multi-residential property. This will cover the loss of income if repairs need to be made and your units have to be left empty for an extended period of time. However, this will not cover times between renters.
No matter what insurance policy you have, make sure that you have liability coverage—and enough of it. This will help if you are ever sued. Especially with bigger apartment complexes, people are likely to fall or slip on the sidewalk. This insurance covers these claims.
Liability insurance comes in different forms, depending on how much you may need. A smaller property will need less coverage than a large property with pools, sidewalks, and even a gym.
You may need more if your property is in a high-crime area. However, you shouldn’t worry about this insurance. For only a few hundred dollars more a year, you may be able to have one million dollars in coverage.
It is important that you get as much insurance as you can afford. The more insurance that you have, the more likely your rental property will be safe no matter what happens. Though the basic plan is often enough for most rental properties, if something terrible happened, wouldn’t you rather be thoroughly protected?
No matter how much insurance you have, you should always make sure that you talk to your renters about protecting themselves as well. Renter’s insurance on their part is important to protect their personal property within the space they are renting.
Be sure to discuss your insurance policy with a professional. They will ensure that your rental venture is a success, even if there is an unforeseen disaster down the line. They may be able to tweak your homeowner’s insurance, though they will be able to go over your multiple options so that you can rest assured that you have exactly what you need and want.
If you pay any attention to automotive news, you already know that self-driving cars are a hot topic. Industry leaders claim that fully autonomous cars will be available on the commercial market within 10 years. In fact, there are already many cars on the road today that have semi-autonomous driving ability.
Adaptive cruise control was first introduced on the 1999 Mercedes-Benz S-Class and is becoming an available feature on almost every new vehicle. Adaptive cruise control uses radar to maintain a set distance between you and the car you are following. The car will automatically brake if the car in front slows down and will automatically speed back up if there is room to do so.
While this technology was initially only available on the high-priced models of luxury makes, it is now available on much more affordable cars—for example, a $19,000 Toyota Corolla now comes standard with this technology.
But adaptive cruise control is just the beginning. The Society of Automotive Engineers has developed a classification system with six levels to differentiate between the autonomous capabilities of a vehicle:
Today, there are numerous vehicles available that can offer Level 2 autonomy. The ability for Level 2 vehicles to allow occasional hands-off driving varies by manufacturer. While this emerging technology seems to be developing quickly, there are still many questions to be answered before Level 4 and 5 vehicles become a reality for the consumer market.
In theory, a Level 5 autonomous vehicle should be much safer than a Level 0, as you have taken out the possibility of human error. Fewer accidents leads to fewer insurance claims, and fewer insurance claims leads to lower auto insurance premiums for everyone. Of course, lower insurance premiums will lead to less profit for the insurance companies.
Some predict that autonomous cars could be the end of the auto insurance industry as we know it. But you shouldn’t get too excited yet—there are still things that can happen to the vehicle regardless of its autonomous capabilities. The vehicle could be stolen or vandalized, a tree could fall on it, flood waters could damage it, or any number of non-driving related incidents could happen.
For these reasons, auto insurance will remain a necessity for a long time to come. As long as there is car ownership, there will be a need for car insurance.
This question poses quite a dilemma for automakers, insurance companies, and local law enforcement. Ideally, the manufacturer would be liable in this scenario, as it is their product that failed. However, there are other factors—such as vehicle maintenance— that could lead to a crash.
Next time you are in a parking lot, take a look at the tires of every car you walk past. Most likely, you will see at least a few cars driving around on bald tires that should have been replaced long ago. Bald, worn, and dry-rotted tires will only provide a fraction of the grip that a new tire will provide—especially in wet conditions.
Thus, a fully autonomous vehicle on bald tires could still spin out and crash while making a turn in wet conditions. So then who is liable? The manufacturer who made the vehicle? The owner who had no control, but didn’t properly maintain the vehicle?
This is the million-dollar question that has yet to be answered. Laws and rules for determining who is at fault in an accident involving a self-driving vehicle will need a major overhaul.
While all autonomous vehicles might be programmed to operate under the same parameters and rules, every human driver is different. Some human drivers are extremely cautious when driving, some are risky. Some drivers signal every turn, others never do. Autonomous cars will need to take this human unpredictability into account in order to operate safely.
Some might think that human-operated vehicles will be extinct as soon as autonomous vehicles hit the market. In reality, widespread adoption will take many years or even decades. There are currently over 250 million registered vehicles in the United States alone. With the exception of a few manufacturer prototypes for autonomous testing, all of these vehicles are human-operated.
Those 250 million vehicles will not just vanish into thin air as soon as autonomous cars are available. It took over 15 years for adaptive cruise control to make its way from expensive luxury cars to economy cars. Fully autonomous cars will be no different. They will be cost-prohibitive for many when they first come out.
Over time, the cost of Level 5 autonomy will come down to where it is available and affordable on every car. Until then, robot drivers and humans will have to share the road.
Jeff Henderson is a licensed property and casualty insurance producer and has been with IYC since 2010. He handles new business accounts and works with clients to quote, issue, and service policies. He is able to help any retail, restaurant, service, and professional industries. Jeff loves seeing his client’s businesses succeed and is eager to help them by providing valuable insurance coverage at great prices. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, tennis, and anything involving cars.
‘What Happens When…’ is a video series in which we’ll talk about the most common insurance scenarios and how to get the most out of your coverage! Watch the whole series and more videos about insurance on YouTube!
Picture this: You’ve just bought your dream home. The whole process was a breeze. The sellers were willing to compromise on everything, and you got it for a steal.
So, you move in, and on your first night, you hear scratching in the walls. It sounds like…chewing—because it is. It’s thousands of termites chewing through your brand new house from the inside out, and suddenly, you have much bigger problems than how many boxes you have to unpack and where to put that ugly lamp that your mother-in-law bought you.
So what happens when you buy a house? Or what can happen during the home-buying process?
Well, unless you’re buying the house in cash, you have to have insurance on the home before you can close on it. And even if you can afford to pay for the house like that, you should still have insurance in place as soon as the property is legally yours. Otherwise, you’ve paid in full for something that, if an accident were to occur, you’d be paying thousands of dollars out of pocket to fix instead of one reasonable premium per year.
When you buy a house, the insurance company will first inspect it. They want to make sure they’re not insuring a property that has anything hazardous that could cause a claim. If the property already has something wrong with it, they want to know so you can’t submit a claim later to try to get them to fix it for you.
Which brings me to my next point…
You may not be aware of this, but even after a supposedly successful home inspection that yielded only some minor, easily fixable problems, your new property might have more issues that you’re not aware of. And whether you knew about them or not before closing on the new house, pre-existing issues are not covered under a homeowner’s policy. The insurance company does not sign on for any damage, neglect, or problems left behind by the previous owner, and it can leave you footing the bill.
Our advice to you? Since you can’t guarantee that every problem or concern will be addressed simply by a home inspection or the insurance company coming out to look out the house, be prepared to research the area to find out if it’s prone to any pest problems, infestations, flooding, or other things that could affect your home.
Also, ask your own questions to have peace of mind and full disclosure. It’s not that you don’t want the house, as every pre-owned home comes with its own quirks. It’s just that you’d rather be proactive than reactive, especially when these kinds of situations can lead to significant out-of-pocket costs if left too long.
Just keep in mind that what happens when you buy a house can be a lot more than you bargained for. So if you’re looking for a more extensive list of things to look out for or you want a consultation on a potential new purchase, give us a call today! We’ll help prepare you for all those scary “what happens when” scenarios!
New small business owners have a lot of things they need to take care of.
If you’re providing a certain product, you need to make sure that production is going on smoothly and that the product is meeting the standards you’ve set for yourself. Plus, you need to get into marketing and drive up the demand for your product.
Similarly, if you’re providing a service, you need to make sure that you have several good providers of that service on your payroll (unless you are the only one providing that service.) And marketing is important in this scenario too.
The point is, the smooth functioning of any business takes a lot of work. There are many things that must be considered and taken care of—administration, HR, sales, accounting etc. Given that a small business owner is usually going to have to pick up all these skills in a hurry, it’s quite likely that one aspect might get ignored.
Often, it’s bookkeeping/accounting that doesn’t get the necessary attention.
Sometimes, bad bookkeeping is just due to oversight. But other times, it happens because the small business owner might actually be afraid of what good record-keeping will reveal.
Many small businesses go out of business in the first six months due to a lack of capital. Running a business costs more than most business owners anticipate.
But this doesn’t mean you ignore accounting/bookkeeping altogether. In fact, managing your books well from the beginning will help you to make sure that you don’t go over the budget you’ve set for yourself.
The most important thing you need to know is what your company’s overall budget is.
Make sure you have a number in your head. Write that number down where you’ll see it every day. Tell people to remind you of that number every time you spend money on your business. Knowing where you’re starting out from is going to be the most important aspect of getting your business off the ground.
If you’re not in a place where you can hire a bookkeeper/accountant to help you out, you need to start writing things down yourself. This is also a task that you can assign to an assistant/manager, as long as that person is detail-oriented and has a good head for numbers.
Writing things down has the advantage of making things seem more real and might even help you to curb your expenditure in the long term.
Matching a job to a person can be a very stressful and difficult task. There are candidates that meet the needed requirements—and there are candidates that do not.
Finding the right person for a position means telling someone that they are hired, and it means telling a lot of other people that they did not get the job. Unfortunately, this can lead to some pretty sticky legal situations for companies who don’t employ best practices when dealing with prospective employees. It can also be a financially ruinous scenario for a company that does not have employment practices liability insurance (EPLI).
In this video, Alan discusses what you can and cannot say when interviewing potential employees, and how to avoid legal action down the line.
Since 2001, InsureYourCompany.com has been working with New Jersey small businesses to protect their assets and provide great employee benefits. For a free insurance quote for your business, click the banner below to contact our team of experts.
Your small business should always strive to be involved in the local community. After all, its members are the ones that keep you in business!
Giving back to your community is a natural decision. It allows you to show your appreciation for what people have done for you while simultaneously raising knowledge about your business and increasing interest in it.
These ideas will give you a starting place that will make it easier for you to give back to the community no matter what your budget.
This is the easiest way to give back to your community, and the one that many businesses turn to when they first start considering charitable options.
Pick a charity that means something to your company. Think about your company values and your buyer personas. What matters to your company? What matters to your buyers? Then, find a charity that speaks to those values. You can donate a specific amount, set out a percentage of your sales, or offer your customers the opportunity to partner with you in donation so that they can give to the charity, too.
This is especially beneficial to the community if you happen to live in a low-income area where many of the teams are made up of underprivileged kids.
Consider, for example, the difference you can make by gifting new uniforms to a team that’s still using ratty old jerseys that are ten years old or more. You’ll increase the kids’ confidence and let them know that someone in the community cares about them.
You don’t have to splash your business’s logo across those jerseys to make people take note, either; when you give to kids, people naturally notice what you’re doing.
Could you take one day a quarter and fill food boxes at a local food pantry? What about helping fix up a local school or playground? When you donate your time, you’re not just signing a check and walking away. You’re giving a tangible representation of your business’s donation that will be there for a long time to come.
Consider what your company does. Are you in a STEM field? Could your employees reach out to the community schools and teach the things you know best or encourage students to join your profession as they get older?
You could also partner with local programs that will allow your employees to develop deep relationships with students within local schools, giving them time off each week to spend with their sponsored child.
Send local kids to college or help fund a local event. Consider what speaks most to your business, then take the steps to make it happen!
Find a way to invite in the members of your community who are already doing their best to make a difference. A restaurant, for example, might become known for always having free coffee for first responders, while a tax preparation company might offer a discount to policemen and firemen or provide free advice to local charities.
Deciding how you’re going to give back to your local community can be a challenge, but it’s one that’s incredibly rewarding! Take the time to draw up a comprehensive plan for charitable giving throughout your company.
Property insurance may seem like an unnecessary expense—until you need it.
On a daily basis, you probably won’t see the effects of covering your home and property with a monthly premium. But when lightning strikes, a storm blows off the roof, or your water line breaks, this type of policy will become essential.
The majority of Americans don’t have a substantial emergency savings fund to cover these types of major expenses out of pocket. Even if your paycheck leaves you with extra money at the end of the month, chances are you are paying for your children’s college tuition or other regular expenses.
With property insurance, you don’t have to worry that an incident threatening your home’s livability will leave you in financial peril.
But what does property insurance actually cover? The answer to that question will play a key part in helping you make the best possible policy decision for your first home.
Generally speaking, the coverage range of property insurance can be broken down into six categories:
According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, dwelling coverage describes the part of your insurance policy that “pays for damage to your house and to structures attached to your house.” It typically covers plumbing, electrical wiring, heating, and permanently installed air-conditioning systems.
In many ways, dwelling coverage is the center of your property insurance. Other categories below—such as personal property, loss of use, and other structures—are determined as a percentage of this coverage.
If your policy includes $300,000 in dwelling coverage, for example, your other structure coverage may be 10 percent (or $30,000) to cover structures on your property. You should review this part of your property insurance regularly with your agent to make sure that your dwelling coverage doesn’t drop below the price it would cost to replace your home.
Generally limited to 50 percent of your dwelling coverage, personal property covers any of your personal belongings in your home such as furniture, electronics, appliances, and even clothing. Typically, this coverage extends even to items outside your home, such as a child’s locker or college dorm room. Coverage includes:
Even property in your home that you might not consider essential until they’re damaged can be expensive to replace. Personal property coverage ensures that you don’t fall into financial distress due to unforeseen accidents.
While the above two categories can help you should anything happen to your home, they don’t answer a major question: What happens if your home needs repairs and you have to move out on a temporary basis?
Loss of use coverage answers that question. It pays for the additional costs you incur if your home becomes temporarily uninhabitable during its repair or rebuild. As long as these living and housing expenses are reasonable, you will not have to worry about being responsible for any of these extra costs.
You and your family are legally responsible for any injury and property damage by others while they are in your home. Liability coverage helps to protect yourself against the potential costs that come with this responsibility should anything happen.
Imagine, for example, that someone falls down the stairs while visiting you. You may be held responsible for the damages caused. Personal liability coverage can pay for your legal expenses, as well as damages to the injured person.
Personal liability coverage is not dependent on the amount of your dwelling coverage. Most insurance policies provide a minimum coverage of $100,000 in coverage. If you feel that you need additional protection, you can increase the coverage to $500,000 or purchase an umbrella policy that adds further security.
You may notice that none of the above categories account for other structures on your property. What happens when your fence, detached garage, or shed gets damaged and needs repair?
Most insurance policies answer that question through their other structure coverage. Determined as a percentage of your dwelling coverage, it protects any additional structures on your property from the same type of problems and risks mentioned above.
In addition to the above, your insurance may cover a wide range of other areas. In most cases, you can add additional coverage to your existing policy in exchange for a higher premium. Some options include:
Combined, these six categories provide relatively broad financial coverage should anything happen to your home and property. That said, insurance is not comprehensive—and it’s just as important to understand what it doesn’t cover.
When deciding whether (and which) home insurance policy is right for you, understanding what isn’t covered is just as important as the alternative. Here are some of the items you will most likely remain liable for even after paying your premium:
The coverage may not be comprehensive. But you will find that the vast majority of incidents connected to your home and belongings are covered by property insurance.
While you can legally own a home without this type of policy, the financial hardship you could incur should something happens makes it a dangerous decision. Repairs to your home, loss of personal property, or legal liability could cost five and sometimes six figures. Unless you feel comfortable that you can quickly get this money should the need arise, a property insurance policy that can cover the expenses on your behalf is a better choice for financial stability.
That leaves you with finding a policy that works for your specific needs. And that’s exactly where we come in. If you’re a first-time homeowner looking for tips to find the best property insurance available in your area, contact us.
Every business owner asks these questions at some point: “I am starting a new business. Should I form an LLC or a Corporation? Do I even need to incorporate at all?”
If you’re even thinking about starting a business, you should seriously consider incorporating.
There are two major reasons to form a business entity:
For most new business owners, protecting personal assets is the major reason to incorporate. It is inexpensive, relatively easy, and can help shield you from lawsuits. For instance, if someone sues your company and it is not incorporated, they will be able to go after your personal assets, bank accounts, car, or even your home. If you are incorporated, personal assets that do not belong to the company are generally protected.
This is not a free pass for illegal activity, however. A business owner may still have personal liability if he or she does something fraudulent or fails to maintain a legal separation between their business and personal financial affairs. For example, if a business owner pays personal bills from a business checking account or ignores the legal formalities of the corporation, a court may set aside the corporate protection and personal assets may be at stake.
That’s why most businesses buy a commercial liability insurance policy. The right insurance policy will help protect you and your business.
The second major reason to incorporate is sharing equity in the business between two or more owners. Without an entity, such as an LLC or a Corporation, operating a business with more than one person creates a “partnership.” Generally, you don’t want to be in a “partnership” without another form of corporate protection. That’s because in a traditional partnership, all of the “partners” are personally liable for each other and for the business. So if your partner gets sued for breaching a contract, you could be on the hook.
Secondly, it is often difficult to resolve disputes in a partnership. Without bylaws or rules on voting rights, it can be difficult or impossible for the business to take action. When there is a dispute, it can lead to dissolution of the partnership—a messy and expensive process.
Great move. Now it’s time to choose a corporate structure.
The most common types of corporations are Limited Liability Companies (LLC) and Corporations (C-Corp). The biggest differences between the two are the tax consequences and operating rules.
Corporations are what most people think of when they hear the word “incorporate.” Wal-Mart, Exxon, and General Motors are all corporations. Corporations are business entities that are created by registering with the state and letting them know that you’re operating a business as a corporation. These types of businesses issue stock, have boards, and must abide by internal rules.
Corporations work best when there are a large number of owners and investors. Traditionally, a “corporation” allows people or other companies to invest or own part of the corporation without assuming any risk for the company’s conduct. If the company gets sued or loses all its money, the investor is only liable for the money they have invested. All other personal assets are protected.
Corporations require 3 main types of people:
Owners are the individuals or companies who own stock in the corporation. They share in the profits/losses of the company, but do not necessarily run it.
Directors act as representatives of the shareholders and are responsible for managing the company. They hire managers and make executive level decisions about what the company will do.
Finally, officers run the day-to-day operations of the organization. Typically, the president, vice president, secretary and treasurer are all officers of the company.
In some companies, especially smaller companies, a single person can hold multiple roles. For example, if you are the sole owner of a business, you might be the sole shareholder, single director, president, treasurer, and secretary.
In the most basic sense, each “share” entitles the shareholder to 1 vote. So, if a shareholder owns 51% of the company stock, that shareholder can effectively control the company’s actions by outvoting everyone else. However, shareholders will often agree to vote together and “pool” their votes for a desired outcome.
For example, if your company has 3 equal shareholders, two of them can vote together to block the third shareholder from taking any action, such as appointing a new board member. Two owners may also be able push the third out of the company.
Shareholder disputes can get complicated very quickly, especially for larger companies or companies with different classes of stock. That’s why most Corporations will hire an attorney to draft a “shareholder agreement” to protect the rights of all shareholders.
If you do form a Corporation, you will need to comply with corporate formalities. This means coming up with company bylaws, holding annual shareholder meetings, complying with corporate voting rules, and holding board meetings. If you fail to follow the corporate formalities, you could be personally liable for the actions of the business. It can also cause issues with the IRS.
The LLC is the most common type of corporate entity, and with good reason. An LLC is a separate legal entity which offers protections like a corporation, but without all the formalities. Generally speaking, LLCs can dispense with formal meetings, the board of directors, and some record-keeping requirements.
LLCs are also easy to form. Most states allow you to file articles of organization online. There is no specific form to follow and many states even automate the process via their online filing system.
Another advantage of the LLC is the flexibility of initial ownership percentages and organizational structure. You can allocate some shareholders to those who will profit or lose more than others depending on the success of the business. A Corporation, by contrast, will allocate profits and losses according to the percentage of ownership (shares).
A drawback of the LLC is that ownership rights cannot be transferred as easily as those in a Corporation. In fact, many LLCs have operating agreements that restrict the transfer of ownership. As a result, the LLC is often disfavored by investors.
One of the biggest drawbacks of a traditional Corporation is “double taxation.”
In simple terms, a traditional Corporation is considered a separate legal entity from its shareholders. Corporations pay taxes on their annual earnings, just like individuals. When Corporations pay out dividends to their shareholders, those payments are subject to income tax liabilities. So, if you’re the sole owner of a traditional Corporation, the business is taxed on its income and you are taxed again on payouts to you.
To get around this, you can form your company as a Corporation, but ask the IRS to tax it like a Partnership (Subchapter S of Chapter 1 of the IRS code). These are commonly referred to as “S-Corps.” The S-Corp election is only available to certain businesses who meet IRS criteria:
If your company is owned by another company, has more than one class of stock, has a lot of shareholders, or has foreign shareholders, an S-Corp is not available.
If you do take the S election, the Corporation is treated as a “pass-through” entity for tax purposes. This means that the owners report their share of the profits/losses on their individual tax returns and double taxation is eliminated.
However, S-Corps are often the subject of closer IRS scrutiny and must still comply with all the formalities of a traditional Corporation.
On the other hand, an LLC is automatically treated as a pass-through entity by the IRS. The owners of the LLC report their share of the LLC’s profits/losses on their personal tax return and double taxation is avoided.
LLCs can have foreign shareholders and are not subject to all the formalities of a Corporation. Keep in mind there are still rules that need to be followed to retain the protections of incorporating.
It is always best to consult with an experienced lawyer about issues you may face. If you are doing it yourself, you can often find free forms online from the Secretary of State’s website. You can quickly obtain a FEIN number for your business from the IRS website.
Technology Insurance Associates, LLC’s legal blog, samples and legal articles are made available for educational purposes only as a way to provide general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide legal advice.
By reading our blog, legal article and samples, you understand that there is no attorney-client relationship created between you and Technology Insurance Associates, LLC. Technology Insurance Associates, LLC’s legal blog, samples and legal articles are not legal advice. You should not act upon this information without seeking advice from a lawyer licensed in your own state or jurisdiction. The blog, samples and legal articles should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state or jurisdiction.
Your use of the blog, samples and legal articles is at your own risk. The materials presented in the blog, samples and legal articles may not reflect the most current legal developments, verdicts or settlements. These materials may be changed, improved, or updated without notice. Technology Insurance Associates, LLC. is not responsible for any errors or omissions in the content of this site or for damages arising from the use or performance of this site under any circumstances.
Michael Levenson has extensive experience working for insurance companies and in the health care field. Prior to joining InsureYourCompany.com, Michael was an attorney with one of the largest insurance defense firms in the country where he specialized in health care law and previously served as the judicial law clerk to a judge presiding in the New Jersey State Superior Court.
Mr. Levenson earned his Juris Doctor degree from Albany Law School with honors. While in law school, he served as a Constitutional Law Teaching Fellow and worked at Albany Law School’s Civil Rights and Disabilities Law Clinic, where he dealt with a myriad of health care law issues.
Your small business’s reputation is a critical part of your ability to continue to do business in the long run. Because you don’t have the reach of many larger companies, you may find that a single negative review or highly negative individual can go a long way toward pulling your business’s reputation down.
It’s important to keep track of your reputation and make sure you manage—and respond to—what’s being said about your business as effectively as possible.
Forbes recommends this tactic for personal reputation management, but it’s critical for businesses, too!
You need to know what’s being said about your business. The first two pages of Google’s search results are among the most critical for your online reputation. If customers search for your company name and get back negative reviews or scam reports at the top of the page, they’re more likely to turn to a competitor.
Flooding those pages with positive information about your business, on the other hand, will help show customers just how great your company is.
If you don’t want negative reviews left about your company, providing positive customer service is a great way to ensure that you’re getting the kinds of reviews you want.
There will be times when things go wrong for your small business. Perhaps you’ve made an error with a customer order, failed to deliver a product on time, or provided a substandard product. How you deal with that is just as important as the mistake itself!
In many cases—on your Facebook page or Yelp, for example—you have the ability to respond to complaints and negative reviews from your customers. This is a perfect way to build your online reputation and show customers that you genuinely care about them!
Be transparent about your customer service policies and practices, and let your customers see that you’re willing to go the extra mile to make them happy. Continued interactions and complaints from a single customer when you’re showcasing your best customer service skills will also quickly become apparent as a case of sour grapes, not a reflection on your entire business.
You think that you’re communicating privately with a customer, but not only could it show up publicly later, that customer might choose to put it out there!
The reality is, nothing that is communicated online is private. If you want a great online reputation, you need to continuously monitor how you communicate and what you share.
Some things, you can handle yourself. If you notice that your business’s reputation is starting to degrade faster than you can keep up, however, don’t wait until it’s completely destroyed before you ask for help! There are some things that are just easier when you have a professional at your back, and online reputation management is one of them.
You can’t sue someone for being unhappy with the services you’ve provided, but in some cases, you can have exceedingly negative and false content removed. Become familiar with online defamation laws, especially as they pertain to you as the owner of your business and your business as a whole. Those laws are in place to protect your reputation!
It’s easy to pretend that there’s nothing going on behind your back, but the truth is, negative discussions don’t go away. Address them proactively and deal with what your customers are saying to help protect your online reputation.
Maintaining a great online reputation is a challenge for many small businesses. All it takes is one unhappy customer to send your reputation plummeting, especially if you aren’t prepared to address it quickly. By actively monitoring customer feedback and responding quickly and professionally, you can get ahead of the curve and prove that you are great to do business with!
Your business insurance is a critical part of your ability to do business. You know that you want to do what’s best for both your company and your customers, but often, you don’t think about business insurance on a daily basis.
For those who work in certain types of industries, especially independent contractors, it’s easy to forget to renew your business insurance. You may have obtained insurance in order to meet contract requirements at the start of a new gig, but perhaps you’ve gotten into the habit of letting your policies expire between projects.
That is, of course, until you need it again and have to scramble to renew.
If you’re in danger of letting your business insurance lapse, consider these key reasons why it’s important to keep your insurance up to date.
You can’t do business without your vital office equipment: your computers, your inventory, and other critical items, for example. Business insurance will ensure that you’re protected in the event that a thief slips in and takes off with the things your business needs in order to continue operation.
You’ve chosen a safe, sturdy building for your business, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t end up in the middle of a flood, a fire, or another natural disaster that proceeds to wreak havoc on your business plan. Don’t find yourself in the middle of a disaster, knowing full well that your business has lost everything.
Mistakes happen on a regular basis, and depending on your business—the medical profession, for example—you may face the possibility of a malpractice suit. Business insurance will help protect you when this happens.
If an employee is hurt or does something that hurts a customer, you’re responsible for it. Is your insurance in place to help take care of that event?
One customer can walk across a water-covered floor after taking a look at the warning signs without a single problem. Another may slip and fall on a spill that no one had noticed. If a customer is hurt while on your property, you may be liable—and you don’t want to face that liability without insurance!
You may not complete your responsibilities exactly as a customer expected, or you may make a prediction of benefits that ends up being totally false. If a customer chooses to sue you for those mistakes, a simple slip-up could have serious repercussions for your business! Thankfully, business insurance is designed to protect you from those types of events.
From an employee who runs their mouth about a competitor and ends up costing your company a suit for defamation to an employee who is slipping items out of the warehouse and selling them out of the back of their truck, you’ll have plenty of opportunities for employees to create serious problems with your finances. If you don’t have business insurance to cover your back, your company will be out the money.
You don’t know whether or not your employees all have auto insurance—and not only that, if they’re driving a company vehicle and have an accident, you may be liable! If you have company vehicles, your business insurance policy should include a section for those vehicles and any potential disasters that occur while your employees are behind the wheel.
If you allow your business insurance to lapse, you won’t be covered in the event of a range of disasters. While many carriers will allow you to immediately resume coverage after making a late payment, they might not be so willing to cover your company if disaster has already struck.
Whether you’re in need of a new business insurance company or you’re realizing the importance of business insurance for the first time, contact us today to learn how we can help your business prepare for a wide range of potential problems.
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