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Best In-Class Business Insurance for Technology Firms & IT Consultants
Many companies are increasingly outsourcing IT services to external providers. While at it, they’re sharing sensitive customer or employee information with third-parties. This arrangement poses internal and external cyber risks. So, both a company and its managed IT services provider bear a degree of cyber liability in the event of personal data theft, loss, or inadvertent disclosure.
There are two types of cyber risk insurance options: first-party policy and third-party policy. If your company processes any personally identifiable information (PII), such as social security numbers, you need to protect yourself with the right cyber liability insurance. Companies that require such protection include managed IT services providers, staffing agencies, and independent IT consultants.
To help clarify the difference between the two cyber insurance options, consider a slip and fall claim, where a tenant sustains physical injury after falling on stairs that require a handrail:
Here’s a look at the difference between first-party and third-party insurance policies:
First-Party Cyber Liability Insurance
First-party cyber insurance is ideal for non-IT companies storing or handling employee or customer information. These firms bear direct legal responsibility for the safety of the sensitive data they’re managing. A non-IT provider may face inadvertent disclosure or similar claims if criminals breached their cyberinfrastructure and stole customer or staff data. In that case, first-party data breach insurance would cover any settlement determined in or out of court.
Consider this scenario: You’re a consultant, and a cyber attacker has accessed one of your servers holding client and employee details, including names, birthdates, bank account info, and social security numbers. The criminal has locked you out of your IT system, and they’re demanding a generous ransom before they can allow you back in. That’s a typical ransomware attack! Happily, you have first-party cyber liability insurance, and you can file a claim in case of the following outcomes of the data breach:
Third-Party Cyber Liability Insurance
Third-party liability insurance covers IT firms, independent IT contractors, or individuals providing outsourced IT services. From a legal perspective, these professionals are liable for any data breach they could have reasonably prevented. They’re directly in charge of developing and securing computing infrastructure and data storages on behalf of their clients.
Your tech service can benefit from third-party cyber risk insurance if a client (or business partner) holds you legally liable for:
Bottom Line: Cyber Liability Insurance is Your IT Firm’s Safety Net
As an IT provider, the sensitive personal information you receive, process, maintain, or transmit is a lucrative target for cybercriminals. It’s not uncommon for data breach victims, such as IT services consumers, their customers, or their staff, to include their providers in compensation lawsuits. Cyber liability insurance protects you against potential costs associated with data breach claims against your company.
Whether you’re involved in a short-term or long-term IT project, Insure Your Company can help you select the right and secure cyber risk insurance. Get in touch with us for a comprehensive evaluation of your IT business insurance needs!
Enthusiasm is contagious, that’s the old saying at least, right?
What if you brought the level of enthusiasm you have for your passions in life, into your work environment. Enthusiasm creates an upbeat work culture that boosts productivity and becomes more enjoyable for everyone. When you are enthusiastic, your team works harder because enthusiasm stimulates your brain.
Clients want to work with passionate organizations. Your clients will instantly notice your enthusiasm, which will build their trust in your capabilities because of your obvious passion.
Enthusiasm brings positivity and positivity brings success!
Regardless of your age or station in life, you can be at risk for lawsuits because we live in an exceptionally litigious culture. When this occurs, you can lose just about everything, including your hard-earned investments and savings.
When you have an umbrella insurance policy, however, you don’t have to worry since this type of policy provides the extra coverage you need.
Here’s what you need to know about personal umbrella insurance and why you may need it.
Simply put, umbrella insurance, also known as excess liability insurance, is additional liability insurance coverage. The purpose of this type of policy is to give you extra insurance protection from lawsuits and major claims so that your assets are protected.
In other words, it gives you liability coverage that goes beyond the limits of your auto, homeowner’s, or boat insurance policy.
In addition to providing additional liability protection, this type of insurance policy also protects clients in situations that aren’t typically covered by a home insurance policy. These include things such as a wrongful eviction, slander, libel, invasion of privacy, and others. It also offers protection from litigation that arises from bodily and personal injuries, property damage, and legal defense expenses because of lawsuits.
Assets protection is the main benefit of having a personal umbrella insurance policy. Here are some examples.
Besides assets protection, there are other benefits to having a personal umbrella insurance policy.
On the other hand, umbrella insurance doesn’t cover everything, such as:
Although umbrella insurance isn’t required, it’s usually purchased by people who need it more than others, such as those who are more at risk for lawsuits, including:
It’s important to determine if you need this type of insurance coverage. Please contact us and let one of our experienced and highly trained insurance agents help you make this decision.
As you grow your small business, you don’t just want mediocre employees who will put in an average day’s work, right? Instead, you want exceptional staff. You want talent that is eager to come into work every day. You need employees who are invested in your organization, brand, and industry.
By utilizing these key strategies to build your company culture, you’ll be able to substantially increase the odds that you’ll be able to attract top talent and keep that talent long-term.
What’s important to your company as a whole? What core values do you want to shape your organization? It’s critical to begin shaping these values as early as possible in your company’s life. Once you’ve created them, enforce them! Make sure that you’re encouraging honesty and creating an environment that centers around those core values.
Trust is one of the key elements in any relationship—and that’s particularly true of the relationship between an employee and their employer. You want trustworthy employees who will bring you key information: when they’re struggling, what they need to know versus what they do know, any personal problems that might be impacting their ability to complete their job, etc.
In order to create that atmosphere of trust, you need to be trustworthy yourself! Let your employees know that they can count on you by following through on your promises and providing them with key information when it’s relevant.
You want engaged employees at your business. In 2015, only about 32% of employees were actively engaged at work. Disengaged employees are less productive, less interested in what’s going on around them, and more likely to cause problems at work.
To avoid these challenges, look for opportunities for team-building. Eat together, play together, and show your team that they’re appreciated. The more you build up your team, the better they will work together—and the better the odds that they’ll give you their best.
Today’s candidates are constantly looking for opportunities to grow personally and professionally. Which means they are looking for employers who will provide them with those opportunities.
In the early days of your business, you may not be able to provide things like tuition compensation for your employees, but you can offer key benefits that will allow them to continue to learn. This can include supporting time off for learning opportunities, offering the chance to go to seminars and events, and paying for certifications for your employees.
If you want to attract a broader range of talent, consider offering something interesting at your business. You could consider offering something like a cool workspace that will intrigue the top talent in your field. For example, provide the chance to work with cutting-edge technology or offering a room filled with retro arcade games where employees can relax during their breaks. The space you offer your employees can create a big difference in their engagement and their desire to stay with your company.
One of the most important elements in keeping your employees is a safe work environment where everyone has equal opportunities to contribute. If your employees don’t feel safe at work, they aren’t going to stay with you long!
Create an atmosphere where harassment and threats are quickly dealt with. Offer opportunities for employees of every race and gender. Open the doors for disabled employees. By offering an inclusive environment, you’ll expand your potential employee pool and make it easier to capture the talent you need.
Even in the earliest days of your business, it’s important to choose your employees carefully. If you need more help shaping your company, including selecting the right insurance coverage for your business, contact us today to learn how we can help.
Picking just a few tips for a first-time homebuyer is not as easy as it sounds. If you have never been through the home buying process, you will be amazed at the volume of information and new language you’ll learn during the process.
This isn’t to say that it’s an arduous process—it should be anything but that! Buying a first home should be an exciting and rewarding time in your life—you are taking a giant step that will benefit you and your family for years and years to come.
Because of the responsibility of home ownership, you need to become aware of the buying process and surround yourself with an experienced, trustworthy, and hard-working team of professionals.
Money management is the first—and obvious—area that you should be concerned with. Not only should your income and cash on hand be able to handle the basic costs of down payment and monthly mortgage payments, you also need to factor in projected maintenance costs, utilities, taxes, home insurance, and the scariest category of all: the emergency fund.
These expenses are mostly self-explanatory, except maybe for the home insurance category. First-time homebuyers have never needed to buy home insurance and probably have no idea what is involved. Simply shopping for the cheapest policy is not always the smartest option.
Your income has to cover all of these recurring expenses, some of which will increase every year (i.e., taxes). Buying a home on a shoestring is a risky proposition—if something major goes wrong, it can wreck your finances to the point where recovery will be long and difficult.
Building on the money theme, this tip is vital. No matter how good your home inspector was or the rave reviews from the selling agent about how great the house is, after you move in, anything that goes wrong is your responsibility to fix. Entering into the home buying process with the understanding that the unexpected can and often does happen, and having the proper financial resources—which includes a well-structured insurance policy—will make your home ownership experience much more enjoyable.
Put yourself in this scenario: It’s your first full day after moving into your new home with your loving spouse. After taking some time off from work to move in, it’s time to get back to it. You are in the shower at 6:30 in the morning in the upstairs bath, when all of a sudden, your significant other comes running up the stairs screaming that the sink in the kitchen is backing up with the shower water and it’s leaking all over the beautiful hardwood floor that you fell in love with!
What happens next? Can you say emergency fund and good insurance policy?
You will need someone to fix something at some time, hopefully not immediately, but it will happen eventually. Now is the time to gather information on reputable repair people: HVAC, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, pest control company, etc.
Take time to meet your new neighbors and see who they are happy with—you’ll make friends in the process and build your support list at the same time. You don’t want to be Googling plumbers at 7 AM when the water is pouring out of your kitchen sink.
This has been mentioned a few times, but having the proper coverage in place for your home is so essential, it can’t be understated. A home is probably the largest single financial investment you will make in your lifetime—don’t risk it with improper/inadequate insurance coverage. Not all policies are the same—just as with your automobile policy, there are many options and variables to consider.
When you buy your home and set up the mortgage, unless you are buying in cash, the lender will not issue a mortgage without a policy in place. They need to be sure that in the event of a major problem their investment in your home is protected. You need to be sure that your policy protects you as well. The last thing you need are gaps in coverage should a catastrophe happen. Understanding the potential threats to your home is part of getting proper coverage.
Is your home in a floodplain? Do major weather-related events happen—hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires? You might have a difficult time answering some of these questions and that’s why one of the most important members of your new home buying team is your insurance agent. They know your home’s area and understand any possible dangers.
Every business has a goal. In order to achieve your goal, you are constantly analyzing your results, reworking concepts and aiming to achieve a way to hit your goal and new levels of success for your organization. Being in tune with your imagination will thrust your business forward.
To think outside of the box, take constructive criticism, create new ideas and re-use old ideas in new ways is a success trait that will thrust your business forward. To make your imagination productive, You must organize your ideas ensuring that each idea is productive towards your organizations’ goal.
It is time to re-embrace your imagination and put it to work for the success of your business!
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Are you a new small business owner hiring employees for the first time? If so, you’re probably just starting to realize how hard it can be to oversee your workers.
One of the most challenging aspects of running a small business is hiring great people and keeping them around to ensure your company remains successful. That’s why workforce management is so critical.
Here are seven basic tips for workforce management, along with a few considerations and warnings.
A major part of being a small business owner is knowing and obeying your state and federal employment and hiring laws. Failing to understand and comply with these laws, such as the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act), can lead to facing lawsuits.
It’s imperative that your business has EPLI (Employment Practices Liability Insurance). This is insurance coverage that protects a business against the various threats linked to the hiring process. An EPLI insurance policy covers a wide range of risks, including accusations of sexual harassment, wrongful termination, wage and hour law violations, contract violations, and other threats.
No matter how casual you strive to make your workplace, all of your company policies should be documented in writing instead of just given orally. One of the primary reasons is for easier and clearer employee training. Not to mention, it’s often easier to settle disputes and manage tricky situations if there is written documentation to refer to.
Your new employees also need to understand all the steps involved with their tasks in order to perform them well and not feel like they’re out to sea with no guidance. They need to be provided with detailed job descriptions and receive systematic training that is well documented, so they can jump right in feeling prepared.
A huge part of any company’s operations is payroll. As an employer, you need to ensure your employees are paid on time and their paychecks are correct. Furthermore, there are strict requirements from the IRS as well as your state department of revenue that must be obeyed. These include those, such as wage/hour compliance, withholding compliance, and tax filing.
To be able to recruit and keep your best workers, you must provide an attractive and comprehensive employee benefits package. Keep in mind that the foundation of an exceptional employee benefits package is good health insurance. And if you can afford to provide ancillary benefits such as vision and dental, your employees will likely appreciate it.
Providing paid time from work should also be included, along with pay for sick days, personal days, funeral leave, holidays, and vacations. And of course, don’t forget about maternity and paternity leave for new parents on your growing staff!
When assigning tasks, consider each employee’s unique talents, experience, and work histories. Think of how you can challenge your workers to further develop their skills so that they can remain motivated and productive.
On the other hand, be careful not to micromanage, which means excessively observing and controlling every aspect of an employee’s job. When you constantly look over the shoulder of an employee, you can make him or her to feel inadequate, which can result in a loss of engagement, initiative, and creativity.
Effective workforce management involves setting the right business hours. When determining your business hours, you’ll need to consider certain factors, such as the business hours of companies near you and the standard within your industry.
Also, it’s a good idea to have your business open earlier than your competitors. Another consideration is the weather. Often, companies have longer hours in summer, spring, and early autumn than they do in winter when the days are shorter.
Some small business owners are afraid to ask their employees if they would be willing to change shifts, but this is a mistake. Surprisingly, some people prefer a night shift, so it doesn’t hurt to simply ask. Often, parents want to work at night to be able to spend more time with their children during the day.
But before asking, it helps to explain why your business needs for a shift change. Rather than being a dictator, consider your employees’ needs and practice two-way communication.
Along with managing your employees well, making sure your business has sufficient insurance coverage should be one of your top concerns as a small business owner. At InsureYourCompany.com, we work with a wide range of businesses in New Jersey and nationwide. Contact us and tell us about your business today!
While you may not always be able to forecast when you’ll have to suddenly fill a position, having a proper backfilling strategy in place can help minimize disruption to workflows and production processes within your organization.
According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, employee absenteeism due to illness costs employers up to $84 billion annually. These costs are even higher when you factor in lost productivity due to employee termination, vacation, pregnancy leave, and resignations.
So, how do small businesses cope with the temporary unavailability of mission-critical staff?
Backfilling is the filling of a job position that becomes open after an employee takes up a new role, goes on a leave of absence, or their employment is ended. This can be done through various methods, including promoting an existing employee to the vacant position, hiring from within the organization, or hiring a new employee externally. Backfilling is important to maintain continuity in the operations of the organization and to ensure that there is no disruption in the workflow. It also helps to retain employees by providing opportunities for career advancement and growth within the company.
Effectively backfill a position with strategies that include developing succession plans, establishing clear job descriptions, and providing adequate training and support to new hires. A new employee with the skills and qualifications of the departing one need to backfill a position in the meantime.
Backfilling ensures continuity of work processes, minimizing costly disruptions and possible downtimes. You may backfill position when an employee is:
Keep in mind that an employee does not lose their employment status when they go on parental leave, and they’ll be coming back to their usual duties and responsibilities once their leave is over. Similarly, it’s illegal for an employer to fire an employee based on their pregnancy or need for maternity leave. So, the hiring manager should make it very clear to a potential replacement that their role is not permanent and that your company just need to backfill the position.
When a worker goes on a holiday or is sick, they may leave a skill gap that only backfilling can address. Managerial positions and specialties are prone to that problem because employers do not usually build strategic redundancies for these roles.
If an employee is terminated or quits their job, backfilling can produce a short-term or even permanent replacement.
Backfilling may involve contingency planning before the need to fill a vacancy arises in your organization. The following strategies can help:
Identify roles that have no redundancies. Typical scenarios would include a small business with only one certified accountant, a web development company with just one PHP programmer, or a restaurant with only one qualified head chef. Likewise, identify positions that are likely to fall vacant soon, such as when an employee has announced that they or their partner is pregnant, or you’re considering firing a worker due to incompetence.
Recording the skills of each member of your workforce helps satisfy a backfill demand as soon as it comes up. The database makes it easy to compare the available skills with the required abilities at any point in time. For example, an employee who has left sales for another department may still have the competencies needed to fill a vacant position in the sales department in the future.
Cross-training employees help develop some in-house redundancies in readiness for backfilling when a worker goes on a vacation or extended leave. You could cross-train salespeople in contact center roles (and vice versa), for instance. Training subordinates for superior responsibilities, such as managerial roles, can also work.
You may need to hire a contract replacement to backfill in case of extended employee absence, for example, due to parental leave or severe sickness/injury.
Backfilling has many advantages, including minimizing hiring costs if a qualified replacement is sourced in-house. Likewise, cross-training reduces employee onboarding time and expenses. It can also increase employee retention, as skilled workers look forward to taking up more significant responsibilities in an organization.
However, the approach can also lead to costly redundancies, such as training and paying multiple employees for the same role without increasing their overall productivity. In addition, many companies wait until it’s too late to replace an underperforming employee.
Some employers choose a more forward-looking approach to employee replacement, such as conducting informational job interviews regularly even when no positions are open in their organizations. Others hire part-time staff to take up short-term responsibilities at lower costs.
Small businesses backfill job positions to minimize interruptions to workflows. The strategy helps organizations cope with the uncertainties associated with filling emergency job vacancies. It’s just a matter of determining if it’s the right approach for your unique business.
Backfilling a position is a crucial process in any business. When an employee leaves or is promoted to another role, it creates a void in the workforce that needs to be filled. Hiring managers must take the initiative to find suitable candidates for the position and fill it as quickly as possible. Failing to do so can lead to a decline in productivity and morale, as the workload may become too much for the rest of the team to handle. In addition, top talent may be hesitant to join an organization that fails to fill vacant positions promptly and effectively. Backfilling a position ensures that the organization remains fully staffed, which is necessary for meeting the needs and expectations of clients and customers. It also demonstrates that the organization values its employees and recognizes their contributions.
Backfilling and replacement are two terms commonly used in the context of employment and workforce management. When an employee takes a leave of absence, such as parental leave, it’s important for the organization to ensure that their position is adequately filled to ensure continuity of operations.
Backfilling a position refers to bringing in a temporary employee to fill the gap left by the absent employee, without replacing them permanently. This is typically done to keep things running smoothly and avoid gaps in productivity or workflow. Replacement, on the other hand, refers to finding a permanent replacement for an employee who has left the organization. This may involve conducting interviews, recruiting new talent, and onboarding the new employee until they are fully integrated into the team. While both backfilling and replacement have their place in workforce management, it’s important to carefully consider the pros and cons of each approach and to make the decision that is best for your specific organization and circumstances.
When an employee leaves a position, it is crucial to promptly find a suitable replacement. However, the hiring process can be time-consuming, which poses challenges for the organization in managing the workload during the transition period. To address this issue, backfilling the position is a viable solution. There are several methods that can be employed:
One approach is to allocate additional responsibilities to current employees. While this helps maintain the workflow, it carries the risk of overtime or overwork, potentially compromising productivity.
Another option is to engage a temporary worker to fulfill the role temporarily. However, this can be expensive and may not be a sustainable long-term solution.
Considering previous applicants or individuals who have expressed interest in working for the organization is a time-saving strategy. This approach leverages potential candidates who are already familiar with the company’s culture and operations, saving valuable time and resources.
Backfilling a position requires careful consideration of all available options to ensure the organization can continue to function effectively while actively seeking a permanent replacement. Conducting a thorough evaluation of all possible alternatives is essential to guarantee the continued smooth operation of the organization during the search for a permanent replacement.
Backfilling a position comes with its own set of challenges that organizations must navigate skillfully. One major obstacle is the time-consuming nature of the hiring process. It becomes crucial to find a suitable replacement quickly, ensuring a smooth transition and maintaining productivity. However, the pressure to act swiftly can lead to rushed decisions and potentially result in hiring someone who isn’t the right fit for the role.
Another challenge lies in effectively managing the workload during the interim period. Asking current employees to take on additional responsibilities can put a strain on them, leading to burnout and decreased productivity. Moreover, the cost of hiring temporary workers can stretch the organization’s budget and may not be a sustainable long-term solution.
It is crucial to find the right person when backfilling a position. Making a misstep in this process could negatively impact team dynamics and overall performance. Therefore, careful evaluation and consideration of all available options such as skills and experience are essential.
To overcome these challenges, businesses must strike a delicate balance between acting promptly and making informed decisions. They need to consider the cost and gather all relevant information and analyze it thoroughly before taking any action, but they also need to be quick and agile to respond to new developments and changing circumstances.
In conclusion, although backfilling a position presents challenges, small businesses can overcome them by employing strategic planning, thoughtful decision-making, and a commitment to maintaining productivity and stability. By addressing these challenges effectively, businesses can seamlessly navigate through employee transitions and continue on the path to success.
When you’re starting a new small business, it’s natural to have grandiose dreams of growth. But are you actually prepared for that growth to actually happen?
As weird as it sounds, if you experience too much growth in too short a period of time, you could actually end up struggling considerably. But the good news is that there are strategies to ensure that things don’t get out of hand.
You need to take the time to plan out mid-term and long-term goals. Planning is everything because you need to make sure you know where you are headed and what you are going to do when you get there.
Having goals will also help ensure that your entire team knows the plan so that they can work to get you where you want to be. Without having goals, you could experience rapid growth and not have any way of dealing with it.
It’s important to have a good framework in place regarding your finances early on. This includes being able to manage your cash flow efficiently and having the proper financing in place. Having more money sounds great, but if you aren’t using it correctly, it can become problematic.
Be sure that you have a solid accounting department in place. Utilize the best software to keep track of your accounts receivables and accounts payables. You may also want to consider working with a third-party accounting firm to get the help that you need.
You need to make sure you have the right team in place before you can tackle any growth goals head-on. Although you may be looking forward to growing, you don’t want to over-hire. You can always use temporary help until you are able to hire the right individuals.
As you hire new employees, it’s important to have the best policies and procedures in place. This includes training your employees so they know their role and how to help you with your growth.
As your staff grows, your insurance needs will also change. You may need to have worker’s compensation insurance, and it might be time to look at offering various benefits to your employees, including health and dental.
As your business grows, you also want to make sure that you are assessing and scaling your service as necessary. Whether it’s production or service output, you need to make sure you are capable of keeping up with the demand. This includes identifying whether you need new employees, new processes, or even need to invest in new technology.
If you fail to assess and scale services accordingly, rapid small business growth can end up being your downfall instead of the moment you have been waiting for.
You also need to remember that customer service should always be your top priority. It’s easy to forget that your customers come first when you are dealing with considerably more orders. However, the growth will only be temporary if you can’t provide good customer service.
Remember that your customers are what will sustain you. We also live in a world of social media, and one bad review can be detrimental to future business.
Ultimately, it comes down to planning. The more you plan and the more you talk to your employees about your plan, the easier it will be for you to deal with growth as it happens. Some things will need to change, but as long as you know what those things are before it happens, you will be ready for all of the growth, regardless of how fast it may occur.
To have a successful business begins at the top. In other words, great leadership is important. It drives everything forward while keeping stability at the same time.
To be a great leader is not about being the boss. It’s so much more. It’s inspiring your employees by example – both guiding and equipping them with the skills to achieve individual goals and the business’. It’s having the confidence to innovate. And most importantly, motivating yourself and others to do what is right.
Being a great leader isn’t always easy, but don’t be discouraged. Remember that every challenge is an opportunity for us to grow, and become better than we ever thought possible.
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InsureYourCompany.com has been treating clients like family for over 15 years. You’ll never have to talk to an automated phone system—we have business insurance experts ready to provide personalized customer service, not only helping you with your insurance and employee benefits needs, but showing you how to be a smarter business owner.
If you are in the IT industry InsureYourCompany.com is the insurance agent you want to work with, we are technology insurance experts and have changed the way you do business. See below a list of professionals who we help today.
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