Small Business

How to Find the Best Small Business Insurance for Your Business

The average claim for a customer injury or property damage is about $30,000. If a claim leads to a lawsuit, then it can cost upwards of $75,000 to defend and settle. With that information, most small business owners would agree that small business insurance is a priority. No business is too small to be sued, burglarized or damaged by a fire. And no business owner wants an unexpected event to wipe out their hard work or investments. Thankfully, small business insurance can help protect your company and safeguard your income.

LLC Insurance

What Is LLC Insurance? LLC insurance is short for limited liability company insurance. It helps protect LLCs from different liability claims, like bodily injury or property damage caused by your:  Business Employees Products  Many small businesses register as LLCs. This separates your business assets from your personal belongings. However, it doesn’t protect your business from the various risks it may… Read More »LLC Insurance

Guidance to Help Reopen Small Businesses Safely

Preparing For The Next Step REOPENING BUSINESSES To help our clients safely reopen as states ease restrictions, Travelers Insurance Company created a robust suite of risk management resources featuring a series of webinars and articles, with podcasts and interactive tools, some of which are coming soon. Check frequently for new information, including information for your small business clients to help… Read More »Guidance to Help Reopen Small Businesses Safely

25 Best Businesses to Start Right Now

25 Best Businesses to Start Right NowStarting your own business requires a giant leap of faith, and the type of business you open could mean the difference between a dream deferred and a thriving business of your own. Forget the fancy degrees and bank loans — you can now start a profit-generating venture with a WiFi connection and a little seed money.

While launching a new business of your own is risky and requires long hours and sacrifice, you can soon be reaping the benefits of being your own boss and perhaps making more money than in your former 9 to 5. Depending on the economic climate and current trends, certain industries and types of businesses may prove more successful than the 10 worst businesses to start right now.

(Download our free eBook: Opportunity Knocks: How to Find and Pursue a Business Idea That’s Right for You)

Here are 25 small business ideas you can start right now. While they span industries, audiences, and financing, they’re all within reach for someone who’s determined to climb out of their cubicle.

1. Mobile Food Business

Forget the Golden Arches, we’re in the Golden Age of the Food Truck! All across the U.S., families and the hungry lunchtime crowd are flocking to food trucks for fresh, affordable local eats and the fast, convenient dining experience. Born out of a slow economy in the late aughts, when people were hard-pressed for time (longer hours, fewer breaks) and looking for a quick, cheap bite, the mobile-food concept is now more appealing than ever.

Market size has skyrocketed from $615 million in 2012 to $2.7 billion in 2017 — solidifying mobile dining as the fastest growing segment in the food industry. Startup costs are a fraction of opening a restaurant, so if you have a knack for whipping up delicious eats and a desire to keep on trucking, consider meals on wheels as your next venture.Read More »25 Best Businesses to Start Right Now

Stressed? Not Sleeping? Here’s What Science Says About Sleep and How Much You Need to Be a Productive Small Business Owner

Be a Productive Small Business OwnerRunning a small business can be demanding, and you’ve probably found yourself working late into the night on more than one occasion or unable to sleep due to the stresses of the day. Naturally, this can erode your ability to be a small business owner.

If so, you’re not alone. More than one-third of American adults are sleep-deprived.

But to give each day their best, adults need seven to eight hours of sleep each night. Getting less than the required amount of sleep can affect your health, your mood and your brain’s ability to function—and the longer you go without the sleep you need, the more the harmful effects compound.

So it pays to make sleep a priority every night of the week, even if you need to cut back on your work time to do so. Here’s what science has to say about sleep, why you should make it a priority and how to make sure you get the ZZZs you need.Read More »Stressed? Not Sleeping? Here’s What Science Says About Sleep and How Much You Need to Be a Productive Small Business Owner

10 Worst Businesses to Start Right Now

Image: 10 Worst Businesses to Start Right NowOpening your own small business is an exhilarating undertaking made even more exciting if you’re successful. No matter how skilled a business person you are, venturing into stagnating or dwindling industries makes it more likely that your business will be one of the 50 percent that fails within the first five years.

Help ensure your success by steering clear of these likely-to-fail businesses.

10. Restaurant

Opening a restaurant is no small order, as the 23 percent failure rate within the first year illustrates. Independent eateries find it hard to compete with restaurant chains able to buy bulk product at big discounts.Read More »10 Worst Businesses to Start Right Now

How to Onboard and Train Employees into a Safety Culture

How to Onboard and Train Employees into a Safety CultureOnce you attract and hire qualified job candidates to your open positions, having an onboarding and training process can help employees work safely and effectively. A continuous onboarding program will help orient employees not only to the functional details of employment, such as appropriate safety procedures, but also to the safety culture of the organization.

Employee retention strategies, such as onboarding and training programs, can also help protect the considerable time and expense invested in recruiting and hiring new employees. According to the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) at the University of California at Berkeley, the costs of replacing an employee are approximately 9% of an employee’s annual wage. In addition to any lost productivity and institutional knowledge, those costs include recruitment, selection, the costs of learning on the job and any separation costs.Read More »How to Onboard and Train Employees into a Safety Culture

Smoke and heat detection systems inspection, testing and maintenance

Smoke and Heat Detection Introduction

This article focuses on inspection, testing and maintenance (ITM) requirements for smoke and heat detection systems. Fire detection systems can provide early detection and notification of a fire emergency; therefore, it is essential that they are maintained appropriately.

This article also assumes that the smoke and heat detection systems are UL Listed or FM Approved systems and have been properly installed by reputable, certified, alarm system contractors. ITM programs cannot overcome poor system design or installation deficiencies.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Standard 72, National Fire Alarm Code, is the recognized standard for ITM of fire alarm equipment. For complete information on ITM of devices other than smoke and heat detectors covered within this bulletin, refer to NFPA 72, your equipment manufacturers operational/ maintenance manual or your Risk Control consultant.

This blog post is intended to familiarize building owners and/or persons responsible for fire detection systems about the necessary ITM of smoke and heat detectors. It is also intended as a guide on how to conduct ITM, ITM frequencies, and potential consequences for not having an ITM program for detection systems.

Smoke and heat detector differences
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Contractor Insurance Requirements – A Primer

This article was originally published by AmWINS Group, Inc. It was edited and rewritten to simplify the content. To read the original article please click here.

primerWhen risk management department is assigned to focus on the major project, including construction, with particular attention to the insurance requirements to be imposed on the general contractor and any subcontractors, it’s very important not to make the insurance requirements so onerous that contractors are discouraged from bidding on the project.For those of us, who has not been involved in such projects before, let’s review insurance requirements from different projects and how those may affect our company (let’s call it ABC company – the one who impose insurance requirements).
Outdated Insurance Terminology
What may strike us about the old insurance requirements is the insurance terminology used. There is reference to “comprehensive general liability insurance” including endorsements listed as “broad form property damage,” “broad form blanket contractual liability,” “cross liability,” “XCU” and “additional named insured.” The limits are also listed as split limits – one applicable to bodily injury, and another lesser limit applicable to property damage.Similarly, the auto insurance requirement refers to “comprehensive auto liability” and workers’ compensation insurance includes the “broad form all states endorsement.” Further, all of the requirements are to be evidenced by a certificate of insurance that provides certificate holder a 30 days advance notice of cancellation. It becomes readily apparent that these requirements are so outdated as to be virtually useless – the coverage, endorsements and limits listed are obsolete and are no longer available. We must start from the beginning.Read More »Contractor Insurance Requirements – A Primer