Starting your own business is always an exciting venture, however, along with the excitement comes an inevitable measure of risk. As an entrepreneur, you will be aware that the failure rate of new businesses is high.
Doubtless much of your energy will be directed towards following a business plan and growing the new venture in an effort to ensure that yours is a business that bucks the trend. Aside from this, it is important to guard against several other events that could upset any business and most particularly a fledgling one.
Negligible issues can at times put a business into serious crisis, so it is important to know the possible risks and protect your business against all these. This article will discuss the five most important areas every small business startup should consider protecting right from the beginning.
1- Public Liability Insurance
his is an insurance product that protects you in the event of claims brought by members of the public who are injured via your business activities or whose property is damaged in the course of your business. A good public liability insurance will ensure you are not financially out of pocket should such a person take you to court.
The policy will cover your legal expenses, any compensation awarded against you, medical fees and the cost of any repairs to remedy any damage your business has caused. Public liability insurance represents a big slice of the UK insurance market and you may want to use a comparison website to ensure you are getting the best product for your needs.
2- Safes
Some businesses, particularly small ones, may conduct many transactions in cash. While it may be sensible to ensure that all cash taken is banked at the end of the day, this is not always practicable. It is also prudent to have somewhere secure to keep anything more than a cash float during the working day.
Additionally, as a business owner, you are likely to have confidential paperwork and perhaps mobile phones and back-up devices for your computer. This is where a good safe comes in. Although it is possible to buy one for under one hundred pounds, the best ones cost considerably more but, as a general rule, installing a good safe is likely to lower your insurance premiums.
3- Insuring Your Gadgets
The loss or breakdown of expensive gadgets, including computers and other specialist technology, can be crippling to a business. This is why it is crucial to ensure you take out appropriate laptop insurance. If a particular gadget is crucial to continued running of your business, you may wish to look for a policy that offers a “like for like” replacement service within a defined period of time.
4- HR Help
If you have any employees or contractors working for you, HR assistance can be invaluable. It will ensure you adhere to all pertinent employment law regulations and stay on the right side of HMRC. You may want to outsource this function to any one of a number of specialist providers.
5- Guard Against Cyber Fraud
This is a real and growing threat for businesses of all sizes. Professional help is the best way to guard against the threat but, as a minimum, any business should have an entry-level security suite that encompasses a firewall, anti-virus protection, and anti-spam and phishing safeguards. Moreover, you should have your business website hosted at a highly secure server and make sure to use SSL protection.
The Bottom Line:
Every business has some risks associated with it, and these risks vary depending on the nature of business. However, the above five factors affect almost every new startup. So, if you are a startup founder and want to grow your business faster, make sure to guard your startup against all of the above mentioned risks.
