Insurance Insights

Many small business owners who have had their companies in operation for several years or more probably have their customers bases established pretty well, and are able to operate comfortably thanks to those people or other businesses. However, when long-standing companies want to expand, they might have relatively few ideas for doing so. Fortunately, there are a number of steps they can take to get their name out there once again.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as part of the U.S. Department of Labor is responsible for setting and enforcing workplace safety standards. At the end of 2012, the administration looked at the most common safety violations occurring in the workplace and have listed the top 10. Among them are faulty ladders, lack of respiratory protection, and violation with electrical systems and wiring.

The rates at which the nation’s largest banks are willing to extend credit to small businesses has been infamously constrained since the onset of the recent recession, and have loosened only slightly as the rest of the economy made considerable steps forward. However, that tightness may now finally be relaxing, based on new data from the lending industry.

Current economic conditions may be improving, but some have questioned whether they will be all that conducive to small business success, and it seems those concerns are now echoed by owners of these companies themselves going forward.

If you own a pottery store, you have certain specific risks to be aware of. You sell items like ceramic bowls, mugs and plates, hand-crafted items and those purchased from various vendors. You may also carry porcelain and stoneware in your store.  All of your products can be damaged easily, making extreme weather conditions and natural disasters your biggest business risks. Vandalism, theft and shoplifting, as well as liabilities, are other risks to be aware of. Cover these and other risks with business insurance policies.

Natural disasters are becoming bigger events in the news as information today travels at the speed of lightening. From wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes to tsunamis with a few floods, landslides, and blizzards thrown in, all natural disasters have an impact on people and businesses.

The date by which the Affordable Care Act’s consumer coverage mandate will go into effect is rapidly approaching, but before that January 1 deadline, there are a few other notable things that will have to take place. This includes businesses of all sizes notifying their workers about the availability of the ACA’s exchanges, which open for enrollment in less than a month. However, many companies may not be ready.

The economic recovery of the last few years has been a very strong positive for small businesses, but new analysis shows that it has perhaps not been as good as it possibly could have been.

If you’ve been operating a business for a while, it may be time to make some changes. Maybe that includes taking your business overseas. Expanding your business overseas gives you more opportunities for growth and sales, and can improve your overall success. But there is also international business risk, which leads to some important things to consider before you make the jump.

Many small businesses are now devoting a greater amount of time and potentially resources to increasing their social media presence, but what many may not know is that there’s a right and a wrong way that they can go about these efforts. Avoiding the latter and sticking closely to the former will help to ensure that they are successful in their attempts to reach more consumers through these channels.