Insurance Insights

Keeping your business property secure with locks and gates makes it secure from intruders who might steal your merchandise or cash, but it also deters vandalism. Criminal acts like vandalism leave marks on your building, therefore giving off the impression that others can do the same. There are a number of ways to prevent vandalism and deter criminals from entering your property.

Beauty salons provide services to men and women, including cutting and coloring hair, manicures and pedicures, and sometimes waxing as well. Operating a beauty salon can provide a lucrative income and become a successful business, but it also has its own set of risks. Since you rely on electrical tools and equipment to operate your beauty salon, you are further increasing the risk of accidents or damage.

Even if you have invested in the best possible commercial insurance, there are some ways business owners commonly mess up when filing a claim after an accident or incident occurs that results in damage or destruction.

Couriers provide a unique delivery experience for individuals or businesses that require documents, information, packages, or mail in a swift and efficient manner. Rather than using a mail service that doesn’t guarantee the time of delivery, many people choose to hire a courier service to hand-deliver documents or packages, often on the same day. Since courier services are frequently local, customers can get their important documents quickly, and are willing to pay a higher price for the service. However, being a courier or running a courier business has its own set of risks, including theft, accidents, and a variety of liabilities. The risks associated with being a courier make insurance a vital part of having a secure business.

Couriers provide a unique delivery experience for individuals or businesses that require documents, information, packages, or mail in a swift and efficient manner. Rather than using a mail service that doesn’t guarantee the time of delivery, many people choose to hire a courier service to hand-deliver documents or packages, often on the same day. Since courier services are frequently local, customers can get their important documents quickly, and are willing to pay a higher price for the service. However, being a courier or running a courier business has its own set of risks, including theft, accidents, and a variety of liabilities. The risks associated with being a courier make insurance a vital part of having a secure business.

All in all, it seems as though small business owners really do have a health advantage over other workers. According to a recent Gallup Poll, small business owners or entrepreneurs have a distinct advantage over other workers when it comes to four of the primary health factors: obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes. For the most part, entrepreneurs lead healthier lifestyles as well by exercising more and eating healthier. The one area where other workers are taking better care of themselves, in this regard, is on the issue of smoking as 18 percent of other workers smoke and 19 percent of entrepreneurs smoke.

At some point during your business operations, you’re likely going to need transit or storage services for moving or storing property, whether it is for your business or your customer’s belongings. Whether you’re relocating your business to another location and need to have your electronics and office furniture moved for you, or you have a business requiring transit, such as a food delivery service. While the belongings are being moved or stored, are you sure they’re protected? Especially if you are moving or storing expensive things, such as computer equipment or electronics, office furniture, or landscaping equipment, insuring it is the only way to have monetary protection against possible loss, theft, or damage.

Business owners have their share of business risks to worry about, with unexpected events like fires being one of the major ones. A fire can break out and before you reach the fire department, could destroy your commercial property, contents, paperwork, electrical systems, and more. Not to mention the personal injuries and deaths that could be caused by a building fire. According to the Insurance Institute of Business & Home Safety (IBHS), about 3,500 people are each are killed in fires. This is why as part of Building Safety Month, the IBHS wants to inform businesses of the importance of fire sprinklers and why they should obtain them.

Now, more than any other time in recent history, it’s important for small and large businesses alike to pay close attention to their credit scores. Unfortunately, some small business owners didn’t learn this important bit of information until after a time when needed credit was denied based on the current credit score of their businesses. The good news is that this is something that can be fixed. While no magic bullet quick fix is available, these steps can help you greatly improve your small business credit score.

Small business owners face plenty of challenges in today’s marketplace. Mobile payments systems are helping take one big worry off the hands of small businesses today while also looking to the future. The 2011 Juniper report suggests that while mobile payments accounted for roughly $240 billion dollars in sales for 2011, those numbers would increase to upwards of $670 billion dollars by the year 2015. In other words, if small business owners are looking for new ways to embrace the future, mobile payments systems need to be on the tops of their lists.