Do You Run Your Business From A Home Office? There is a growing trend with small enterprises today.
Many small business owners choose to run their business out of their homes.
There are a lot advantages to using a home office as a base.
It can be a very convenient and affordable solution.
All sort of business owners, from sales people to business consultants to lawyers, are deciding to skip the commute and extra office rent in favor of working from home.
For example, if you spend part of your year selling pottery at crafts fairs, it may make sense to actually set up your office and studio in your garage.
If you do book keeping at client offices a few days a week, it makes sense for you to have a home office for offsite work.
If you spend a lot of time on airplanes hopping from city to city as a business consultant or sales person, why not spend your other time in the comfort of your own house? Home Business Risks The practice of working from home has become acceptable for all sorts of different types of businesses.
In my opinion, the biggest risk is that business owners may skip some of the important details they would not skip if they worked in an outside office building.
This may not seem like a big deal, but it can be very risky.
Business Property Insurance Do you rely on your old home owners insurance policy to also cover your business property.
A typical home insurance policy does have some home contents protection.
However, if you need a lot of equipment or supplies, it may not be enough protection.
If your supplies computers, records, or equipment were damaged or stolen, how hard would it be for you to recover? If you think it would put you in a tough situation, you had better make sure you have proper coverage! Business Liability Insurance As with your property, you may figure that your home liability coverage will also cover you for your business.
A home policy is meant to protect you in case a visitor to your house claims that they were injured or had a property loss in your home.
But that was not meant to cover business liability.
By ignoring this risk, you may put your business at a huge risk.
Commercial Vehicle Insurance It is very common for home business owners to use their personal cars for work.
This is sensible a lot of times.
But it is not sensible to rely upon a personal car insurance policy to cover all business use.
If you transport inventory, supplies, or equipment in your car or truck, you may be taking a big risk if you are counting upon your personal auto insurance policy to cover the risk of loss, theft or damage! Home Business Insurance Solutions You have some simple ways to explore business insurance.
Sometimes you can add riders (options) to your personal policies in order to cover business use.
This is probably the easiest solution if you can do this.
One common small business solution is called a Business Owners Policy (BOP).
It is a package of protection that covers many types of small businesses.
Otherwise, you may want to find an experienced business insurance agent who can help you find affordable protection so you do not risk your business!