By Brian McKay
Your start-up may be based around a truly revolutionary idea, and staffed by some incredible people, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be plain sailing from here on. Like anything in life, you’re not going to be able to reap the potential rewards of entrepreneurship without weathering some of the risks. Here, we’ve listed some of the universal risks all businesses face, and what you can do to minimize them.
Property Damage/Loss
From Wikimedia
There are a range of reasons why a business can experience property loss. Just like the things in your home, you need to take the necessary steps to protect your property against the unexpected. You can do this by running a thorough audit of your business’s premises, aiming to identify any areas where it’s especially vulnerable. It may be worth looking at some business owners’ insurance which will cover damage to your business’s assets, resulting from storms, fires, and other freak occurrences. Whether you’re renting your office or own it outright, there’ll be a policy to suit you.
Interruption
If your business undergoes a natural disaster, sudden power outage, or some other unexpected incident, it can force a functional business to relocate or even close for a period of time. This is why it’s essential to have a good disaster recovery plan, which includes data backup and recovery strategies, and some way of operating the business from one or more remote locations, all the while keeping employees updated on what’s going on. Specialist power systems and the use of cloud storage can give you a safety net against sudden technological issues, and you can protect yourself even further by getting some business interruption insurance. This will cover your loss of income and operating costs while you get things back on track.
Injury
Injuries in the workplace can not only sap productivity by taking someone out of action, but also inflate your insurance premiums drastically. In the worst-case scenarios, it can even lock your company into a period of costly litigation. Some injuries are unavoidable, but you can reduce the chances of one by making sure everyone on the workforce is educated and trained in health and safety, and that you have workers’ compensation insurance in place. In today’s suing culture, it’s easier than ever for a disgruntled employee to force their boss into a courtroom. You do not want this to happen!
Security Breach
From Wikimedia
Like pretty much all businesses, I’m sure that yours is dependent on the smooth flow of data. One incidence of data theft could bring your whole operation crashing down, so make sure you’re taking steps against it. At the very least, you should have commercial-grade cyber security software covering all the important devices at your business. Furthermore, you need to restrict access to physical servers, have a firm password policy in place, and have a plan for recovering your most important data if and when it gets lost. Again, there are insurance policies out there that can protect you from data loss, but the best insurance against it is good prevention!
