Ryan Hanley is the Vice President of Marketing at TrustedChoice.com and the Managing Editor of Agency Nation. He is also a speaker, podcaster and author of the Amazon best-seller, "Content Warfare." Ryan has over 12 years of insurance expertise and blogs frequently to help consumers understand complicated insurance topics.When you’re running a small or medium-sized business, budgets can be tight. On top of paying for employees, supplies, rent, taxes and advertising, you also have a yearly SMB insurance premium to cover. SMB insurance exists to guarantee that you’re protected under certain common circumstances, such as employees experiencing injury on the job or property damage due to a fire. Still, your insurance can run you thousands of dollars, and you may not even end up using it.Instead of sacrificing great coverage for insurance that is subpar, you can pursue the following tips to keep your premium costs low. In the process, you’ll be protecting everything that you’ve built and ensuring the future success of your business.
According to the United States Department of Labor, every single year, more than 4.1 million workers get sick or injured on the job. If this happens at your business, employees may go through your insurance, which will increase your premium bill.Employees need to be in a working space that is secure. To ensure that your environment is safe, train employees from day one, through handbooks and videos, on how to reduce the chance of injury and sickness. Encourage them to stay home if they’re not feeling well, have someone monitor employee safety, and keep stock of any safety supplies (like first aid kits) so that they’re available in case of emergency.
With property insurance, your business’ physical assets are protected, like products you might sell, computers you and your employees use, and your furniture. You can look at what your deductible is now and raise it to pay a lower premium every month. Though it’s a gamble, it can save you hundreds or thousands of dollars throughout the year.
Though it can be a hassle, you need to take the time to do background and criminal checks on your employees, as well as look into their references. You’re protecting yourself against people who may want to take advantage of your business and steal from you. If everything goes well with the checks and the references, you can also prevent theft by installing security systems in your workspace and on your computers. You’ll want to closely monitor employees, as well as make them feel comfortable enough to report any suspicious activity about their coworkers to you. If you aren’t diligent about who you hire, insurance companies could see that as a risk and quote you a higher premium. You want to give your insurance provider peace of mind that you’re doing everything possible to reduce risk.
If you’re running a business where employees use vehicles, before hiring them, look into their driving records. Your insurance will go up if your employees drive recklessly and get tickets, or even worse, into accidents. If drivers have clean records, you should still train them on best driving practices from the time they start at your business.Excellent insurance coverage for your SMB doesn’t have to come at a high price. By looking into who you hire, improving workplace conditions and assessing your deductibles, you can keep thousands of dollars per year in your pocket.Do you know any other ways that SMB owners can lower their insurance costs? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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