“Insurance is designed to help you get back to business if there is a loss, as an example, theft because you want to be able to continue quickly,” described Ben Calaf. “There are different types of policies and it depends on what your policy covers because coverage’s sometimes have certain limits too.” When getting insurance for your business it depends on what the type of industry it is. Also, insurance is important to have for your workers as well because if a business does not provide workers compensation to its employees then there are undesired penalties to be faced, which is not good for the business, owner, or the employees. Providing a safe work environment for your employees is a must. So why else do you need insurance? As Ben Calaf described, “You need to protect you and your assets from loss due to an accident, to make sure that your business is capable of surviving a natural disaster, to make sure to have a future for your business despite of if the owner of the business died and or if a key employee left, and to protect the business from law suits due to product failure or acts of employees. “

 

Ben Calaf then explained how it is crucial to understand what types of policies you have because policies tell you what is covered and what isn’t.  Plus, as he mentioned, a lot of policies today are credit driven so you want to know exactly what you are signing up for and what you have. “Look at your policy and don’t put it in the drawer if you don’t understand something, instead circle it and ask your agent.” He also went on to explain how significant it is to make sure you market yourself when you are going into business because you have to make yourself be known out there. “You need to tell people who you are; my name is____ and this is what I do___.”

 

When you are going into business a couple of ingredients that must be covered and cannot be overlooked are: commitment and involvement. It is essential to be committed to your business and involved as much as you can. Ben Calaf pointed out how important it is to share good stories with people around you and how good relationships are important for success. Moreover he directed entrepreneurs into the aspect of location and explained how locations are important because it depends on what type of business you are running there. As Ben Calaf explained in more detail about insurance he also explained how most of the times insurance is not enough. “There are many factors of failure: Managerial incompetence, unbalanced expertise, inexperience in management and in the line, neglect of business, fraud, disaster and thus along with having the right policies, insurance and such it is equally important to avoid factors of failure by planning and handling these aspects accurately.” Protect not just you, but your business and its employees too.

 

LAEDA offers the Entrepreneurial Development Training Program, which is a nine-week course conducted three times per year on a wide range of fourteen areas of general business practices and many subject areas. Our next session starts in the Fall. We welcome you to join our community of successful entrepreneurs, the program is free, but you must qualify. Visit our website at www.laeda.com or call (856) 338-1177 to learn more.