Branching off from our discussion of whether you need an entity for your business, one related issue that’s important to keep in mind is what types and amounts of insurance you should obtain and maintain with respect to your business.

Whether the insurance policy is personal in nature (such as a policy to cover your personal automobile or home) or commercial in nature (worker’s compensation, professional liability, etc), insurance plays a vital role in the minimization and management of risks associated with the operation of your business.   We will go over insurance that is more commercial in nature next time, but for now, we will talk about insurance that is more personal.

What Types Of  Insurance Should You Have?  

While the overall answer will ultimately depend on the nature of your business, there are some types of insurance, particularly personal in nature, that are always a good idea to obtain and maintain because they protect you on a personal level– no matter what happens to the business.  To the greatest extent possible, business owners should strive to minimize and manage their personal risk so that their capacity to focus on the business operations will not suffer as a result of a personal loss.

While this may seem like common sense, if you’re a business owner who also owns a home, you’re going to want to make sure you have homeowner’s insurance of an adequate type and amount, which can help protect you from accidents that happen at home or may have occurred due to your own actions.  In order to run your business, you need to make sure your home, and items inside the home, is adequately protected–so all of your resources can be focused on the business.

This concept also applies to business owners who do not own a home, but who rent.  Renter’s insurance is equally as important if you are a renter to protect your home and items inside your home (which may or may not be useful in your business).

While there are other coverages which probably seem like common sense (e.g. personal automobile insurance or health insurance), you probably get the point concerning insurance which is personal in nature and are more curious about insurance which is commercial in nature. 

We will visit commercial insurance coverages next time, but before we leave this topic, it is important to drive home one more point:

Because many small business owners operate their businesses as sole proprietors (i.e. entities for which there is little to no separation of assets, profits, liabilities and obligations), it is especially important to consider how best to protect your personal assets which may directly or indirectly impact the operation of your business.