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Owning a business requires planning for every possible scenario. In an ideal world, your biggest worry would be trying to figure out how to fulfill an overwhelming amount of orders or accommodate large numbers of customers. But there are also a few roadblocks you might encounter on the way to accomplishing your company’s goals. Thinking about these common things that can go wrong in a business helps you plan ahead to keep them from negatively impacting your company’s status.
Underestimating the Competition
Doing market research is important in the startup phase of opening a business to ensure there’s a need for the company’s products or services. This is also the ideal time to identify possible competitors and how they may impact your company.
Underestimating the competition is a common mistake entrepreneurs make. Staying a step ahead by tracking the competition’s sales trends and product launches can help you identify ways to minimize their impact on your company. If your business is in a highly competitive industry, it can also help to purchase insurance coverage for handling security breaches such as trade secret leaks.
Dealing with an Accident on Your Property
Workplace safety is an important part of a business plan, but accidents can still happen. While having a customer or employee get hurt on your property is emotionally upsetting, it can also have dire financial consequences for your company.
Naturally, you’ll need general liability insurance coverage to handle accident claims that include injuries and property damage. Workers’ compensation insurance is also essential for complying with state and federal laws while also taking care of your employees. But you might still need to work with an insurance agent to determine how much coverage your company needs. Businesses in high-risk industries may need additional coverage or special types of business insurance to cover any type of damage from an accident.
Experiencing a Cyberattack
Modern businesses face more threats than just simple burglaries. Cyberattacks and data breaches are unfortunately becoming more common each day, and they can cause a variety of problems that impact your business. In some cases, you may need to pay for an IT team to clean up a major attack and reinforce your company’s cybersecurity strategies. Or you might lose profits if your company’s systems must get shut down.
You can prevent cyberattacks by working with an IT company to make sure your business systems are as secure as possible. Cyber liability insurance may also be an option to cover your company’s financial needs in the event of a major security breach.
Forgetting to Plan for Handling Mistakes
Each aspect of a business plan is meant to prevent mistakes, but it’s still possible you or an employee could be accused of taking actions that lead to claims of negligence, giving bad advice, or even copyright infringement. Professional liability insurance, which is sometimes referred to as an errors and omissions policy, can cover costs associated with these types of situations, such as paying court-related expenses.
If you’re a business owner, make sure to protect it by purchasing the right insurance coverage. For affordable, reliable business insurance as well as homeowners, renters, motorcycle, and auto insurance, San Diego residents call on the trustworthy professionals at Altra Insurance Services. Reach out to us today to learn how we can satisfy all your insurance needs.