5 Myths About Business Insurance

The sad difficult-to-market truth about public liability insurance is that it doesn't really care about you as a person. Instead it works out where you are on a spreadsheet, how much you could cost the company and whether you're worth the risk. It's a form of gambling whereby if you lose, you sort of win, which is supposed to balance things out. Also, just like gambling, the house always wins and in this case it should win, because if it didn't, everyone would lose.

That is admittedly a tortured and awkward way of putting things, so now that I've successfully confused myself - let alone any of you reading this - into a neat little muddle, let's go through five popular myths regarding to business insurance.

1. I don't need insurance because I'm careful

It's an understandable logic, but it's not always up to you when you have an accident. Let's put the fact that everyone has off days to one side for the moment and consider that you cannot always control the factors that circle your life on a daily basis. A good analogy would be driving: it doesn't matter how careful a driver you are, there are millions of other people on the roads who really aren't and might be about to leap out of that turning too late for you to do anything about.

Being careful is a given. In fact, insurance is unlikely to cover you at all if you are reckless or have behaved stupidly, but being careful can only stop so many accidents. Business insurance is there to catch the rest.

2. I don't need employers' liability for temps or volunteers

This is just plain incorrect. The requirement for insurance is not triggered by you having a full time contract or paying an individual for their services.

If you think about why insurance is there in the first place, this does make sense. You are responsible for the well being of these people because they are doing what you tell them to do (or at least they should be). If they then have an accident or become ill due to something that you've done, they should be able to seek compensation for that. Whether the individual involved is paid or not, or is full time or not, really doesn't and shouldn't factor into the equation.

3. I'm not big enough to need insurance

This argument can cut both ways. If you're not that big, you probably can't afford not to have insurance as well. A single unfortunate accident could put out of business completely. If you're not a big company, then chances are that unless you do something extraordinarily risky, your premiums won't be that big either. What you pay is largely dependent on the size and scale of your operations. Equally if you do something that is so dangerous that you have such high premiums, you really can't afford to not have insurance anyway so you might just have to live with that expense. Additionally, if you're a small company, you could actually be personally liable for some claims and some of your personal assets could exposed depending on the nature of the liability, so it's even more important to check up on this.

4. I work from home therefore am covered by my home insurance

That might be something you want to check. Most home insurance policies won't cover a workplace, and if you work out of a spare room or from the kitchen table, you might find you've inadvertently turned part of your home into a commercial property.

Although you probably won't need anything like public liability insurance as it's unlikely that you'll be receiving a large number of visitors, some form of cover for important documents, equipment, or anything else that's critical to the running of your business might be something you need to look into.

5. If it was that important, it would be a legal requirement

I can understand the logic in this - after all car insurance is a legal requirement, as is employers' liability, so why not other forms of business cover like public liability insurance?

I'm not sure why it isn't a legal requirement, but even with this in mind, it would not reflect well on you as a company if you had reached a certain size or level of risk and hadn't taken it out without a very good reason.

Sample Collection Letter Templates and Why They Do Not Work

Many businesses are attempting to recover funds owed to them by using a collection letter template. The hunt on Google for sample collection letters and templates has been on since the first bill that was sent out by anyone. Most searchers are finding needless results and sometimes coming up with collections gold by obtaining the Holy Grail, "a free collection letter template." Happy to have this secret weapon the person downloads and begins to make this letter their own. They then send it out to the person or company that owes them and wait patiently for the cash to roll in.

After waiting a month the creditor still sits empty handed wondering what has gone wrong? Why hasn't the collection letter worked? It should have! It was courteous and polite. It was well written. The template provided me space to even put a payment address and to format the amount owed in a way that should have persuaded the debtor to pay. But still you receive nothing in return.

Many a template copy of collection letter has fell on deft ears due to one simple fact; it was sent by the same person whom the payee has ignored in the past and will continue to ignore in the future. The reason these letter fail is not the senders fault. Its not because you aren't owed the money rightfully. They just aren't given the authority deserved by your debtor.

The solution!

A flat fee service is the perfect way to initiate an action that will include a third party but not retain percentage of the money owed to you. Paying a low flat fee upfront to have the power of a licensed collection agency put forth demand for payment increases the likelihood of collection ten times what a first party letter from you can do. If the person owing you cash was going to pay you they would have done so when the money was due another letter from you are not going to do the trick.

Debtors will not become motivated to pay simply from one more collection letter from the person or organization they owe money to. It is necessary at this point to bring in a third party who can escalate the nature of the debt to a governing body who can not only impact credit but advise and seek out legal alternatives to debt recovery for their clients.

These companies usually provide a grace period allowing for every dime collected to be paid direct to you. You also have the option once the initial dunning period is over to move forward with a more aggressive contingency based collection if that is necessary.

You have taken the first step in attempting the recovering of funds owed to you! Don't waste it by sending just one more letter! Implement a more successful strategy by using a flat fee service that will give you the strength of third party intervention while allowing you to save time and money not chasing deadbeats. Freeing up your to get back to what matters most, growing your business and assisting your current paying customers.

What Is a Business Success Coach?

A Business success coach and consulting is about making improvements and changes so that you and your business perform at a much higher level, continually growing. No matter what field you're in, the principles of coaching/consulting remain the same.

A Business success coach/consulting helps to get the most out of your time, resources and investments. Coaching/consulting is a collaborative, solution - focused, result - oriented and systematic process in which the coach/consultant facilitates the enhancement of work performance and life experience. The role of the business coach/consultant is to keep the owners and managers focused on clearly defined goals, challenging thinking, beliefs and assumptions, offering constructive feedback with action keeping you on a track to what is needed for success, one that has lasting value.

Success coaching/consulting helps owners of small and medium size companies with their sales, marketing, management, team building and so much more.

Most importantly just like a sporting coach, your business coach/consultant keeps you focused on your game plan, which is to get and keep your business operating at a Peak Performance Level generating success in each area.

Business Consulting and Coaching Is the fastest and one of the highest R.O.I. (return on investment) than any other tool or service, especially when you use a Peak Performance Consulting Firm that generates the majority of their fees on the back end... (On New Business Product or Services) structuring their working contract, becoming "vested" with the client. By using a Consulting Firm like this you are guaranteed results for the simple fact is the consulting/coaching firm must produce to get paid.

A sports coach will make you run more laps and make you worker harder than you would on your own, even when you don't feel like it. A sports coach will tell it like it is and they will listen.

Fortunately, a Business Coach does many of the same things, but in a way that is focused on creating a successful business.

The role of a Business Coach is to coach business owners to through guidance, support, accountability and encouragement.

Business Success Coaching helps owners of small and medium sized businesses with their sales, marketing, management, team building and so much more. Most importantly, just like a sporting coach, your Business Coach will make you focus on the game. The game is a serious one and what we have found out in our years of consulting and coaching that with the right tweaks and adjustments with a plan that has checks and balance we always see a vast improvement and we see it in several areas within the company creating a balanced environment and when you have this your bottom line is always effected in the positive way..

Small Business Advice: So You Want to Have It All? DO THIS

There is a colossal difference between getting by and gettin' it done.

Getting by means playing it safe, sometimes even small.

Doing what's yours to do every day and no more.

Taking on projects and doing them half-assed. (And never doing any of them exceedingly well because there are too many on your plate or your heart just isn't in it.)

Hiding behind administrative tasks because it's easier than trying to sell something.

The problem is, when you just get by, you are essentially handing over your power and your outcomes to forces outside of your business.

Scary.

It's common for people to hire me when they are tired of "just getting by." (And hey, they know when this is because they feel angry, irritated, or have this inner-knowing that they could be doing sooooooo much more.)

My clients feel this way because somewhere along the way they turned down the volume in their business in return for perceived security.

Or because they thought it was easier.

Or they stopped believing they could HAVE more.

Or frankly, they lost their mojo.

Unfortunately, when you just get by, you can't possibly win. Because in order to HAVE IT ALL, (money, time off, more help, freedom), you have to GIVE IT YOUR ALL.

Not for just one hour. Not for just one day.

Every single moment of every single day that you're the owner.

(No wonder people are tempted to throw in the towel and go to work for someone else!)

Getting' in done is a lot more work. But the reward is worth the effort and risk.

When you do what's yours to do in your business and then do even more... that's when things start to ROCK.

You suddenly sell more. You attract a high-level, kick-ass client.

You deliver a program that impacts people's lives in a memorable way.

Your confidence soars, producing more money, freedom, and impact. And then the cycle starts again.

Is it time for you to HAVE IT ALL? DO THIS:

Take Action. What's the very next step you can take in your business? Big. Small. Hard. Fun. Scary. Identify one thing you are willing to right now and DO IT. There's a great deal of freedom in taking action, it will boost your confidence and move your business forward in ways you didn't know were possible.

Let what FREAKS you LEAD you. There are times in your business you have to go all the way to the edge. And then decided whether or not you want to jump. Doing what makes you uncomfortable will create new opportunities, along with a new normal. Try doing one thing outside of your comfort zone every day for a week. See what happens.

Do it Anyway. I can't tell you how many times I get the full run-down of all the reason why someone can't do something. Reasons are excuses in drag. Do the work when you want to. When you don't. When you're sick. When you're soaring. No one said owning a business was easy... but the only way to win is to DO THE WORK.

A Reputation Is All We Really Have

I was recently accused of an impropriety, that was false, but it got my blood to boil. It made me think why others might perceive me as dishonest or out of line in what I was doing. Then I tried to put it all in perspective and realized that in the final analysis, when we breath our last breath, when they stick us in the grave, that all we really leave behind is our reputation of being a "good" person or not. So for the record, I want to be known as a good, caring and honest person who helped others become better and helped lift them up in some way.

We hear of scandals on a daily basis, how a person of high standing did something to or with someone that was "inappropriate" or "misguided" or "off color". Whether or not it is true, the damage has been done and others may begin to mistrust the individual or may no longer hold this person in as high esteem as before. If the tale is true, then so be it, but if the tale is a falsehood, then it may become a tragedy.

In our political world and in the business world, opponents or competitors will at times stretch the truth or take a comment out of context, and use it to besmirch another's good name, product or reputation. I guess that tactic is as old as the world. Remember the serpent used it to incite Cane to kill his brother Able.

So here is my suggestion; if you think someone is dealing falsely with another, maybe it would be a good idea to do a little investigation to determine what is really going on before you publish a condemnation of the person. You could even go to the person directly and ask them if what you are seeing or hearing is correct. If you are the person whose reputation is being slandered, then maybe you can stand up and correct whatever is happening or out of line, or defend yourself if it is a falsehood.

The reality is that we all live in a world of imperfect people and we all make mistakes. We must be sure that we do our best to be totally "above board" and act as honestly as we can. Don't even go close to the edge of right or wrong, stay away from that ground so there is no misunderstanding.

If we behave ourselves in a manner that is always appropriate, then we will develop a reputation of being a good honest person. Clients and customers will know this and will be more apt to do business with us. When the obituary is read at our memorial service, let's all hope that the person giving the obit will have nothing but good to say and that the listeners will agree. Good luck.