Risk & Business Magazine McFarlan Rowlands Magazine Fall 2017 | Page 29

SMALL BUSINESSES
Ensuring Small Businesses Don’t
Get Lost In The Shuffle
S
tarting a small business is
tough. It’s tough to get an idea
off the ground, raise money to
get started, and think about
how to grow and expand
that idea into the future. Likewise,
it can seem like a monumental task
doing all of the paperwork and legal
background necessary to start a new
venture. It doesn’t help that when it
comes time to get your business insured
against liabilities, calling into a big
company and getting lost in a labyrinth
of automated systems is a very real
possibility. Fortunately, McFarlan
Rowlands has taken steps to specifically
counter that scenario with its Small
Business Unit, which has the sole job
of assisting small businesses with all of
their needs.
Not all small businesses are created
equally. An in-home service business
such as carpet cleaning or tree trimming
is going to have significantly different
insurance and start-up requirements
than a small retail operation would.
Knowing what sorts of risks might be
awaiting your business down the road
isn’t an easy thing to think about, and
that’s why speaking with a professional
is an essential step in the process. Small
businesses, unfortunately, are often the
ones at the most risk simply because
they don’t have the resources to handle
a large claim if they aren’t adequately
covered for the work they are going to be
doing.
When it comes to getting the policy
itself, McFarlan Rowlands’s Small
Business Unit brokers act as mediators
on behalf of your business. They
approach different insurance markets
to find the coverage you need at a price
you can afford. Often, businesses will
believe that a single policy is enough and
additional coverage is not necessary. In
reality, the best policies come in package
deals which provide variable coverage
depending on needs. Those packages
also allow for lower overall premiums.
To get covered, you should know a
few things in advance to make the
insurance-buying process move
smoothly. The most important is to
get covered for general liability. Many
owners know they need insurance but
don’t know what else or what they
should bring to the table. Think about
these questions before calling:
•
• Where are you planning to go with
it in the future?
• What is your business plan? Do you
have one?
• How large is your business now, and
how large will it ideally become in
the coming years?
While McFarlan Rowlands is a large
company, they never forget about the
small businesses that make up the
bread-and-butter of the economy. All
clients are equally important to them,
and with the addition of the Small
Business Unit to the mix, small business
clients couldn’t feel more at home.
Whether you are starting a new venture
or trying to expand your small business,
give McFarlan Rowlands a call so they
can help you develop your ideas into
realities. They aren’t afraid to assist with
new ventures and have many markets
they can reach out to in order to best
service clients. You can reach the Small
Business Unit at 519-679-5440 or info@
mcfr.ca. +
What does your business currently
do?
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