Small Business Behaviors that Increase Liability Exposure

These risky habits increase your small business’s liability exposure.

If you own your own small business, then you know that there are risks everywhere around you.  While having the right small business insurance coverages can help you protect your business, there are also other things you can do to minimize your risk.  For instance, you can avoid risky behaviors that leave your business more vulnerable to liability issues.  Here are some of the risky habits you should avoid.

Bad Habit 1: Doing Unfamiliar Tasks

As a business owner, it’s natural to want to handle every aspect of your business.  Some business owners try to act as their business’s HR representative, accountant, and even social media manager.  However, when business owners try to perform tasks that they are not well-equipped to handle, they are opening themselves up for risk.  By attempting to fill so many roles, they fail to perform any one of them well.  To reduce risk, business owners need to learn how to delegate tasks and focus on their company’s big picture.

Bad Habit 2: Overlooking Regulations

When a company is just starting out, the business owner might not be aware of important compliance issues or industry regulations.  However, ignorance isn’t a very good defense.  To reduce the risk of incorrectly running your business, you should research the various regulations associated with your business.  Make sure that you are following these regulations to avoid penalties, fines, or liability issues.

Bad Habit 3: Ignoring Customer Complaints

While you might want to avoid dealing with a rude or overly aggressive customer, ignoring complaints is a sure-fire way to become embroiled in conflict.  Even if a client seems irrational, it’s important to hear them out and keep an open mind when listening to their concerns.  To ensure that a complaint does not escalate into a full-blown liability issue, you should investigate the issue and determine whether you need to make changes to avoid similar issues in the future.

These are some of the bad habits that can expose small businesses to liability risk.  Remember, an effective way of protecting your company against liability issues is by having the proper small business insurance protections in place.  We at PMC Insurance Group are experts on small business insurance and can help you put the proper policies in place.  Contact us today to learn more about getting competitive coverage for your small business clients.

By PMC Insurance Group

Since 1996, PMC Insurance Group has worked to help independent agents grow their client base by offering workers' compensation solutions for a wide array of businesses. As one of the most distinguished workers' compensation wholesalers in the country, we have the tools and resources to help you create coverage programs for both small businesses and large accounts.