Few things are harder to stomach for an entrepreneur than sudden unexpected turns of events. This may pertain to a sudden unexpected bill that comes in the mail or the terse reminder of your friendly local taxing authority that you are behind in filing your quarterly business taxes. Since your home business is not only your bread and butter but also quite literally tied into the livelihood of your personal home, your ability to absorb risk and surprises is much decreased.
Thus you will need to take special care to ensure that your financial health is protected all the way around. Should your business suddenly experience a growth spurt, you need to be able to keep up; if a change looms large all of a sudden, perhaps due to a catastrophic turn in the economy, you need to be able to respond to it. By taking three simple steps, you will ensure that no matter what happens, you will know how to handle the unexpected and will not be taken by surprise when running a home business.
First and foremost, it is vital that you are insured. Not only does your home need to be insured, but your business may require certain liability insurance policies as well. Check on this matter with an experienced insurance agent and then find the coverage that most adequately protects you and your business. Then, should you fall ill, become injured or disabled, or just have to deal with a malfunction of your home of business equipment, your home business will not fall victim to the problems but instead will receive the funds necessary to maintain the status quo until you once again take the reigns firmly in hand.
Secondly, remember that in cases where you will host clients in your home, there is always the possibility of someone sustaining and injury. Thus, you will need to have adequate liability insurance that will protect you in case a customer slips and falls or is otherwise hurt. Liability insurance that protects you against claims arising from the use of any product you might be selling goes hand in hand with this kind of insurance policy and once again your insurance professional will be able to advise you on your needs.
Last but not least is the kind of protection that you yourself may not enjoy, but that will spell the difference between being taken care of and abject poverty for your family: life insurance! Protect your business and your family from going under by having your life insured so that your loved ones will be able to have their needs met should you die unexpectedly. This will also permit your family to take over the business should they desire to do so. By creating an operation manual you will leave them not only the funds needed to run the business but you will also enable them to continue running it and profiting from it just the way you did!