Knowledge Centre

Business Start Ups Podcast

17th March 2008 Duration: 4m 47s File size: 2.2MB

Discusses what type of insurance start up might need, the type of risks that a start up business might face and looks at ways they can reduce their business insurance premium.

The MORE TH>N BUSINESS Podcast with Matthew Wood. Today – starting your own business. Matthew Wood – MORE TH>N BUSINESS: Around about half a million new businesses start up each year and its becoming easier and easier all the time. Matthew: Really at the point at which you’ve got something to lose is the point when you should consider buying insurance. Jane: Which could be very early on.... Matthew: Absolutely. And that can mean as someone starts employing staff or placing adverts for staff or starts creating contracts with suppliers before they officially start their business - that can open up a whole can of worms in terms of risk. And sometimes people, if they work in retail - starting a shop, they might have premises, they might have stock and all their contents in place before they start trading and that’s open to theft and also losses through natural perils like floods, storms and fires. Jane: So what sort of insurance do you need for your new business? Matthew: Start Up businesses span all the different sectors of business and it really depends on what you feel your risks are. A lot of people think that commercial insurance is extremely complex and will often go to a broker, but you actually might find you know more about it than you think. It’s just a question of understanding what you don’t want to lose and what’s of most value to you and your business - and assessing what might go wrong. And actually your answer is there. Jane: About the time that you’re starting a new business you’re paying out a lot of money and to add insurance is an extra expense that might get sidelined. Matthew: And not just an extra expense it’s extra time spent as well. These businesses really need to get off the ground and all their attention goes into their marketing, and their customers and getting the cash flow right, things like that. They’re a unique group when it comes to buying insurance because they need it quickly. They also need it cheaply but they also need a trustworthy source to get their insurance from and that’s often not an easy combination to find. Jane: It potentially sounds expensive. Matthew: The great thing about a package is that you can get it in one place and also you will have contact with just one company so if things start to change as you grow your business – you might move premises, you might get more employees or you might just have additional risks or you may even change trades within the same premises - having one point of contact to change all these items can be helpful for a start up. Jane: A Start Up, say, ten years ago, might have spent a lot of time on the telephone talking to people. A lot of people nowadays make the internet their first port of call. Matthew: The web is a good place to start. You can find information about what products are available – you can use the internet as a shop window and then phone the company you like the look of and start a discussion Jane: And once you’ve made that call many insurers will go on to offer further guidance in the future. Matthew: Start Ups are a group that need a lot of help – they need a lot of support – and insurance companies have elements to their products which can help Start Ups and that often means helplines that can help them with tax issues, legal issues, ranging through to stress counselling and just having someone to talk to on the end of the phone And if you’d like more information about insuring your business start up go to www.morethanbusiness.com or call 0800 294 8527. For your protection calls may be recorded or monitored.

I’m Jane Markham and this is a Podcats production for MORE TH>N BUSINESS.

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Business insurance is issued by Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (Reg No. 202323). All offers subject to availability. For your protection, telephone calls may be recorded or monitored. Discounts based on prices available for like-for-like RSA policies.