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Our blog is designed to be a "go to" resource for your small business. Here you will find valuable information and advice on launching, running, protecting and making your business a huge success.
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The big tech announcement that kicked off the week is Tumblr’s acquisition by Internet giant Yahoo! for $1.1 billion. If you’re not familiar with the story of Tumblr’s 27 year-old founder, David Karp, he started the company in 2007 after working for companies such as Frederator Studios and UrbanBaby and launching a successful software consulting firm.
Hiscox had an opportunity to speak with David about his experiences founding the popular blogging platform as part of our My Startup Story series, where entrepreneurs offer advice to those making the leap into entrepreneurship. David also shared some of his own startup experiences and discussed the value of entrepreneurs surrounding themselves with trusted mentors.
You can also check out David in episode one of Leap Year, the web series that follows five friends as they launch their own business after being laid off.
Of the many types of small business insurance available general liability insurance is the most important. Forbes magazine ranks it as number one insurance need for businesses, saying “Every business, even if home-based, needs to have liability insurance.” Their article also gives a nice synopsis of GL insurance: “The policy provides both defense and damages if you, your employees or your products or services cause or are alleged to have caused bodily injury or property damage to a third party.”
Also known as commercial general liability insurance, this coverage protects your business from third party claims for bodily injury, associated medical costs, and damage to others’ property. Even if you work as a consultant, advising clients on IT, PR, marketing or business improvement issues, there are still instances that can leave you vulnerable.
Gene Marks, columnist for The New York Times, author and small business owner, shares three ideas you can implement to grow your business.
Each year I get to speak to thousands of small business owners, most of whom are much smarter than me. These are people with great ideas, particularly about growing their businesses during slower economic times. Like any small business owner, I love this stuff because that’s also what I’m trying to do. So, I thought I’d share three great ideas from three small business owners I know (names changed to protect the innocent!) and how they bring in more work for virtually nothing.
Use CRM to get more work from existing customers. Everyone learns in Business 101 that getting work from existing customers is much less expensive than acquiring new customers. Jane, who runs a small bookkeeping service, knows this too. Jane has been in business for more than ten years and for most of that time she’s used a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to keep in close touch with her customers. There are a number of great inexpensive CRM systems for small workgroups available (Zoho and Insight.ly are just two). Jane uses her CRM system to keep in touch with all of her customers throughout the year, making sure that no assignment or deadline falls through the cracks and everyone has a follow-up scheduled where she can offer new and different services, like payroll tax preparation and state filings. A good CRM system ensures that no revenue opportunity is missed, particularly from an existing customer.
Is general liability insurance what you need? Or is a professional liability policy the way to go? Let’s explore…Practically any business benefits from having a general liability insurance policy. But some professions run a higher likelihood of really needing to use their insurance, chief among them architects and engineers.
General liability insurance protects your business from third party claims for bodily injury, associated medical costs, and damage to others’ property. It also covers if your clients allege that you caused them bodily injury or property damage. You’ll be very happy you have GL insurance if, for instance, your employee badmouths a client to a contractor on a job site, the client learns of this, and sues for slander.
Small Business funding may seem like a crapshoot, but there are ways to improve your odds. How can you narrow your financing focus?Funding is a critical consideration for almost every small business. But what is the right type of funding for you? It can be hard to know; as StartupNation.com puts it, “people often go after the wrong type of funding for their kind of business.”
To get a read on where entrepreneurs are getting funding, we conducted a funding poll, with results so far indicating many startups are relying on owner financing – in other words, owners are using their own cash. This could in part be due to the continued shakiness of the economy, making bank loans harder to obtain. The U.S. Department of the Treasury established the Small Business Lending Fund to help ease this, setting up a dedicated fund providing capital to qualified community banks and community development loan funds (CDLFs) in order to encourage small business lending.
In March, Hiscox USA received a Celent Model Insurer Award in the category of Channel Distribution. The award recognizes innovation in the insurance space.
We were honored to receive the distinction for offering online quotes in real time to agents and customers, alongside our partners, BOLT Insurance.
In the video above, Hunter Hoffmann, head of U.S. communications, shares more information about our small business insurance products.
Jason Corgiat, founder of LeapGo, Inc., a leading professional website development company, shares additional tips on managing virtual teams.
Last week, guest blogger Jason Corgiat of LeapGo, Inc. shared a couple of tips on how to build and manage a virtual team. This week, Jason shares tips on how to affectively ensure your virtual team is staying on top of the ball. Here are two more tips to add to your management arsenal.
Challenge them constantly
Way too often, virtual employees are hired, assigned some recurring tasks and then forgotten. Like any employee they should be given opportunities to grow, learn and even fail. Instead of putting them on autopilot, give them new tasks, ask their opinion, and listen and respond to their feedback. By challenging employees to learn and grow with your small business needs, you make them a strong part of your team rather than observers watching from the sidelines.
Staff writer for NerdWallet.com, Angie Picardo, shares how small businesses can stay organized with technology.
More and more in today’s digitally-powered world, apps are increasingly used by small business owners as invaluable tools to help businesses grow and function fluidly. Here’s a handy list of 10 awesomely convenient mobile and web apps, each designed to help you get organized and stay connected.
1. Google Drive
Building on the phenomenal success of Google Docs, the Google Drive app allows users to view and edit files across PC, tablet, and smartphone. It’s a fully-featured office suite and cloud drive all-in-one, allowing you to store and access any file type via app or web interface.
2. Evernote
Evernote is an ideal app for users who need to “Remember Everything.” Allowing users to organize and share texts, photos, and voice memos, small business owners can readily keep track of every idea that springs to mind. The app then syncs your notes, photos, and documents across all platforms, making everything available everywhere…all the time.
Jason Corgiat, founder of LeapGo, Inc., a leading professional website development company, shares his tips on managing a virtual team.
It’s tough managing a team when they’re in the same office with you. Now imagine that team in different locations around the world with staggering time zones, varying holidays, and unique cultures. Welcome to LeapGo, Inc.
Building and managing a virtual team is nowhere close to managing an office-based team. You have to contend with a lot of uncertainties, place trust in hiring people over the Internet, create a team environment amongst people who barely know each other, and do it all at the same pace you grow your business.
But it can be done – it has been done – and as our world gets more connected, it will continue to be done. The path to managing a successful virtual team begins with throwing out all you know about managing a local office-based team. The rules are different and therefore you must apply a different set of techniques.
Gene Marks, columnist for The New York Times, author and small business owner shares a few things he knows now about collecting receivables faster.
Nineteen years. 600 clients. And 27 bottles of Mylanta. That’s what it’s been like running my business. That’s what it’s been like collecting money, too. I’ve heard all the excuses. I’ve seen all the stories. And I’ve learned.
So let me share a few things I know now about collecting receivables faster.
The first thing I’ve learned is to not have any receivables. The minute someone owes you money, you’re losing money. So I’ve done my best to limit the amount of dollars I have on the street. For my service business I sell blocks of time. Clients have to buy a minimum four-hour block in advance of services performed. We charge our time against it in fifteen-minute increments and then send an accounting invoice (and ask for another block) when it’s used up. This system has worked well for me. Sure, some clients balk at the idea and when they do, I negotiate on the amount of prepaid hours. I typically never go below two hours, but they’re always paying up front so I’m never out of pocket. Money up front equals good cash flow.
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