Spring clean your business with these helpful tips

Spring clean your business with these helpful tips

How often do you perform a complete review of your business? Have you considered how you can improve your operations? Is there some way to make your processes more streamlined, saving you time and money? Has your target audience changed? Do they want more updated products with greater functionality? Can you take advantage of a new opening in your market space that your competitors haven’t noticed?

Let’s look at seven ways you can create a better version of your business this spring, just in time for the busy summer season.

Revisit your business plan: Every year, business owners should review their business plan and update it to reflect their current goals. If you ignore your business plan, it’s easy to become side-tracked, which might be fine if it leads to a successful strategy, but it might just be the reason why you aren’t achieving your goals.
Review your business goals: Without goals, no plan will stand the test of time, so have you achieved the goals you set out last year? If you haven’t achieved these goals, are they still relevant and if so, why haven’t they been achieved? Do you need to set more realistic goals or have you lost sight of your goals?
Evaluate your finances: You might have an accountant who looks after all your finances, but it pays to review all these accounts yourself every year. Knowing the value of your company’s assets, debts, capital and cashflow are good starting blocks for reviewing your goals and business plan. At this point you also need to review your insurances to make sure that you have all of the policies that are needed to reduce your business risk.
Review your employees: The staff you employ can make or break a business, so your employees need to support your company’s vision. This means that everyone needs to be working at their best for your company. Maybe you need to hire a specialist in a specific area or do you need to reorganise your staff to leverage their expertise?
Update your website: Do you even have a website? If not, then it’s time to put that in motion, but if you do have a website – is it heading in the right direction? Does it market your business well and serve your customer’s needs? Is it optimised for search engines? Does it need more quality content?
Review your marketing strategies: Have your latest campaigns been successful? Do you need to head in a different direction? Are you targeting the right audience? Do you have a social media presence and do you need to hire a marketing manager?
Revisit your processes: The best way to evaluate your processes is to ask yourself – what would you do differently if you were just starting out today? This is your opportunity to streamline your processes, saving both time and money in the future.

These seven points should help you to organise your own spring clean, leading to a renewed sense of direction for the next 12 months.

To decide what type of insurance policies are suitable for your business, talk to an insurance specialist today.

General Advice Warning

The information provided is to be regarded as general advice. Whilst we may have collected risk information, your personal objectives, needs or financial situations were not taken into account when preparing this information. We recommend that you consider the suitability of this general advice, in respect of your objectives, financial situation and needs before acting on it. You should obtain and consider the relevant product disclosure statement before making any decision to purchase this financial product.

SME Business Insurance

Business Insurance is used by many businesses, but it’s best suited to SME-type operators.

SME Business Insurance

What is SME Business Insurance?

Any business in Australia, including small to medium-sized businesses, will benefit from an added layer of financial security in the form of an SME Business Insurance cover. This provides owners and businesses with protection against financial risks and the loss of key assets. It also protects customers, employees, suppliers, and contractors.

Some types of insurance are mandatory, like Workers' Compensation, Professional Indemnity, or CTP Insurance for motor vehicles – these are called statutory insurance covers. Other types of insurance are optional, but they are important ways of reducing business risk and protecting your finances and assets.

What does SME Business Insurance cover?

Property Damage – cover ranges from fire, storm, lightning and other perils to any type of accidental loss or damage. The property insured includes damage to buildings, contents, stock, plant and equipment, raw materials, and consumer goods.
Business Interruption – covers weekly amounts or net profit loss and ongoing fixed costs following property loss or damage. Also referred to as Loss of Profits or Consequential Loss Insurance.
Burglary/Theft - covers break-in at the business premises and the damage is done, as well as theft of goods or stock;
Money - covers theft of money in various locations (during transit, in a locked safe, or in a private residence) at any time (within and outside business hours).
Liability - covers a variety of statutory and civil legal liability, including personal injury and property damage, environmental liability, management liability, statutory liability, professional liability, aviation, marine and motor vehicle-related liability;
General Property - covers specified portable property against accidental loss or damage once it is taken off the premises, within Australia or overseas;
Equipment - covers sudden internal derangement and accidental loss or damage to plant, equipment and machinery, as well as computer and other electronic equipment. Loss of stock and business interruption cover can also be part of this insurance.
Motor vehicle & mobile plant – covers registered and unregistered motor vehicles, mobile plant & equipment, farm equipment, construction plant, as well as attachments and trailers. This insurance can also cover loss of income, downtime and hire costs of replacement equipment.

Speak to an insurance expert

It is our business to understand your objectives, needs, financial situation and risk profile and provide you and your business with tailored risk and insurance advice.
This is how we work with your business:

1.   We analyse your objectives, needs, financial situation and risk profile to develop appropriate strategies and solutions.
2.   With your input, we undertake risk assessments and conduct market research to determine the most suitable insurance product(s) for your key risk exposure.
3.   Your insurance adviser will present appropriate strategies and solutions and also negotiate and place insurance covers agreed.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can insurance help small businesses in Australia?
- In Australia, small businesses are encouraged to invest in business insurance to help protect their business from costly eventualities like damage to property and liability claims. Investing in a comprehensive yet affordable insurance policy promotes the continuity of the business in times of losses or great financial trouble.
What does SME stand for?
Small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) are businesses whose revenue, number of employees and assets do not exceed a certain threshold. Each country or industry defines a set of criteria to determine whether an organisation falls under the SME category.
How can insurance help small entrepreneurs or SMEs, or how it relates to risk management?
Risk transfer is one of the treatment approaches in managing risks in business, and insurance is an example of risk transfer. It’s a strategy that SMEs employ to shift a risk or a liability from one party to another when that party specialises in managing a specific kind of risk/liability.
Why is insurance important for business owners?
Getting an insurance policy for your business is important, as it cushions or completely shields you from the hefty costs of certain unforeseen issues (accidents, damages to properties, effects of force), legal claims, and other liabilities. Without insurance, business owners might be forced to foot the bill out of their own pocket.