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HBA HOME BUILDING NEWS
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BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS
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November, 2012
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HBApdx.org
LISTS, TIPS AND INFORMATIVE CHARTS AND GRAPHS TO HELP YOU MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR BUSINESS •
November, 2012
By
The
Numbers
HBA
M&G’s Top 5 threats to small business
By Montgomery & Graham
Optimism is the fuel that drives
the entrepreneurial spirit, so it
isn’t surprising that most small
business owners consider them-
selves optimists. Too much opti-
mism, however, can get a small
business owner into trouble.
A business plan built solely on
the “best case scenario” is like a
house of cards—one gust of wind
(or fire or wrongful termination
lawsuit) and the entire business
can come crashing down. That’s
why smart business owners tem-
per their innate optimism with a
healthy dose of reality. In other
words, they learn to manage risk.
The first step in implementing
a comprehensive risk manage-
ment plan is identifying potential
risks. To help you get started, we
have provided a list of the top
five threats facing small business
owners. As you read through the
list, consider the unique risks fac-
ing your business and ask your-
self whether those risks are being
managed effectively.
Protecting your
Property
Property holdings are
often a small business owner’s
largest asset. Therefore, for the
long-term security of your small
business, it is vital that you eval-
uate potential threats to your
property and develop a plan to
manage those threats. Begin by
taking a complete inventory of
all your assets to determine how
a loss might affect your busi-
ness and how much coverage
you need. Property coverage
can come in many forms to suit
your specific needs, but a typical
policy will provide the replace-
ment cost value for your building
and the actual cash value for your
business property.
You have a lot weighing on
your budget already, but don’t
make the mistake of planning for
the “best case scenario” when it
comes to your property cover-
age. Leaving your small business
underinsured is a risk too great to
take.
Business
Interruption
The U.S. Department
of Labor estimates that more
than 40 percent of businesses
never reopen following a disas-
ter such as a fire or flood. Is your
business prepared to weather the
storm if disaster strikes? If a fire
causes your facility to be tempo-
rarily unusable, what would you
do? Ideally, you would move to
a temporary location while your
permanent place of business is
being repaired, but traditional
Property Insurance does not
cover this move or the loss of in-
come while the permanent busi-
ness location is being repaired.
Ill-prepared businesses are often
forced to completely shut down
operations during repair, which
can do irreparable damage to
their brand and leave employ-
ees without work for extended
periods of time. To mitigate this
risk, consider adding Business
Interruption coverage to your
Property Insurance policy. This
invaluable, though often over
looked, coverage safeguards your
business by covering operating
expenses and lost income while
the permanent business location
is being repaired. This will allow
you to maintain payroll and, if
needed, reallocate current-em-
ployees to help with the cleanup
effort.
Liability
Losses
No matter how well
you plan, running a small busi-
ness can be fraught with unex-
pected surprises—the only way
to completely avoid liability is
to shutter your business. Smart
business owners do the next best
thing: protect their assets by car-
rying adequate Commercial Gen-
eral Liability (CGL) Insurance cov-
erage. CGL policies provide cov-
erage for claims of bodily injury
or other physical injury, personal
injury (libel or slander), advertis-
ing injury and property dam-
age as a result of your products,
premises or operations. A CGL
policy with adequate coverage
limits enables you to continue
normal operations while dealing
with real or fraudulent claims of
negligence or wrongdoing, and
also provides coverage for the
cost of defending and settling
claims.
Injuries to
Employees
Small business owners,
especially those with less than 10
employees, often struggle with
understanding their employee
health and safety obligations.
Just like their larger counterparts,
small businesses have the same
responsibility to indemnify work-
ers who are injured or become
ill during the course of their em-
ployment. Many businesses do
not realize the full effect work-
place accidents have on their or-
ganization. Beyond initial treat-
ment costs and lost production
time, on-the-job injuries have an
impact on insurance premiums,
which can increase your costs
for years to come. Thankfully, by
managing exposures and pro-
moting safety, it is possible to
control workers’ compensation
premiums. Having the proper
pre- and post-accident proce-
dures in place can drastically re-
duce the severity of a workers’
compensation claim, and imple-
menting a comprehensive safety
program can reduce the accident
rate. Together, these two steps
can produce tremendous long-
term savings.
Employment
Practices
From the moment
you begin the pre-hiring pro-
cess until the final goodbyes at
the exit interview, you are at risk
for a lawsuit. In fact, three out of
five employers will be sued by a
prospective, current or former
employee while they are in busi-
ness. Although many lawsuits are
groundless, defending against
them is costly and time-consum-
ing. Your business should take a
hard look at whether it can afford
to defend itself against accusa-
tions of wrongful employment
practices. If not, there is an insur-
ance solution called Employment
Practices Liability that will protect
your company against wrongful
termination, discrimination (age,
sex, race, disability, etc.) or sexual
harassment lawsuits.
Insurance is a key component
of any comprehensive risk man-
agement plan, but successful
risk management also involves
prevention, training and contin-
gency planning. Contact Mont-
gomery & Graham at (503)297-
1330 to learn more about the
tools and resources we can offer
to help you manage risks, control
workers’ compensation costs, ad-
vance safety and boost employee
morale.
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Spread The Word
To register for this event, visit HBApdx.org or call Nicole at 503-684-1880
Calling all Associates!
WHAT:
: Associates, join us for this open dis-
cussion / round table format event designed
to help HBA members connect and share in-
sights and advice about successful business
practices. November’s topic is References,
Credit History, Liens and Lawsuits — when,
why, and how we use legal tools. Have you ev-
er had to file a lien? Have you ever wondered
if it was appropriate? Come out and share your
experiences and learn when and why others
have used this business tool successfully.
WHEN:
November 29, 4:00 pm
WHERE:
HBA, JMG Conference Center
Associate members enjoy a lively round-table discussion at
the last Associates Forum.
Appliances:
High perceived value
sway with many builders and
buyers.
“Many manufacturers today
are far more concerned about
cost than quality and have
moved their factories to Mexi-
co or Asia,” said Tom Dinsdale,
general manager at Eastbank.
“We try to avoid these brands.”
Better appliances also be-
come a prime selling point for
builders. Not only can builders
— and remodelers and Real-
tors—highlight the quality and
performance of them, but their
very presence in a home can be
a telling sign for prospective
buyers.
“Kitchens and bathrooms are
really focal points in the house,”
Berg said. “Putting in these ap-
pliances makes a statement
about what the builder is doing
in the rest of the house. If some
of the equipment isn’t as good,
you have to wonder if he might
be skimping on the rest of the
house.”
For more information, visit
www.standardtvandappliance.
com, www.bascoappliances.com
and www.eastbankappliance.
com.
Continued from page 12
Simple strategies small business owners can take to identify and manage top risks
and hats, mittens, and scarfs are
universal. Clothing can
be mixed and matched
along with blankets
and bags for combined
quantity pricing as long
as the embroidery de-
sign is the same.
Stand out from the
crowd with a personal-
ized present bearing the
recipient’s name or monogram. A
fine Cross pen with a decorative
emblem will be used for years.
You can also personalize wall
calendars, leather portfolios, en-
try rugs, and more. Personalizing
the gift with the receiver’s name
is one way to ensure they will feel
special.
Besides the year-end holiday
gifting season, you might con-
sider a Thanksgiving gift. When
a contract is signed, pens are of-
ten presented along with the pa-
perwork. Upon project comple-
tion, take the opportunity to say
“thank you!” with a well-selected
gift. When you receive a referral,
a timely follow up note
along with a lasting
reminder of your
appreciation is rec-
ommended.
Ideal gifts reflect
the recipient’s taste,
and are neither too ex-
pensive nor inexpensive.
Order early for best selec-
tion and lowest pricing – many
gifts sell out before December.
Contact MARCO for ideas tailored
to your needs.
Nancy Gudekunst is President
of MARCO Ideas Unlimited, head-
quartered locally in Oregon since
1959 . You may reach her at (503)
620-0770, or at nancy@marcopdx.
com. MARCO’s showroom is across
the freeway from HBA at 7105 SW
Varns St. #150.
Visit www.MARCOpdx.com for
more gift ideas.
Biz Tips:
Ideal gifts will
reflect the recipient’s taste
Continued from page 12
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