5 Tips for Protecting Your Freelance Business from Liabilities
If you have your own freelance business, you want it to be successful and as fruitful as possible. You have probably put a lot of time and dedication into both creating and growing your brand, not to mention your life savings. However, there are many liabilities that come with owning a company. These liabilities might come in the form of an employee who is having an issue or a client who has had a problem with your products, services or establishment. By protecting yourself against these risks, you will be able to continue operating the business of your dreams.
Have the Right Insurance
It is an absolute necessity that you have liability insurance as a company owner. This insurance is meant to keep you and your assets fully protected in the event of a problem or lawsuit. You should have commercial insurance for just about any type of business you run, regardless of its size and the number of employees that you have. By taking out a quality policy, you will have the protection and coverage that your company desperately needs. Without the right protection, you are risking losing your entire enterprise once a lawsuit has come into effect. If the lawsuit is significant enough, it could completely dismantle your company and cause it to fail. This isn’t to mention that legal fees can be expensive, and you might deal with financial problems as a result.
Maintain a Safe Business Environment
One of the major reasons for workplace-related lawsuits is because either employees or clients get hurt while on the property. This might involve slipping in the bathroom or having something come crashing down from a shelf that injures the person underneath it. There are several ways for you to maintain a safe business environment. Putting out caution signs when you’ve just mopped the floors or doing inventory on how products are stocked can help to prevent an accident which would otherwise be a liability for you. It’s a smart idea to have an accident-minded mentality when either creating new products, doing things around the establishment or offering services to your customers.
Work with Your Employees
Employees are the backbone of your company, but accidents and problems can happen with them just as often as your customers. From sexual harassment to injuries on the job, workers can become a liability when they’ve entered the building for the day. It is important to offer your employees an HR department where they can go if they do have a problem. This allows the HR department to work closely with the employee, ensuring that all of their issues have been resolved. It is also important that you adhere to all OSHA guidelines so that the workplace is safe and secure for anyone who is there. If your employee has a problem, you need them to feel confident when coming to you for help, and you should always listen to their concerns so that you are better able to offer a solution to meet their needs.
Don’t Guarantee Anything That Can’t Be Honored
Whether you offer some type of product or service, you cannot guarantee things that simply aren’t going to happen. For example, if you guarantee that a specific service is the cheapest that the person will ever find and then they find something that is more cost-effective, you need to honor this by offering a price match. Making guarantees can help to bring in clients who would otherwise go to your competition, but a guarantee means nothing if it cannot be honored fully. The same thing can be said when hiring employees to work on the property. You should never guarantee them pay raises, tips, bonuses or benefits unless you are able to honor this for them completely while they are employed with your company. Believe it or not, you can come under a lawsuit by making false promises to both your clients as well as those who work with you on a routine basis.
Never Intentionally Harm Other Businesses
You probably have quite a lot of competition when it comes to the specific industry that you’re currently involved in. Unfortunately, trying to dismantle this competition or intentionally trying to make them fail can also become a liability. You could come under a lawsuit if you have done something intentionally that has harmed or destroyed another company. Other business owners will be less willing to work with you if you’ve done something that has destroyed their dreams, and you could come under a pretty severe lawsuit as a result. It can be downright frustrating to have competition that causes you to lose out on valuable customers and client flow, but there isn’t much more you can do to prevent this than by improving your own services and products rather than going after the other establishment.