Considering the time and money you’ve expended to get your business off the ground, it makes sense to protect it. Business asset protection can take many forms depending on the nature and size of your business and the assets you wish to protect. It can be readily accomplished with insurance, intellectual property laws and cybersecurity measures.

 

Tangible Assets: Things You Own

Protecting Your Property

Your company’s tangible assets include property (cash, equipment, furnishings, tools and machinery) that is acquired for use in operating your business and is not for sale to customers. Insurance to protect these assets includes:

Liability Insurance Protects a business from loss as a result of injuries, deaths or property damage caused by a business’s operations, employees or products. Two types:

Property Insurance Protects the value of physical assets. “Replacement cost” coverage pays to replace or rebuild buildings and other property, as long as the property is insured for replacement value.

Windstorm Type of construction, size of structure, proximity to water and location determine the cost and availability of windstorm insurance through private insurers or through Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-created insurance provider.

Flood Property insurance does not cover damage from floodwaters, whether from rivers, lakes or oceans. Through the federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program, a small business’s building and contents each can be insured for up to $500,000.

Business Interruption Insurance Pays ongoing expenses such as rent, utilities and some or all payroll expenses when a business must close because of an insured property loss. “Extra expense insurance” reimburses for special expenses and helps a business minimize losses by getting up and running quickly. For example, if a business can restart operations in a week, rather than a month by paying a surcharge to ship replacement equipment by air express, the extra expense insurance covers the air express charge. Most business interruptions occur in the first 30 days after a disaster, so be sure to purchase a policy that kicks in within a few days of the event.

Commercial Crime Covers losses caused by employee dishonesty; forgery or alteration; theft, disappearance and destruction; robbery and safe burglary; premises burglary; computer fraud; extortion; and premises theft and robbery.

Human Assets: People You Employ

Protecting Your People

Can you think of any business that would be able to operate without someone at the helm? Probably not. The following insurance types are available to cover losses involving bosses and/or workers:

Directors and Officers Liability Protects both the company and individual executives in the event that employees, shareholders, government agencies and others sue directors and officers over financial losses due to alleged company mismanagement.

Key Employee Protects a business in the event of the death of an individual considered vital to the firm’s success. The company buys and pays for a key-employee policy — similar to a life insurance policy — on a specific individual, and the death benefit goes to the company rather than to the individual’s family.

Workers' Compensation Florida law requires employers with four or more full- or part-time employees to have workers’ compensation coverage for their employees. Sole proprietors and partners are not considered employees. Unless exempt, corporate officers are included in the definition of “employee.” (Employers in construction and agriculture are subject to different requirements.)

It Pays To Be Prepared

• Review your insurance policies now. Then, at least once a year, consult with your agent to be sure that you remain adequately covered and understand your deductibles.
• Diversify your customer base geographically. If one area you serve is severely impacted by a disaster, you can continue business as usual in another that isn’t.
• Develop relationships with back-up suppliers. Before disaster strikes, build a network of repair services and suppliers you can call on to get up and running as soon as it’s safe to do so.
• Meet with your accountant, attorney, banker and other professional advisors. Find out when and how to quickly access your records — and your money.
• Create a fire- and water-proof “Records-to-Go” box. Place important documents and supplies in a box you store in a safe, off-site location. If you must evacuate the area, bring it with you.

 

Cybersecurity: Threats to Your Connectivity

Protecting Your Data and Digital Footprint

Small businesses may be particularly vulnerable to cyberthreats because they often have fewer preventive measures in place than large corporations. These threats include:

Website Tampering Defacing your website, hacking your system and compromising webpages to allow invisible code that may download spyware onto your device.

Data Theft Stealing your computer files and hardware or peripherals (CDs, flash drives, etc.); intercepting your emails.

Denial-of-Service Attacks Locking the computer and/or crashing your system with the ultimate goal of preventing you from conducting business with your Internet-connected systems.

Malicious Code and Viruses Sent over the Internet for the purpose of finding your files and deleting critical data or locking your computer/system. Ransomware restricts access to the infected computer/system and demands that a ransom be paid in order to remove the restriction.

Protecting Consumers and Fighting Back

Two Florida cyber-laws govern how businesses must deal with a data breach or hackers/former employees who steal their data.

The Florida Information Protection Act Requires businesses to inform Floridians within 30 days when their unencrypted personal information has been compromised and to notify the Florida Attorney General if more than 500 customers are affected. Firms don’t have to tell consumers if they and law enforcement determine no one is likely to suffer identity theft or financial loss; they must still inform the Attorney General.

The Computer Abuse and Data Recovery Act Allows businesses to collect damages from people who access their data without permission and cause harm to the business or gain for themselves. A company must show it took reasonable steps to prevent such theft.

6 Ways to Reduce Your Cyber Vulnerability

1. Be proactive. Equip each computer in your business with antivirus software and antispyware and update regularly. Safeguard your Internet connection by using a firewall and encrypting information. If you have a Wi-Fi network, password protect access to the router.

2. Educate your employees about cyberthreats. Establish written policies for how employees should handle and protect sensitive data, including safe use of social networking sites. Spell out the consequences for violating your business’s cybersecurity policies and hold employees accountable if they do.

3. Limit access to sensitive information and machines. Require employees to use strong passwords and to change them often; consider implementing multifactor authentication that requires additional information beyond a password to gain entry.

4. Make backup copies of important data and documents. Regularly backup critical data on all computers automatically or, at the very least, once a week. Store copies offsite or on the cloud.

5. Control physical access to computers and network components. Create a separate user account for each employee and restrict administrative privileges to trusted IT staff and key personnel. Lock computers when unattended and caution employees to be watchful when traveling with or using company laptops away from your business site.

6. Create a mobile device action plan. Require employees to password protect their mobile devices that access your business network, encrypt their data and install security apps to prevent data theft. Establish reporting procedures for lost or stolen equipment.