The Ins and Outs of A Successful Employee Benefits Strategy

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Most business owners prefer to recruit employees with proven talent in their fields. This instinct often encourages entrepreneurs to hire top talent quickly, offering competitive salaries and benefits—especially for employees with specific technical skills that may result in direct growth for the company.

But is paying high always the way to attract the best employees? After all, no business can pay its workers more than the value added to the business. At least, not long term anyways.

In order to maintain an ideal benefits strategy, business owners should have a clear picture of the type of employee they want to hire, as well as a firm understanding of their business’ needs. They should also keep in mind that if the compensation level is perceived as low, it will negatively impact both talent attraction and retention.

 

Again, offering high benefits makes sense in situations where the skills and ability of an employee has a direct impact on the revenue and success of the business; however, for businesses focused on customer intimacy or operational efficiency, a high compensation may neither be affordable nor required. Here, employees make the most impact through process excellence, teamwork, service orientation and discipline—rather than through individual innovation.

It’s also important to customize a benefits plan based on how the employees perceive value. Owners should therefore have a clear understanding of the demographic of its employees (age, skill level, etc.). Making the plan tax-friendly and having the right mix of fixed pay and variable (performance) pay will also bolster a high-performance culture.

Have any questions? Feel free to contact a Cleary representative and we’ll help you build the best benefits strategy for your business.

The Skinny on Life Insurance

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If you have any dependents that fall under your responsibility – children, spouse, a special needs adult – it may be time to have the life insurance policy conversation. It’s not always a pleasant thought, but it’s certainly necessary to consider if you are the primary caregiver to another person. In the event of your death or serious illness, the money needed to support loved ones comfortably in your absence can hard to come by and having a policy in place beforehand will make it easier.

At Cleary, we make sure that a life insurance policy is tailored to your specific wants or needs. The two most common types of insurance are term and whole life insurance, both of which can benefit you and your loved ones in a variety of ways.

Term Life Insurance, often regarded as the simplest and least expensive plan, provides coverage for a fixed period of time and typically may be renewed after the initial contract term expires. However, this offering does not provide savings.

On the other hand, Whole Life Insurance provides life insurance protection for as long as you live. Whole life policies also provide for the accumulation of cash value on a tax-deferred basis which can be used when you need it, to help with life’s opportunities.

Again, we know it’s not the prettiest thought, but it can be a comfort to know that the money afforded through these plans can help your family’s daily living expenses, the mortgage of your house or debts, and so on.

 

4 Questions to Ask Yourself When Considering Renter’s Insurance

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When most people think about insurance, they associate it with buying a car or home. Renter’s insurance is often overshadowed in this way. Even though renter’s insurance is not always required, it’s still important when considering the net worth of your personal items.

At Cleary, we recommend renter’s insurance so that you’re protected against the damage or loss of personal property when you rent an apartment or house and have liability protection in case any lawsuits are made against you.

 

For example, if someone gets hurt on your rented property, and he or she decides to sue you, renter’s insurance will likely pay for both the injured person’s medical expenses as well as a lawyer.

Sounds pretty good, right?

Here are a few questions to ask yourself when you consider renter’s insurance:

  1. How much would it cost to replace my belongings if they were damaged or stolen?
  2. Could I afford to replace them?
  3. Do I live in an area prone to theft or other destructive forces?
  4. Can I afford Replacement Cost* coverage over Actual Cash Value (ACV)**?

* Replacement Cost refers to the cost of replacing lost or damaged items

** ACV involves the monetary reimbursement for what the item would have been worth by an insurance company.

If you’re still having trouble deciding, contact us and we’ll give you the skinny on renter’s insurance.

Myth Busted: Entrepreneurs are NOT actually risk takers

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Entrepreneurs are often mislabeled as “risk takers,” while in reality the most successful ones make calculated and mindful decisions. This sense of purpose and deliberation comprise a few of the qualities that differentiate successful entrepreneurs from the average risk taker.

A risk takers’ biggest mistake is depending too much on chance. Too often, they lay everything on the line, and thus significantly fail, sometimes without the means to pick themselves back up.    

In our experience, the difference between a risk taker and an entrepreneur is that the latter create innovative ways to reduce risk. In fact, they actively avoid risk and are dedicated to planning every small step to achieve their goals.

Tell-Tale Qualities of a Successful Entrepreneur

Here’s a cohesive list of characteristics that make an entrepreneur successful:

  1. Ambition. They are always on the lookout for the next inspiration
  2. Effective manager of time. Many entrepreneurs are juggling multiple projects at once
  3. Delegation is key. They know that success doesn’t come alone
  4. Confident and self-assured. You’re taking a chance on yourself, so you better believe you can accomplish your goals.
  5. Socialable and well-liked. It’s a truth of the trade. You have to be the person other people want to work with.
  6. Thick-skinned. You will fail many times before you hit the jackpot.
  7. Creative thinker. Not every idea is original. Many entrepreneurs leverage an existing service or product, and make it better.
  8. Solid communicator. Wasting time because of poor communication is not a luxury an entrepreneur can afford.
  9. Knows when to step away. From the computer, from a project … a smart entrepreneur knows when to take a break and recharge.
  10. Proactive. No one will seek your service or product out in the beginning and it’s up to you to make your voice heard.

It’s important for any business owner to take these aspects into consideration—no matter what type of business you run. Keeping these tidbits in mind may help you become a better owner, leader and entrepreneur along the way.

3 Important Tips for Filing your Commercial Insurance Claim

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Whether the damage is small or large, tangible or not, any business owner in the process of filing a commercial insurance claim faces a good deal of stress. More time and effort is needed to maintain the business while repairs are negotiated with the insurance policy provider.

 

We encourage small businesses to take a look at policies every 2-3 years to ensure they’re properly covered. Prevention is also key: owners should evaluate possible threats to the business, develop recovery plans, and test those plans all in advance.

Scott Lacourse, a contributing writer for the Boston Business Journal, makes a crucial note in relation to small businesses:

“Many small businesses skip insurance altogether, or fail to get the coverage they need to cope with incidents like major flooding. Almost 40 percent of small businesses never reopen following a disaster, according to FEMA.”

The strength of this data demonstrates the importance of analyzing acquired insurance policies and minimizing the effects of destructive events. However, should an occurrence arise, we’ve put together three tips to help with your next (or current) commercial insurance claim:

 

Be attentive to coverage policy time periods

If a claim must be made, owners should take considerable care in filing the claim within the temporal parameters set by the insurance provider. Otherwise, extra costs and impediments may extend the amount of time for recuperation.

Below is a chart that outlines the time-based functions of certain insurance policies as they handle declared claims and actual occurrences.

 

If you have questions specific to your policy, contact your agent. However, rest assured that, as shown above, real occurrences (during the policy period) will most always be covered, “no matter how much later they are reported.”

Take inventory, record documents, and stay organized 

The evidence for a claim to be submitted needs to be kept together and controlled. Keeping track of all damage is crucial if these problems are to be resolved efficiently.

 

Some ways to organize include taking inventory of all materials affected, protecting all documents and copies that may be related to the incident, and even taking pictures or procuring a claim from the police (if the situation is applicable).

It also wouldn’t hurt to stay in touch and follow up with the people involved, especially your insurance adjuster.

Hire a loss management team

In the case of large claims, owners might consider hiring a loss management team.

A loss management team could consist of a professional loss specialist, legal expert, or forensic accountant who would help file the claim. Commercial insurance claims are of a legal nature, after all, and if business owners are not experts in this field, it could help to have someone who is on their side.

 

This decision, again, would depend upon the severity of the incident that caused the claim and if the owner would find such a support group financially feasible—as it would involve added costs.

Liability Insurance: What is NOT Covered

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Most corporations opt for some form of liability insurance, and small businesses are no exception. But if you’re new to the world of risk management, the first question to ask yourself is: what exactly is liability insurance?

 

General liability insurance – often referred to as commercial insurance – is best described as coverage for damages that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay due to bodily injury, property damage or personal and advertising injury arising from the insured’s premises, operations, completed operations and products. Essentially, for both personal injury and property damage claims, you are covered for related legal fees, costs and expenses.

Important aspects of running a business that is covered by this type of insurance include:

  1. The cost of legal defense and any settlement or award should an owner be successfully sued;
  2. Protection against any liability an owner would face as a tenant of damaged rented property.

Some policies can also cover misleading advertising claims, including libel, slander, and copyright infringement.

So what is not covered in your liability insurance plan? Below is a general list of items that are not included in this type of insurance, but will vary by policy.

Employee medical expenses

  • Damage to property owned by the business
  • Vehicles or employees injured in a company vehicle
  • Any damage or injury that involves a person in the company

To summarize, damages to anything owned by the business are not covered; that’s why liability insurance is called a “third party” insurance.

 

Tips for Selecting the Best General Liability Insurance for Your Business

Understanding the potential risks to your business is a fundamental way to begin this process, because the plan you might need really depends on the type of business you own.

For example, a building contractor faces much higher risks of injury and actual damage to his or her business than, say, a web designer’s business—simply due to the kind of work involved.

Once you have recognized your own business needs, the next step is to fully read the coverage policies. It may seem obvious, but it’s crucial to understand what certain agencies are offering in order to choose the best policy for you.

Something else to consider is the Business Owner’s Policy (BOP), a package deal that most often includes property, general liability, vehicular, and business interruption protection. This option streamlines the process and may cost less than purchasing multiple coverages from different insurers. Again, however, if your business has unique demands that are not covered by an umbrella policy such as the BOP, you may need to invest in additional plans.

If you have any questions regarding liability insurance policies, don’t hesitate to contact a Cleary representative. We’re here to help you protect your business and narrow down the coverages that your company truly needs.

3 Risks that Keep Small Business Owners Up at Night

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It’s not easy to run a small business. Business owners face a diverse range of risks-some business-related, but also personal jeopardies such as debt and income loss if things go really wrong. This is understandably stressful as it can leave an air of uncertainty over the future. Technology can also be confusing and might leave a business owner with plenty of questions, such as, what is edge computing? Or which software should I be using for my business? Understandably this can be a difficult field to navigate for any business owner who is not tech savy. Some entrepreneurs might potentially turn to a company similar to Syte Consulting Group or their own trusted advisor to potentially help with managing and planning enterprise resources, to hopefully lessen any future issues.

 

So what are the highest risks that commonly keep small business owners up at night? An article from Forbes provides some insight; it includes the results from a NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business) “Small Business Problems and Priorities Survey” conducted in 2016.

The top three concerns of small business owners, as derived from this survey, were as follows:

  1. The cost of healthcare
  2. Oppressive government regulations
  3. Federal income tax on businesses

You might notice a theme here. Interestingly, according to this study, nine of the top ten small business challenges are associated with government.

What’s the outlier that’s not government related, you ask? Finding qualified employees.

The cost of hiring new employees

 

Deciding who to hire is an important process for small business owners, but finding the right people is no easy feat. This is where making bad decisions comes into play. However, nowadays small businesses can make wise decisions in the employment process by taking the advantage of employee background check companies (you can take a look at these guys for more information) and hiring the right talent for their company. Background checks can help small businesses from the probability of hiring an unfit person.

According to a “Small Business, Big Hire” survey conducted in 2016 by Monster Worldwide, “nine-in-ten small business owners (89 percent) identify hiring the wrong person for a job as a risk to the company, with half (51 percent) saying it is a major risk.” Many issues can arise when an employee is not fit for a particular job, including product use errors or customer service mishaps, all leading to a negative impact on company productivity and reputation.

To make matters worse, when you hire the wrong person, you waste the organization’s time and money. One-third or more of these owners estimate wasting over 50 hours of their time and over $1,000 due to their most recent wrong hire. This can eventually lead to providing bad services to clients and in the process losing them.

Often times, wrong hires are really an extension of overlooking historical data points from employee lifecycle, training and on-boarding. Typically, these indicators have served a way forward for employee retention. But when these data-points are retroactively applied to hiring strategies, they can yield the desired outcome. As for collecting said data-points, this can be achieved through customized surveys offered by third-parties (have a peek here for better understanding). That is not to say that existing mechanisms such as assessments, interviews etc don’t matter, rather the infusion of data (both historical and new) can certainly reduce the chances of getting bad hires.

The takeaway? You do have some power over who you choose to work with, which has a larger impact on how the business runs than some might think.

And even if you feel powerless against government regulations, there are a variety of support networks specifically designed for small business owners. Here’s a few of them that you should check out:

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

Small Business United (SBU)

National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO)

National Small Business Association (NSBA)

At Cleary, we believe life is worth the risk. If you’d like to chat with someone about how to better manage your small business, email us here.

 

3 Types of Insurance Your Business May Not Need

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Let’s face it; insurance agents aren’t normally in the business to tell you what types of a commercial insurance policy you don’t need.  In fact, many of our clients tell us that they often felt uncomfortable talking with former agents for fear they’d over sell them on coverage.

At Cleary Insurance, we’re all about risk management: determining where your risks are, and how to best mitigate them through several methods, one of which is carrying insurance.

So in this spirit, we’ve taken a look at some coverages that you should examine closely before jumping in. And if you ever need advice, just give us a call.

Cyber Liability Insurance

In the digital age, information has never been so accessible—and vulnerable. Online hackers threaten many businesses and companies, and Cyber Liability Insurance may provide protection against these types of attacks.

 

Heinan Landa, a contributing writer for the Boston Business Journal, highlights some alarming facts in one of his articles:

“According to the National Cyber Security Alliance, one-in five-small businesses falls victim to cybercrime each year, and of those businesses 60-percent will fold within six months of an attack.”

This threat and its detrimental effects are formidable, and certain precautions should definitely be pursued. However, is the danger sizeable enough to necessitate the investment of an entirely new insurance policy?

It all depends on the type of business in question (and the exact nature of information stored). For instance, if a business handles sensitive and private information, then owners might consider one of these cyber liability coverages.

 

On the other hand, consider if your existing insurance can be formatted to cover your needs. If you do not handle customer data, then your Errors and Omissions policy may cover certain company claims.

It is crucial to double check obtained insurances to verify if further coverage is truly required. And as always, it is imperative to remain proactive: invest in secure servers, establish standard processes for passwords and file sharing, and educate employees about cyber-safety.

Employee Dishonesty Insurance

As much as business owners like to trust their employees, there’s always the chance of theft or other crimes. Employee Dishonesty Insurance serves to support owners against such occurrences.

 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce provides some startling statistics on crime resulting from employee dishonesty:

“The median loss is around $140,000, and small businesses, those with less than 500 employees, suffer as much as $100,000 more in losses than larger companies. Employers only discover these losses an average of 10 percent of the time, and the losses that are discovered result in the employer regrouping nothing more than 40 percent of the time.”

It’s no wonder why small businesses in particular see a need for this type of insurance.

However, employee dishonesty is not offered in most commercial insurance policies and would be considered a secondary coverage. It’s all up to the owner; are there already measures put in place to monitor the activity of employees? Does the size of the business necessitate this extra insurance? If you are at all unsure, don’t hesitate to contact a Cleary agent to discuss the matter further.

Product Liability Insurance and other Industry-Specific Policies

Business owners who do not require Product Liability Insurance can easily avoid it. Product Liability Insurance applies to businesses that make, distribute, or sell a product, protecting you from any losses related to a product defect. Therefore, if an owner’s business does not function in this way, there’s no need to invest in this type of insurance.

There are other industry-specific policies that could be thrown in front of you, but easily avoided, such as Boiler and Machinery, Commercial Auto, and so on. It may seem simple enough, but contact one of our representatives if you feel like you’re signed up for more than you need.

Best Agency to Work For

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Cleary Insurance Believes in Embracing Risk

by Elizabeth Blosfield

about-cleary

When William J. Cleary III and his father, William J. Cleary Jr., decided to take a risk 25 years ago, Cleary Insurance, a Boston, Mass., based insurance agency, was born with just four other employees.

Its team of employees has grown nearly six times its original size and represents 42 different insurance companies today. Now, the firm strives to encourage its clients to embrace risk as well.

“I see Cleary Insurance continuing to grow within our current model, encouraging our clients to embrace risk, to live their lives knowing that we are providing them with the best advice and coverage options available,” President William J. Cleary III said. “We want to protect our clients and manage their risks so that they will grow and go forward with us.”

An appetite for risk and a collaborative culture help to set Cleary Insurance apart from its competition and earned it this year’s Best Agency to Work For – East Gold award. More than half of its 25 employees nominated the firm through an online survey, emphasizing the agency’s client-focused approach as one reason it stands out above the rest. By doing the right thing for clients, the needs of the agency are naturally met, one employee wrote in the survey.

“I’m continually impressed at management’s and the owner’s natural reactions to step back and focus on doing the right thing,” the employee wrote. “The conversation from the top is always about what’s right for the customer, what’s right for our role as agents, and that often seamlessly falls into line with what’s right for our agency.”

In addition to serving clients individually, the firm seeks to give back to its community as a whole through volunteering, employees stated in the survey. Each year, the agency selects a charity to volunteer with for a day. This year, the agency volunteered with Cradles to Crayons, a non-profit organization that provides children living in homeless or low-income situations with needed items. “It really feels like a change is being made in the community,” one employee wrote about the volunteer work.

The secret to Cleary Insurance’s success in serving clients, however, are its employees, Cleary said. It may seem as though independence and teamwork are opposites, but the firm strives to make the two work hand-in-hand by building a strong team to serve clients and the community on the outside while encouraging a culture of independence within the agency.

“We ask our folks to think for themselves, act independently and create the culture here at Cleary Insurance,” Cleary said. “I think the structure, or lack thereof, is what truly sets us apart. We try to hire the best possible people, keep them highly educated within the insurance world and then just get out of their way so that they can do their jobs as they see fit.”

This strategy seems to be working, as one of the original four employees at the agency’s onset is still with the firm today, while two others remained until retirement, Cleary said. Through a business model that allows its staff to develop professionally without micromanagement, the firm aims to encourage each employee to grow independently while remaining part of a team, he added.

“I want to work hard for this organization because it feels like family,” one employee said.

Indeed, the motto that appears on the front page of the Cleary Insurance website says that “life is worth the risk” — a statement that appears to reflect the spirit of the family that started it all 25 years ago.

“Like many of my insurance colleagues, I entered into the insurance world due to a family connection, but I have stayed in the industry because I love what I do,” Cleary said. “The fact that the staff here nominated our firm for this award is a tremendous source of personal pride, but mostly it is a reflection on the people that work here.”Click here to download article.

ACA Repeal and Replace Efforts Unsuccessful in U.S. Senate

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In the early hours of July 28, Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ended when the Senate fell short of the 51 votes required to pass the Health Care Freedom Act (HCFA). Called the “skinny repeal bill,” it would have eliminated the individual mandate penalty and temporarily repealed the employer mandate penalty and medical device tax along with providing states flexibility on certain ACA requirements. Earlier in the week, separate votes on the Better Care Reconciliation Act (the Senate’s alternative to the American Health Care Act) and the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act (the “repeal and delay” option) also failed. Both parties have indicated next steps may include bipartisan efforts to fix the ACA and stabilize the market. Specific plans and a timeline have not been discussed yet.

Republican leadership in Congress or the Administration may also pursue other ways to dismantle, replace or reform the ACA including regulatory action, regulatory non-enforcement or other options, as outlined in our March 30 Update.
ACA Remains the Law of the Land

The ACA remains the law of the land. Ongoing compliance with the law is required unless and until official guidance to the contrary is issued. We encourage employers and broker partners to use Your ACA Roadmap to receive a personalized snapshot of annual responsibilities. Visit www.YourACARoadmap.com for more information.

To stay up to date on the evolving state of health care reform, we encourage you to bookmark www.InformedonReform.com, including the Repeal and Replace Update webpage, where we continuously update information as it becomes available.

Brought to you by Cigna Health Care Reform Consulting and Communications