Shopping for business insurance, contrary to  popular belief, doesn’t have to be painful or even stressful. In fact, some would dare call the process therapeutic. Determining your needs for risk protection is a great time for you, as a business owner, to meditate on your most pressing needs and to find out which elements of your business are the most susceptible to risk. The term “shopping” really fits when talking about small business owners’ insurance options; America’s robust field of insurance options can sometimes feel like being given near-infinite options for one problem. Anxiety, however, can set in deep when business owners think they may have missed out on a better deal or a more inclusive package. While there is no wholly wrong way to shop for business insurance, there are several tips and tricks business owners can use to make sure they are getting both the best deal and the best coverage for their dollar … as well as getting to know your business better along the way!

Know Thy Business

Before even researching what kind of coverage you may need, you need to understand what needs to be covered in the first place. Does your business have inherent occupational hazards? If so, be sure those are top-of-mind when shopping for insurance. Beyond the potential hazards inside your business, think outside the office: what natural disasters or outside accidents could happen in the area you do business? This is another essential question that should drive all insurance discussions to follow. Consider making an actual list of your most pressing liabilities and keeping the list handy during all insurance-related talks.

Separately, begin to think “worst case scenario” about lawsuits that could be brought against your business. Considering your industry, customers, location and means of doing business makes this more than a one-day job and may require some amount of legal counsel. But knowing these risks is essential. Several types of business insurance can help insulate businesses from debilitating legal fees but only if those businesses take out the proper policies ahead of time.

Quotes & Questions

Once you know what types of insurance likely suit your business best, the next step is finding the right provider. No matter how much a first or second meeting may wow you, it is almost never wise to choose a provider before collecting several quotes from similar competitors. No two insurance carriers are identical, and packages can vary in their fine print as well as bold claims. An industry standard is to compare three quotes from providers before settling on a best pick but there is no reason to stop at three; the more insurance providers you can find that suit your needs, the better off you’ll be and the more confident you will feel in your final decision.

From your several quotes and meetings, learn to think beyond the dollar price of a package and determine its value to your specific business. Companies with lower premiums obviously appear attractive outright but the reason those premiums are lower are likely quite unattractive. Be certain – and ask directly if – that the providers you are recognized as “admitted insurance companies.” This means that the carrier is approved by all valid and relevant departments of insurance; this is an assurance that the carrier cannot and will not deviate from the rates you have agreed upon. If an admitted insurance company cannot meet its financial responsibilities, in nearly all cases, relevant state or federal departments of insurance will step in to pay your claims.

Bite the Bullet, Work with a Broker

It’s not a charming thought that on top of paying for insurance you need to pay for someone to help you choose which policy to pay for. Brokers and insurance professionals, however, are likely to save you money over time much bigger than upfront brokerage fees. Especially if you are shopping for business insurance for a new business or it is your first time determining your needs, brokers likely have the expertise necessary to connect your needs with a proper policy.

Picking a broker, however, likely requires just as much forethought as picking the right insurance policy. While you don’t necessarily have to weigh as many quotes as when selecting your provider, it is essential to check brokers’ online reviews and beyond so you have a good hold over their reputation.  When searching for a broker that fits your needs, be certain to do your due diligence.  Here are a few ways to get you started:

Seek Out Genuine Referrals:  While online reviews may tell some of a broker’s story, true word of mouth is still the most full way to understand the way they work and the candid thoughts of their clients. While it may sound over-the-top to have a sit-down chat with a broker’s former or current client, remember that proper fitting business insurance has the potential to revive a business while ill-fitting policies only make bad situations worse.

Seek Out Specialists:  While insurance generalists are unlikely to lead you astray, it’s likely that a well-placed specialist may get you even closer to your goals. Try to find a broker with experience in your industry or the policies you are likely to hold. Specialists by nature, however, tend to take less clients and demand higher fees so decide ahead of time if refined expertise is worth it for your business.

Background Checks:  Consider researching your potential broker on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners consumer website This is a means to check if your potential broker has received any official complaints or enforcements while working on behalf of a client.

Since a broker is representing you and your interests, it’s best that they align with you as closely as possible. Unlike insurance agents, brokers do not generally work for commissions. So once you pay an upfront or split brokerage fee. To further ensure that your interests are the same as your broker’s, see if they are willing to let you be billed directly via the insurance carrier rather than through that broker; this once again will ensure that your broker is not financially incentivized by the contents of your insurance package.

Reasonable Premiums

The nature of all types of insurance is the push and pull of premiums and deductibles. Your premium is the upfront monthly, or sometimes annual cost to maintain your policy while your deductible is the amount of money you must pay in before your policy begins to cover whatever relevant cost you would like it to. Speak closely with your staff, broker, and all relevant parties when deciding the premiums that will work for your business. It is essential that small businesses find a balance where insurance both protects them and is not a financial burden; that burden can spin both ways: imagine picking an insurance package with a low premium but high deductible for a seemingly unlikely to occur policy like cybersecurity insurance. In the unfortunate event that your business suffers a cyberattack, your high deductible may just make paying your low premium worthless in the first place, as the out-of-pocket cost of repair and replacement could very possibly not reach the deductible where your carrier begins to pay into your claim.

Make detailed, and indeed pessimistic, plans of the most expensive and least expensive types of damages that could lead to claims in your business. Once you’ve calculated which types of risk cost what amount of money, you are much closer to picking the rightly priced premium.

Reevaluate Needs Annually

It’s more than natural to want to wring your hands after signing the dotted line and call it a day on your insurance policy. Getting the policy is work enough but unfortunately, insurance, like your business, must be regularly evaluated. The best businesses reevaluate their insurance packages, premiums, and deductibles at least annually in line with most insurance contract lengths. While it may be tempting to maintain current coverage, even the most innocuous change in your business may make reevaluating your insurance a worthy endeavor. For example, do you have new commercial vehicles that may qualify you for a new package or form of commercial car insurance? The only way to know is to reevaluate your insurance package with your broker or directly with your carrier. Just as well, America’s insurance market is known for its bounciness before being known for its stagnation, so there are likely new competitors to weigh against your current carrier.

The Best Insurance is the Diligently Selected Insurance

There is a reason shopping for small business insurance can feel like weighing thousands of options for one solution: every business has its own separate needs. While one small business may need a certain type of coverage, there is another that doesn’t. Finding the right coverage, however, is easier than ever in the Internet age where comparing companies, brokers, and policy needs can take an hour as opposed to taking several days. Take advantage of the time modern technology allows us and get granular with your business needs. Afterall, The best-insulated businesses are the most likely to weather the storm.

Whether you are still in the process of planning out your small business or you have been in operation for several years, small business insurance should always be on your mind. Protecting your small business from risk is a full-time job in and of itself; and picking the right policies to insulate your business can seem just as taxing. When choosing what insurance policies your business needs, or more generally ought to have, there is a lot to consider. Let us, then, look over the bare minimum, the baseline of small business risk protection that all small businesses may (depending on your state) require before even opening their doors or hiring their first employee.

Unemployment Insurance

While unemployment insurance isn’t a policy meant to protect employers, it is still a type of insurance that every small business with employees must pay into. Employees who are laid off or let go for circumstances beyond their control can apply for unemployment benefits which are funded — in large part — by business pay-in. Pay-in percentages will vary by state but every American small business with employees must pay into unemployment insurance.

The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) requires that employers pay 6% of the first $7,000 in employee wages per employee per calendar year into unemployment insurance. Depending on your state requirements, you will likely have to pay another percentage rate on top of the federal rate. This additional amount can range widely by state, so be sure to investigate your state rate as well as federal when determining employee wages.

Long-Term Disability Insurance

This is another policy built to protect your employees that employers in some states are required to have. Disability insurance functions similarly to unemployment insurance in that it covers instances  that occurred outside the employee’s control; but in this case, the employee is rendered incapable of working due to an event at the workplace. The states and territories which require long-term disability insurance are California, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, Rhode Island, as well as Puerto Rico. Businesses in these states and territories can find sufficient packages often through existing state programs or other private insurance companies. In California, for example, employers can pay into the existing California State Disability Insurance (SDI) program or they can apply for a separate, usually private, voluntary plan in the place of direct state coverage.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Workers’ compensation insurance is required in some capacity in every state but Texas and South Dakota. Among those states who require workers’ compensation, pay-in amounts and policy guidelines can vary wildly, as the program is run at the state level. Workers’ compensation insurance covers employees who suffer injury or lasting disease at the workplace but not to the extent where they would apply for long-term disability benefits. Workers’ compensation insurance can also — in some capacity — insulate employers as, in most states, employees collecting workers’ compensation cannot sue you for the injury for which they are already collecting workers’ compensation.

Professional Liability Insurance

Professional liability insurance, otherwise known as errors and omissions insurance, is built to protect your business in cases of negligence or when a client believes you have made a mistake and they are due recompense. Currently, professional liability insurance requirements vary by state — with some having no requirements and others requiring very large packages.  Additionally, there can be requirements based on industry that can supersede or add onto state requirements. For example,  law firms and private medical practices most often require some amount of insurance regardless of whether or not your state requires it. There can also be state-by-state nuances regarding professional liability insurance.  For example, South Dakota, while not requiring this insurance, does require that uninsured medical practices disclose on document letterheads if they have no malpractice insurance.

Even if your state does not require it, professional liability insurance is something you should at least consider as it can be supremely helpful for more than just doctors and lawyers. In most cases where a company is sued because of a process central to the business, professional liability insurance can help cover legal costs stemming from the claim.

Commercial Auto Insurance

If your business owns any vehicles, there is a good chance you will need commercial auto insurance. Every state but New Hampshire and Virginia require businesses to carry commercial auto insurance policies for vehicles owned by the business. Commercial auto insurance will often help cover legal costs, medical bills, property damage and sometimes vandalism associated with your business vehicle.

Depending on if you use a personal vehicle at your place of business, you may also want to look into covering your personal vehicle under your commercial plan. Commercial auto insurance will only cover vehicles which are owned by your business directly unless you choose a more lenient policy. For example, if you are transporting inventory in a vehicle only under your personal auto insurance policy, that inventory may not be protected under your consumer policy. Small business owners should speak to a trusted insurance company or broker to see what policy best suits their needs.

Hazard Insurance

Business hazard insurance can help cover the costs of replacing or repairing property, materials, or equipment damaged in natural disasters, fires, thefts, or some other uncontrolled circumstances. While nearly all states don’t require hazard insurance, it is usually a necessity for a different reason: a loan guaranteed by the SBA does require that your business have a hazard insurance policy. Many lenders offering loans not secured by the SBA also look highly on small businesses with hazard insurance.

If your business is run at a home and already covered by homeowner or consumer hazard insurance, be sure to check with your insurance provider to see if you have further coverage options and to confirm if business assets in the home are covered by existing personal policies.

Helpful, but not Required, Business Insurance

 

General Liability Insurance

While small businesses technically aren’t required to have general liability insurance, this type of policy will likely come in handy. Unlike professional liability insurance which covers occupational errors and omissions, general liability insurance often covers customer injury or property damage which occurs at your business. If a client or customer attempts to sue you for injury faced at your place of business, general liability insurance may also help cover legal costs.

Commercial Property Insurance

Like hazard insurance, commercial property insurance covers all physical assets and buildings related to your business that are on the covered commercial property. Most commercial property insurance policies cover businesses in the event of damage from natural disasters, fires, or theft. There are also some policies that can protect projected business income if your business cannot operate normally after suffering from a covered disaster. Small business owners should discuss with a trusted insurance company or broker to see if they could benefit from holding a commercial property insurance policy in addition to hazard insurance.

Employment Practices and Liability Insurance

Employment Practices Liability Insurance or EPLI is meant to protect employers in cases where employees believe their legal rights as a worker were violated at your business. This type of insurance can help pay legal costs if your company is sued for wrongful termination, breach of contract, harassment, discrimination, and several other possible employee lawsuits. While not legally required, EPLI can be a means of survival for businesses who are found negligent or guilty in lawsuits against them.

The Minimum Protects You the Least

“What insurance policies do I need?” is a question with about as many answers as there are small businesses. Depending on your state, industry, and number of employees your requirements could be as many as all the policies listed here or as little as none. It is then essential that small businesses investigate not only the policies they need to protect them in court but also the policies they need to stay above water following unforeseen circumstances.

Amid supply chain delays, inflation and renewed COVID-19 fears, business owners may not be saying “happy new year” with renewed gusto. And let’s not stop there: 2022 is likely to be a landmark year for advanced cyberattacks at both the corporate and small business level. As your business begins to take on  2022, don’t let cybersecurity slip to the bottom of your priority list. In the eternal cat-and-mouse chase between cybercriminals and protective tools, it is essential that small business owners are keenly aware of the types of cyberattacks most likely to affect them. The most effective means of threat prevention is the knowledge to identify tell-tale warnings of a cyberattack or data breach. Small business owners must be as equally vigilant as their larger counterparts to these trending cyberthreats, as they are often even more likely to be a targeted.

 

Ever-Advancing Ransomware

Ransomware attacks are a type of cyberattack in which cybercriminals hold a target’s files hostage by intricate locking or encryption and agree to remove the lock only after they pay a cash ransom. These types of attacks are profoundly frustrating for corporate entities and small businesses alike, as there is relatively little a person can do once their files are encrypted.

Ransomware attacks are not expected to slow down in 2022.  And on the contrary, attacks like the Solar Winds breach in 2021 may prove to become commonplace. Increasingly, advanced ransomware programs have made their way onto unsuspecting computers. The nature of ransomware attacks also makes it exceedingly difficult to prevent attacks outright since encryption methods for such attacks are constantly changing

Industry experts also warn of new types of ransomware programs called “human-operated attacks” where cybercriminals groom and target a specific quarry. These types of attacks profile their targets to see what kind of devices are on the quarry’s network and incrementally lay plans for the attack before activating the ransom. These types of attacks are especially brutal; cybercriminals often learn their quarry’s financial standings and then use that info to set a ransom they are likely to pay.

These sophisticated attacks also have the risk of becoming a double extortion attack which means that the encryption attack is not isolated to one machine, but every machine on your network. This can be especially damaging for businesses with multiple terminals.

 

Social Engineering and Phishing Aren’t Going Anywhere

There is no cybersecurity program to fight social engineering or phishing; this is because the breach is human, not machine. Successful phishing and social engineering attacks function similarly to a traditional heist: attackers attempt to trick someone into giving them sensitive information they can then use to breach a secure system. In the same way a robber might steal a key from a bank manager to kick off a heist, phishing attacks start with the theft of a digital key, often a password.

There are several ways would-be phishers attempt to lift confidential information, but modern phishing attacks are often as targeted as a bank heist. Phishers study the identities of the people they plan to scam and play on their target’s trust of everyday mechanisms, like caller-ID or convincing phony webpages, to trick people into sharing information they shouldn’t.

Social engineering, however, has seen some new trends likely to catch fire in 2022. Scareware is a unique kind of social engineering that tries to convince targets that something is already wrong with their computer and that they then must download a fix ASAP. The trick is, of course, that nothing was wrong with their computer in the first place and their new “fix” is some type of malware ready to wreak havoc. Scareware attacks often show up as pop-ups on untrustworthy websites or in email attachments.

 

Mobile Security Threats

Years ago, cell phones attained processing power to match computers; yet, cell phones do not have nearly as many cybersecurity prevention methods as their desktop and laptop cousins. And now that more and more businesses integrate cell phones into their daily operations, cybercriminals have been keenly targeting cell phones and mobile devices for cyberattacks.

Cell phones have become the point of access of choice for banking, email, and several other avenues for private information. Cybercriminals have breached mobile phones and successfully eavesdropped, crashed devices, and reaped private information in the past but with the increasing number of remote workers using their cell phones in coordination with laptop workstations, it is especially important that small business owners know the methods cybercriminals use to breach phones.

Anyone can make an app and cybercriminals are aware of this. The most likely way a virus will make its way onto your phone is through an app you intentionally downloaded. Either through copycat apps or seemingly innocent apps with embedded malware, such cyberattacks function similarly to social engineering, tricking users into accidently downloading malicious software.

Traditional methods of virus dispersal, like embedded websites and email links, are just as likely to infect your phone as they are to infect your laptop or desktop computer. Plus, modern sophisticated attacks can infect all other devices on your Wi-Fi network after entering your phone, making it especially important that business owners are vigilant about mobile cybersecurity.

 

Convincing Deepfakes

This threat is two-fold. It is devastating for businesses who are targets of defamatory deepfakes, but it can be equally dangerous for businesses who are successfully hoodwinked by modern, convincing deepfake technology. Businesses who are the target of deepfakes meant to defame their businesses must work quickly and definitively to clear their name but deepfakes meant to trick rather than defame are on the rise and likely to hit a fever pitch in 2022.

Small businesses are likely to be the target of voice deepfakes meant to impersonate someone they trust. Such attacks have already successfully scammed massive corporations in the past and as the tech becomes more commonplace, small businesses are likely to be thought of as easy prey. Successful voice deepfakes are quick, targeted calls usually mimicking caller-ID, and much more impressively, the supposed caller’s voice. The fake caller will usually then ask for a quick piece of information, a password or a PIN is usually enough. While even two years ago, technology like this was squarely in the hands of high-level hackers, it is entirely possible that small-time or even local cybercriminals could access tech convincing enough to genuinely trick an employee into giving private information over the phone.

 

Internet of Things (IoT) Breaches

Fresh off the lot, the Internet of Things or IoT is well on its way to becoming a household name. Justifiably so, as IoT refers to the local network containing all of your “smart” devices like Google Assistants, Wi-Fi-based surveillance systems i.e. Ring cameras, or really any physical object with an active connection to your Wi-Fi network. IoT cyberattacks are especially dangerous for small businesses as this type of attack can happen entirely remotely. Does your business have public Wi-Fi, or do you allow customers to connect to your network while they are in your store? Once their device connects to your network, they have entered your Internet of Things.

A device with malware built to navigate through a network can easily embed itself in other devices simply because they are on the same network. Concerningly, IoT attacks can also hijack the video or audio feed of devices connected to networks, meaning that Wi-Fi-based security systems are vulnerable. The best safeguards against Internet of Things attacks are both to keep traditional cybersecurity methods in good order and regularly updating router, modem, and audio/video device firmware.

 

Operate on an “Assumption of Compromise” Mentality

If 2022 didn’t seem bleak enough already, yes, our advice is to assume you have already been breached. This method isn’t nihilist, it’s more so accepting. Small business owners should be aware that they are quickly becoming major targets for cybercriminals, and in turn, accept that their systems may need to be upgraded or overhauled to meet modern baselines. Cyber-breaches don’t have the same hallmarks of traditional break-ins, but damages from a successful cyberattack can easily outpace those from old school robberies. Those businesses who assume they are compromised, or easily could be compromised, are the ones who will most effectively probe their current security sphere and are the most likely to see good results in the ever-uncertain future for small businesses and cyber security.

2021’s biggest buzzword, now bleeding into the new year, may just be “supply chain,” or in it’s more grim form: “supply chain crisis.” Behind this faceless term, however, are thousands of businesses suffering delays and frustrating supply stopgaps that have made regular operations bizarrely difficult. When important supplies are delayed or staples simply disappear from suppliers, small businesses don’t have the choice to sit down and accept it. The ingenuity and creativity of small businesses during the supply chain crisis has led to many unique stories of craftiness worth sharing.  Here are just a few of the innovative ways small businesses across the globe are tackling the supply chain crisis. 

 

Locally Sourced Solutions

“Our business relies heavily on fresh ingredients. But with supply chain issues and rising inflation, it’s been difficult to keep our courses and individual lessons in stock and at a reasonable price point. We’ve had to get creative with not only where we’re finding our ingredients, but also with the menus themselves. Fortunately, the UK has a surplus of really great farms that we could turn to. We pride ourselves on our fresh, seasonal, and rare produce, along with our free-range, grass-fed, and sustainably reared meat, so we’ve had to really research who could help us out despite the challenges we’re facing globally.

Fish is a great example. Our master fishmonger sources from 3 channels; local day boats in Brighton and Cornwall, and Peterhead Market in Scotland. By being creative and looking outside England, we’ve been able to deliver delicious seafood to our customers. We’ve also changed where we source our vegetables and meat from. Our current suppliers are excellent at supplying us with the type of ingredients we’re looking for in a timely fashion. It’s important to not get stressed out with circumstances outside of your control. Instead, get innovative. Think outside-the-box and look to other suppliers. You’re always going to have an easier time if you can get your products locally. Even if it costs a little more, it’s worth it to keep your customers happy and your business afloat.”

Seb Evans, Co-Founder, Banquist

 Think Big, Think Ahead

“My roof construction business has really felt the impact of the supply chain shortages and delays. Even though I had anticipated supply chain disruptions ahead of time, I still couldn’t make accurate forecasts to steer clear of these issues.

Usually, I order my inventory – including roofing nails, sealant and hook blades – a month in advance. But for the last few months, I had been ordering a full three months in advance. Even though I had to pay out of my own pocket for most of the materials, I felt it was the right thing to do because I wouldn’t run out of inventory, and would eventually get paid back. However, the supply chain issues turned out to be even worse than I had imagined. When you start ordering three months in advance and still witness shortages, you know the market conditions are really bad.

Three years ago, I took a proactive approach and started looking for alternate suppliers for my most-used products, namely asphalt shingles and rubber slates. I couldn’t find any within my city, so I expanded my search beyond my city’s borders. In a couple of weeks, I signed contracts with as many as four different suppliers.

This approach worked wonders because when the first wave of Covid hit, I had more than enough stock of my best products to last me over a year!”

Kim Abrams, CEO, Abrams Roofing

 

Thinking Beyond Beans

“One of our subsidiary businesses is a small betting shop paired with a coffee shop/cake shop. There was one time that there was a delay in our coffee bean order so we had to switch product offerings. Since our supplier has on-hand milk tea supplies, we bought that and had them delivered quickly so we still had something to offer our customers, in lieu of the coffee. This strategy worked as many customers loved the milk teas. Hence it stayed in our menu offerings.”

Scott Hastings, Co-Founder, Betworthy LLC

 

Beating the Bottlenecks with Brand Visibility

“As a book publisher, my business was affected by supply chain shortages and delays. The pandemic created bottlenecks in various industries, and publishing was not exempt. We dealt with industry paper and ink shortages, delivery shortages, labor shortages, printing shortages, and everything in between. All of these produced slowdowns in book production, and we had to reschedule some of our launches.

However, these challenges present a never-ending reality: the importance of community and visibility. We stressed to our authors the importance of community and visibility. We were able to rely heavily on ebooks and digital information while waiting on the physical book. Many were not focusing on the marketing side of publishing, so the virtual focus and shift gave them more time to garner virtual speaking engagements, readings, course creation, and media interviews versus public appearances.

This year seems to hold more promise, but with the additional COVID variants that seem to pop up daily, we all would be well advised to keep the spirit of pivoting. Business as usual has long been gone, and bookstores continue to struggle. Nevertheless, reading continues to be on the rise and virtual learning. These are opportunities that authors and publishers need to continue to take advantage of.”

Alesha Brown, CEO, Fruition Publishing Concierge Services, Editor-in-Chief Published! Magazine

 

A,B Innovation

“As a company with some hardware products, we are always conscious of how the supply chain can (and will) impact us. We are mindful that any product we design (especially physical ones) has an opportunity to be adapted by multiple prospective customers and markets. This mitigates risk and enables us to purchase key parts in advance, as we know that these parts will be used to fulfill an order, rather than sitting on our shelves.

Back in early 2021, as the first stage of the pandemic was coming to an end and companies began resuming regular business, the electronics supply chain buckled severely. Everyone was purchasing parts, some stockpiling more than they needed. Since suppliers slowed manufacturing due to reduced demand early in the pandemic, the result was a very low supply.

As a start-up company, Engineering Design Group had just brought a few products to production, and was preparing to purchase in mass quantities… but two key components we used were not available. In many situations, when a part is unavailable, you can make simple design adjustments to transition to an alternate part. However, in our case, these two chips were highly dependent on software we had already developed.

So, we got creative. We searched the market for a modular circuit board, which could be interfaced to our product using connectors. The design change was a success: we were able to stockpile the key parts on modular circuit boards from third-party manufacturers, where the same components were no longer available at the chip level. The new design worked as expected. And perhaps more importantly, with the chips moved over to modules, we are able to leave them off the product for customers who didn’t require those features. This not only reduces costs, but leaves those parts available for our customers who do need those features.”

Ryan Alford, Founder and CEO, Engineering Design Group

Similar Problems, Tailored Solutions

Small business owners agree: there is no one-size-fits-all solution to supply chain shortages. Those businesses, however, who know their market and can make changes when necessary are the most likely to come out of stopgaps unscathed. For each one of these insights, there are 100,000 more business owners making their way under equally frustrating circumstances. While one business looks locally for their solutions, another just as easily may need to look internationally. This collection is only a small glance into the myriad of inventive solutions and is only a taste of the undying ingenuity inherent to the small business owner.

If your small business runs any kind of shipping operation in-house, you’re likely familiar with the common headaches that come along with order fulfillment: boxing sold items; taking several trips to the post office or UPS & FedEx stores, dealing with increasing rates, never having enough packing tape, and several more problems which sometimes lead businesses to abandon the process altogether or partner with a fulfillment company. There are, however, several modern methods business owners ought to try before giving up. In this introductory article to our series on shipping and ecommerce, we are laying out concrete strategies to keep shipping costs, and time commitments, low when fulfilling customers’ orders.

Over the past number of years, more and more storefronts began taking online orders and the COVID-19 pandemic forced those die-hard traditional brick-and-mortar shops to adopt shipping to survive. Running a shipping operation in tandem with a traditional storefront is near-Herculean for small teams, so for those teams where every dollar and every minute counts, these tips are for you:

 

Use Flat-Rate Boxes Provided by Carriers

USPS, UPS, and FedEx all have their own flat-rate shipping boxes you can use instead of your own boxes. Since these carriers all charge by your package’s dimensions, more often than not their flat-rate boxes will end up costing less per shipment. Even better, you can have flat-rate boxes shipped to your business in-bulk and often for free.

USPS in particular offers a near-unbeatable deal for their Small Flat Rate Box. If you are shipping objects smaller than 8 5/8″ x 5 3/8″ x 1 5/8″, you can use a Small Flat Rate box domestically for as low as $8.65 for a fully-insured delivery. The upper weight limit for USPS flat-rate boxes is 70 pounds per parcel.

One downside to using carrier packaging is, of course, the sometimes-aggressive branding covering the box. If you still want your own brand and business personality to shine through, you can simply place your own branded packaging within the box, but you can also do a number of other things inside your parcel to make the shipment memorable and personal. An example of this (and a great tip for small businesses still shipping in house) is to attach hand-written thank you notes to the inside of packages.

 

Take Advantage of Commercial Base Pricing

If you aren’t already using commercial base pricing to buy postage for your small business’ shipments, drop everything and start today. Commercial base pricing is a program from the USPS (also used by UPS) which discounts shipping rates when you buy postage from an online provider. Discounts for parcels can be lucrative with USPS First Class postage discounted 26% per parcel on stamps.com, one of the most well-known online postage providers.

There are no minimum or maximum postage limits on commercial base pricing, so businesses who ship parcels infrequently can benefit just as much as large ecommerce companies. All you need to take advantage of commercial base pricing is a computer and printer. Extra points if you are using a carrier’s flat-rate boxes! Making these two simple changes are important first steps to running a leaner shipping operation.

 

Weigh Packages Accurately to the Ounce

If you’ve chosen to take advantage of commercial base pricing postage and print your own shipping labels, it is essential that you use a digital postal scale to make sure you aren’t overpaying for shipping. Without a postal scale you are forced to estimate your parcel’s weight which can only lead to two things: overpaying for postage or getting the dreaded “return to sender due to insufficient postage” stamp. Underestimating postage is a headache for you and your customers but getting an ounce-perfect reading only takes one trip to Staples. Or better yet, new members to Stamps.com can snag a free digital scale for free when they make an account.

Counterpart to weight, measuring your parcels is good for accuracy but also opens another door for savings. USPS charges approximately $16.25 for packages measuring 11 1/4″ x 8 3/4″ x 6″ and then close to $22.65 for packages 12 1/4″ x 12 1/4″ x 6″ not accounting for weight. Meaning if you can shave only a few inches off your packaging, you can massively save on your per-parcel pricing.

 

See if Prepaid Shipping Works for Your Business

USPS, UPS, and FedEx all offer their own versions of prepaid shipping labels which offer a huge discount when bought in bulk. Prepaying for your postage is a great way to reduce headaches, but also can be quite the gamble for small businesses.

Prepaid postage is fantastic for small businesses that run subscription packages or any kind of item that is consistently sized and consistently shipped. For example, if you run a postal book club where you send the same book to a list of subscribers, prepaid shipping is likely a monstrous money-saver. Being that the company will know exactly how many parcels they will be sending, also since all the packages will be the same size, the company can confidently buy their postage upfront at the beginning of a month and likely save loads of money.

For companies that run more ad-hoc shipping, as in they only ship after orders are made, prepaid shipping may either leave them short or with too many labels at the end of the month. And, companies that sell several differently sized items may run into issues calculating prepaid shipping ahead of time.

 

Consider 3rd Party Shipping Insurance Companies

If you are still using major carriers’ insurance for your parcels, you’re likely missing out on savings. Parcel insurance is likely one of the last things on your mental checklist before a package goes out, so take this moment to reassess if you could be leaving money behind on each of your sales. Shipping insurance is often pennies on the dollar for smaller parcels, so small businesses with a healthy output of parcels would do well to see how they can save. The most well-known 3rd party shipping insurance company, Shipsurance, charges 90% less per sale than the USPS directly.

3rd party shipping services aren’t for every small business. If you are using base commercial pricing, for example, it is a near-certainty that the website you are using also maintains their own insurance system. A great example of when 3rd party parcel insurance may come into play is if you sell small, luxury items like jewelry. 3rd party parcel insurance companies generally are quicker to respond to claims and more directly reimburse for parcel contents compared to carriers like USPS. If you declare your items ahead of time, you can rest even easier.

 

Finding Your Dream Shipping System

Every small business is unique and so is every shipping solution. No matter if your small business ships one parcel a month or 1,000 there is a good chance there is still money to be saved. Do your research and get intimate with the details of your own shipping procedure. A few dollars savings becomes a boatload after a steady stream of parcels. The Internet and home printing were both revolutions for the shipping industry, but we are only enjoying the synergy of those several advantages right now. One thing is certain: small business owners have no excuse to wait in line at the post office anymore.