You’re Self Employed…But are you Protected?

Being a military spouse is not always easy. Between juggling children activities, keeping up the
house, and deployments, to say a military spouse’s life is busy would be an understatement.
Even with all of this going on, many spouses still desire to continue with their career. However
every day, more and more military spouses have found that the traditional job market does not
work for them. Many have found that being a military spouse has had a negative impact on their
ability to obtain jobs in their career field and the vast number of military spouses who do work
are underemployed.

Due to companies’ unwillingness to hire a military spouses, a growing number are turning to
self-employment to fully utilize their skills, create a solution to their families income needs, and
create an employment situation that provides personal fulfillment.

As this self-employment trend grows, there are many groups and organizations popping up to
support the growing entrepreneurial movement within the military spouse community. There are
blog posts, spouse organizations, webinars, trade shows and other avenues of support on how
to fund, market, and grow your business idea.

What often gets lost in excitement and pressure of starting a new business is how to protect
yourself and your business as it grows. Having started a couple of businesses myself, I know
that the idea that someone would want to sue you or the need to protect against something
called business interruption, in case of a fire or a windstorm, is not the first thing that pops into a
new entrepreneur’s head. However, just like putting together the best marketing plan for your
business, protecting against the unknown is very important to a business of any size.

Our friends at Armed Forces Insurance are dedicated to helping your family in all situations,
including helping you understand your business insurance needs for your new startup. Below is
some information regarding small business insurance coverage options to consider:

1. Business Property Insurance – This coverage provides protection for the property that
your business owns, leases, or rents. This could include items such as inventory,
buildings, furniture or equipment.

2. Business Liability Insurance – This coverage is there to protect your business in case
it is sued for damage to another person’s property or causing harm or injury to an
individual. This coverage is important as it will help cover the cost of your defense.

3. Home-Based Businesses – Many entrepreneurs start their businesses out of their
home. What they don’t realize is that their personal homeowner’s insurance policy will not cover a home based business like a commercial or business policy would. If you
start a home based business, make sure you ask about additional coverage for your
home-based business.

4. Workers’ Compensation – This coverage will be important once your new business
venture hires its first employee. Workers’ Compensation provides benefits to employees
for work related injuries. This coverage could be for medical care, wages from lost work,
and more.

5. Business Interruption Insurance – This coverage compensates a business for lost
revenue due to an event, such as a fire or tornado that causes a disruption to the normal
course of its business activities.

Starting a new business can be extremely rewarding and challenging at the same time. With all
of the hustle of getting your new business off the ground, make sure you don’t forget to reach
out and make sure you are protected against anything that could go wrong and stop your new
business before it even gets started.

Those are just a few tips from Armed Forces Insurance regarding business insurance
information. For a more tips on this and other topics, head over to Armed Forces Insurance –
Resources and Tools page.

As a military family, you need insurance that matches your needs and protects what you value
most. You deserve an insurance company that is committed to serving you. MilHousing Network
is proud to partner with Armed Forces Insurance to bring military families reliable homeowner’s
insurance options when buying a home. Contact them today at 800-313-1936 or visit
www.afi.org/milhousing to learn how they can support your unique military lifestyle.