For many businesses throughout Simcoe County, Christmas is the time of year that brings a one-two punch. It’s when both spirits and sales rise, but it’s also when day-to-day operations get busier than ever. This can lead to additional stress, unforeseen time constraints, and end-of-the-year tasks being done poorly or without proper diligence in an effort to stay on schedule.
Commercial insurance can help protect your property and daily operations, but while this is essential in the event of an accident, it’s much less hassle for you, the business owner, to avoid falling into unnecessary pitfalls. Today, it’s time to sit back and relax. We’re going to provide you with a few handy strategies to help keep holiday crises at bay this year.
Watch Out for Deadlines
No matter how refined your system of operations may be, there will always be an element of risk when deadlines collide. Your employees may find themselves rushing to complete tasks on time, and even your customers may start moving throughout your business a bit faster as Christmas Day approaches. It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of activity, but it’s your job to resist the urge to panic. Remind your employees to work carefully and deliberately to keep themselves and your inventory safe or your services up to the regular standard. If something does happen, again, don’t panic: this is where your commercial insurance company will step up to the plate.
Safe Celebrations
Staff parties have a ton of benefits that can and should be appreciated. They can reinforce a sense of company culture and promote stronger ties between employees. However, they can also present a huge liability risk if they’re not managed well and if alcohol is present. Employees are more likely to trip and fall, and they may need assistance getting home safely.
Keep an eye on your party guests and ensure that no one is overserving themselves and that they have options to get home if they’re unable to drive. If someone does have an accident, your commercial insurance will help cover legal costs or repair damages.
Keep an Ear Out
Your customers are the best method to assess how your products and services are performing. During the holidays, you may fall behind on delivery of your product, or you may find that your employees are stretched thin on time and unable to devote as much attention to customer service as they may usually be able to. In this case, it’s vitally important to listen to what your customers are saying.
Make time to tell them what’s going on with their services, and when they can expect to receive them. Many people are perfectly content to allow companies a bit of extra time around the holidays, provided you as the service provider are upfront and honest about what the reason for the delay is.
Pay Attention to the Weather Report
Ontario weather can get intense, especially when the snow starts piling up. Keep an eye on the weather report, since you may need to adjust certain elements of your production or maintenance schedule. For example, let’s say your business supplies a service with a fleet of vehicles, but there’s an impending storm expected to bring plenty of ice to the roadways.
You’ll either want to postpone the service until your team can deliver safely or you’ll want to perform an inspection of your vehicles to make sure they can handle the road conditions. If there’s a dumping of snowfall and you know the roof of your office needs replacement, you’ll be able to arrange to have the snow brushed off before it can solidify into ice.
When bad weather’s involved, accidents do happen. If your business suffers a weather-related accident, your commercial insurance can help cover part of the costs, so you can get back to work more quickly without missing out on any of the holiday sales.
Get Commercial Insurance on Your Team
All of the above strategies are great guidelines for your holiday operations, but the best protection by far against a holiday emergency is to make sure you’ve got commercial insurance on your side. For over 35 years, Will Marshall Insurance brokers have been helping owners and entrepreneurs like you find the right commercial insurance to protect your business, employees, and customers. This holiday season, if you’re looking for the ideal gift for your company, look no further than a solid commercial insurance policy. Our brokers are ready to help you find it.
To learn more about commercial insurance, give us a call at (705) 726-2551. You can also send us a message online.