Co-working is the practice of sharing office space with other businesses, and it’s on the rise in the United States. Small companies use co-working as a way to keep overhead costs down. These small businesses essentially “lease” space from existing companies that have excess room. 

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal cautioned against the advancing strides being taken in the home security market. Many homeowners now have the capability of unlocking the front door or disabling their home alarm with a Smartphone app.

“What could really happen if I let my kids/grandkids take a spin around the yard?” Famous last words, right?

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! For retailers that means the busiest season of all! Retailers, you know your foot traffic is off the charts right now. In addition to keeping the shelves stocked and the registers manned, good housekeeping will prevent trips/slips/falls on your premises.

As a small business owner, it would seem very probable that the autos you are using in your business are titled in your personal name.  If scheduled on a Commercial Auto policy, this may create a coverage gap for you in the event of an auto claim.  Depending upon the commercial auto symbols assigned to your policy, coverage may be limited to “owned autos”.  This would only include autos owned and titled in the business name if that business name is the only named insured on your policy.

Restaurants are often a great fit for West Bend’s SMARTbusiness™ program. If you own a restaurant or are an insurance agent inspecting a risk for a current customer or future prospect, it’s important to be familiar with the UL300 compliance systems (UL300, Fire Testing of Fire Extinguishing Systems for Protection of Restaurant Cooking Areas). Why? Because these systems were designed to protect you!