According to the RBA summary, inflation is up to 3.8%, and Business investment is down from 18% of GDP to 11%.
The cost of ‘things’ needed to run a business is not getting any cheaper!
There are bits and pieces that can be sweated for a bit, but these costs end up getting kicked down the road as maintenance costs or carried as operational inefficiencies.
Then there are core purchases that simply cannot be pushed down the road and can quite literally save your bacon. Non-negotiables that without them, can create a material risk on the business.
Hidden, but Necessary
One of these things is business related insurance (General, Professional Indemnity, Management Liability, Cyber Security).
For a professional services firm with a couple of Architects, Consultants or an Engineering firm with half a dozen engineers, these bills are lumpy. Going through the annual underwriting assessment can also take time away from completing projects and meeting deadlines; and annual premiums can and usually increase.
Whilst essential, these bills are a grudge purchase. Something that some of your clients expect but are not tangible in the scheme of the professionalism you provide.
Finding the money to pay these bills are a hit to operating cash flow. Insurance premium funding options exist, but this can involve additional paperwork and red tape, eating into the valuable time you need to focus on running your business.
Closer to Home
I recently renewed our business general and specialty insurances. It took me over a week to find the time to fill in the ‘PDF paperwork’. Context switching between work, it then took me another few days to find the mind share to consider alternatives to pay the sizeable bill just as the renewal date was approaching.
Not wanting to go down a manual insurance premium funding process, I paid the bill from cash resources…. Many businesses out there are not in the same position or would rather forgo the cover they need altogether. Some reluctantly spend time working through “e-paper work” to tap into a number of the insurance premium funding options in the market.
Commercial Grade Paracetamol
Steve, who runs an Architectural practice in QLD, contacted us about the same time we happen to be renewing our insurances. We got talking about how he goes through this process every year and whilst he gets an amazing service from his insurance broker, his professional indemnity and general insurance cover wasn’t getting any cheaper.
With all the activity going on in his world, Steve was less than a day away from having to renew his $12,000 policy and needed something he could use immediately, without having to wack it on the business credit card. He looked at insurance premium funding as a primary option but then reached out to see if there was another way with Procuret.
A Problem Worth Solving
When talking to other professional services customers, we found similar experiences.
There are a few options in the market today to pay for business insurance. Some are good and have been around for years, but there are still gaps when it comes to time poor businesses looking to get things done quicker and simpler.
We think it is time to take some of the manual admin away for everyone involved and take these steps completely digital!
If you are an Insurance Broker and want to get paid upfront, while your Customers pay later, connect with Procuret - email payinsurance@procuret.com, call 02 8866 5399, or find us on LinkedIn or Twitter.
