Time the major challenge facing small business owners

We recently released the second edition of the Vero SME Insurance Index, which surveys the evolving attitudes of small to medium enterprise (SME) business owners and decision makers.

It’s probably no surprise to any small business owner, that the major challenge identified by SMEs this year was time.

The top three business challenges for SMEs relate to time

• 35% Trying to do everything on my own
• 34% Having no time for myself or my family
• 25% Managing my time efficiently

The amount of admin required to run a small business, and the feeling of isolation were also big concerns for the SMEs we surveyed.

If you’re a SME, an insurance broker could save you time

If you own or make decisions for a small to medium sized enterprise, one way to save time is to use a broker for understanding the risks your business faces and purchasing your insurance.

Arranging insurance is an admin task that can be time consuming and complicated, but 58% of the broker-users we spoke to identified time savings as one of the reasons they work with their current broker.

A broker can work with you to identify the key risks your business faces, and research and recommend products that might cover you. They can also put insurance in place for you and help out if you need to make a claim.

Using a broker doesn’t mean losing control

If you’re a business owner, letting go of decision making can be hard and some SMEs feel that they have more control over their insurance arrangements if they go direct.

But there are different ways to run your relationship with your broker, and using them as time-saving resource doesn’t necessarily mean losing control of your business. In fact, only 9% of the small businesses using brokers we surveyed said that their broker or adviser makes all the decisions about their business insurance.

For most SMEs, working with an insurance broker is a partnership, where you can choose the degree of control that you want.

• 36% - My broker or adviser presents a recommendation and I usually choose that
• 30% - My broker or adviser presents me with some choices and we make the decisions together
• 14% My broker or adviser gets me quotes, but I still do all the work when it comes to making decisions about business insurance.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your commitments as a small or mediums sized business owner, it’s always a great idea to take a look at what you’re doing and figure out where you can save time.

If you’re not already working in partnership with an insurance broker, getting in touch with one could be a great way to give yourself more time to spend on yourself or your family.

If you don’t have a broker, we can help you find one.