business insurance for freelancers
I would hate to see you put so much work and creativity into your project or side-gig and not have the protection in place to ensure that everything you’ve built won’t come crashing down. It’s like laying the foundation before building a house or adding eyeshadow primer before applying your glam smokey eye.
Business insurance varies based on the industry you’re looking to get involved with, but after you make sure you have the correct licenses and permits in place, you may want to look into insurance policies that are recommended for your industry.
In my last post, I briefly explained the legal risk that comes along with being self-employed as a sole proprietor. The level of legal risk definitely depends on your industry, if you have employees working for you, if you’re sharing intellectual property, or have invested in expensive equipment. No matter your business, it doesn’t hurt to make sure you have the insurance in place to protect yourself and everything you’re trying to grow in the future.
General Liability Insurance
This covers any accidents that may happen to clients or potential clients.
-Covers any third-party injuries
-Third-party property damage
-Product liability
-Advertising injury
According to Progressive, the average monthly cost of General Liability Insurance was $53 in 2019. This rate is going to vary based on your business, but I thought I would include it as a general estimate - if this is something you’re looking into.
Professional Liability Insurance
This covers any situation where a client’s expectations does not align with the work you produced or submitted. Some larger clients may also require this before entering a contract with a small business.
-Covers negligence (alleged, or actual)
-Misrepresentation
-Inaccurate advice
The average monthly cost of Professional Liability Insurance was $46 per month in 2019.
If your business is more established, or operating out of a physical location: you can look into Business Owner’s Policy Insurance which bundles general liability insurance and commercial property insurance.
And again, according to Progressive, the average monthly cost of BOP Insurance was $80 in 2019.
There are so many resources out there for finding the insurance that is right for you and your business. Personally, although I was looking into Progressive Insurance in this post, I plan to look around at different rates before deciding which to go with. I also found The Hartford to have some useful information, and cute videos that do a better job at breaking down some of these fairly dry topics.
Retirement Fund? 401K?
This isn’t necessarily related to business insurance, but it’s something that your employer would have taken care of on your behalf. So, it’s something to keep in mind for when your business starts to become profitable.
Personally, I haven’t put a whole lot of thought into these topics other than: I know I should probably be saving for retirement. At the moment, I’m saving about 2-5% of my monthly income using Acorns (which is by no means a retirement fund). I’ve been doing this for about 6 months now and plan to change this up as I learn more about this topic, and as my income grows. It seems like the recommendation is to put aside 10-15% of your income for retirement, but I’m just not quite at that point in my career yet. If you are, there are options for you, like a solo-401K. But for now, I plan to cross that bridge when I get there!
As usual, I would love to hear your feedback on these topics. If you think there’s something I left out that should be included, please let me know! I would love to hear from those who have more experience with these topics.
Also, if you found this helpful or would like to get updates on my progress - you can sign up for my mailing list! Thanks again for taking the time to read this :)
