Q. Have you considered the impact your death, the death of a key employee or business partner would have on your business?

A. Business owners and their families throughout Ireland are facing this issue every day. Some, however, are much better prepared than others.

As a business owner, you protect your property, your vehicles and equipment. But have you considered what would happen to your business if you died prematurely and the financial impact that it could have on your family and your business? Would your family stay in the business or would they sell it?

You may also need to consider the impact on your business of the death of a key employee or business partner. Would you have the funds available to buy your co-owner’s share of the business from their family? Would the business be able to sustain the financial loss on the death of a key employee?

 

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Who are your key people?

A key person is anyone who the company depends on for its continued success, relies on their specialised skills, reputation and contacts and whose death would have serious consequences for your company.

Insurance to protect your business

Many businesses will not have employees with the same knowledge, experience, judgment and reputation as the deceased employee. Sourcing an external candidate and in particular, the recruitment and training process can be slow and expensive.

​Insurance to protect your profits

The effect of losing a key staff member goes well beyond simply the cost of their salaries and the cost of replacement. As they’re central to your businesses, their loss will knock on to the bottom line. You can insure for loss of profits too!

​Protect shareholders or partners

Here we are talking about insurance to protect interests in the event of long-term illness or death. Families may want to sell their stake in the business but the remaining members in the business may not be able to afford to purchase but do not want those stakes held by newcomers.

​Those who provide personal guarantees

When a business takes out a loan or raises finance, the lender is quite likely to require a personal guarantee or a charge on their personal property. This especially applies to small and new businesses.

So what happens if these guarantors become seriously ill or die? The lenders may well be in a position to call in the loan. What happens then? Insurance can be put in place to pay off the loan and free the business and the guarantor’s family.

This insurance is a must. It can’t replace people but it can provide cash to buy time and cover the costs of temporary staff, recruitment or loss of profits.

A Financial Broker has the expertise to help you identify your business protection needs whether you are a Sole Trader, Partnership or Limited Company. Business Protection is an effective solution that can ensure there is a capital lump sum available to buy the deceased business partner’s share and/or help offset the financial impact of a key employee’s death. Having the means to buy a deceased partner’s share allows the remaining partners to retain full control of running of the business.

You can’t predict the future but you can plan for it.

This article aims to give information, not advice. Always do your own research and/or seek out advice from a Financial Broker before acting on anything contained in this article.