November 1st means it is time for the eleventh excerpt from my e-book The Business of Face Painting. Of course, if you would like to get all the information included in my book right now you can find out how here.
The Business of Face Painting was published in September of 2009 and I am working on the final stages of the companion book The Art of Face Painting which we hope to have out sometime this year.
Protecting yourself and your family assests is something a business person must consider. If you are in business and dealing with the public you are at risk of a claim against you for a variety of reasons.
The following is an excerpt from Chapter Six of The Business of Face Painting.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Insurance
If you are planning to face paint as a business you should have personal liability insurance for your business. This protects you against any claims made by others against you or your business for things such as damage caused by you or your staff (like stains on carpet, etc.) or for claims of personal damages such as reactions to products. Not all insurance policies are the same so do a little research.
Decide what you need for coverage, how much you want to pay and then shop around to see what is available. Personal liability coverage protects your personal assets and those of your family against claims made against your business operations. If you do not have insurance there is the worst case possibility that you could be bankrupted should someone make a claim against you for damages and they win a court case.
Some painters feel that having liability insurance is not necessary, but, I personally believe that if you are dealing with the public and accepting payment for your services that you are putting yourself at risk so you need to protect yourself. Once you have made the decision to start your business you need to think like a business person and protecting your personal assets from business claims is a major issue.
You can also insure your kit and equipment against theft and loss. In most cases kit insurance has a deductible of $500 to $1000 so it is really to cover the complete loss of your kit due to theft or accident as replacing individual items is considerably less than the deductible. But having your kit insured is worthwhile if you are transporting a large amount of supplies and equipment as it does not take much to make up $1000 worth of face paint and brushes – if someone picked up your kit box and walked away with it the cost to replace could easily be more than the deductible.
The cost of getting liability insurance is not excessive – $150 a year and up depending on the amount of coverage you want or need.
Some homeowners’ policies will let you add home based businesses to your coverage, make sure to inquire as sometimes operating a business in your home may invalidate all or a portion of your coverage if you don’t let your insurer know.
What are the risks you need insurance for? Here are some examples:
- Damage caused by you or your staff or equipment – such as spilling paint on a client’s white rugs or leaving water rings on wooden furniture or damage caused by your vehicle to lawns or structures…
- Reactions to products applied by you onto people – rashes, itching, scarring in extreme cases. Not usual, but possible…
- Injury caused by you or your equipment – say you accidentally poke someone in the eye with a brush, a small child grabs the edge of your table and it topples over on them, your mirror breaks and cuts someone…
- Claims against you or your staff for inappropriate behaviour…
- Theft of your kit or loss in an accident or fire…
… these are possibilities that people could claim you are responsible for and your insurance should cover you for any legitimate claims and fight those that are not valid on your behalf.
Some large events and companies require you to produce a “certificate of insurance” for their event/organization. This is a certificate that your insurance company issues naming the particular event as being covered under your liability insurance. It provides proof that you have insurance and that the event has been specifically noted for any claims that might arise.
Insurance is a business cost and therefore a legitimate business expense for tax purposes so please cover your business and your personal assets against the risks.
© Shannon Fennell, 2009
with material from “Designs and Templates Volume 1” © November 2007
and “Designs and Templates Volume 2” © March 2008
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