Risk & Business

Like individuals, many businesses are looking to get into the ride sharing world to make better use of their fleets and routes. They are looking at it as a way to increase income. With technology, having folks "ride along" for a price has become really easy. A word of caution is warranted however when looking at the commercial auto insurance policy. As a small business owner you could be exposing your business to a "truck" load of liability. Many of the insurance companies will exclude "livery" or "public transportation" in policies. Also many state jurisdictions have limited Personal Injury Protection limits which could leave the business underinsured for passenger injuries. There are many other exposures for ride sharing that have to be dealt with before it can become good idea to increase income. Time will tell as the insurance industry and State legislatures respond to the market demand for ride sharing. Stay tuned. Until next time be careful...

One of the biggest risks developing for construction small business is lack of talent to fill jobs. During the recession of 2008-2011, construction companies had to reduce their work force to stay in business. This meant a lot of well qualified workers were laid off. Now that construction is picking back up, these same workers are older and do not want to come back to work. Also the industry did not do a good job of recruiting and training a younger workforce and this has created a gap. If you ask small business owners in the construction business they will tell you, "I can't find help" and will continue to be a big problem. The need is in the field, project management, leadership, and even engineering. The economy depends on the construction industry to drive growth. This could be stalled if projects cannot get done or the amount of available work lay dormant because of a reduced construction work force. Only time will tell if these available jobs will be filled in time ...