by APRIL Canada
Seasoned small business owners across Canada likely know full well the value of continually monitoring their insurance situations to ensure that the policies they control are keeping up with their actual needs. However, those who are just starting out in their entrepreneurship may not know the importance of doing so, and unfortunately it's a lesson that can be learned quickly and tragically.
For instance, three companies in Moncton, New Brunswick, were recently destroyed altogether by a huge fire that swept through the building in which they were located, according to a report from the CBC. For one company, the massive blaze ended up consuming everything the business had, including woodworking tools as well as the materials on which the owner worked. And unfortunately, that company – owned by "abstract woodworker" Jon Black – had no insurance at all, meaning the business was a total loss, and requiring the owner to completely start the company again from scratch.
In fact, the fire was so large that it took crews from three different municipalities to battle it over the course of several hours, the report said. Fire departments from Moncton, as well as nearby Riverview and Salisbury, arrived on the scene around 9 p.m. and the fire was not put out until about 3 a.m., according to Moncton Fire Department Division Chief Guy Richard. The fire itself was so massive that water had to be taken from a nearby pond to combat it.
Further, video of the fire showed that it had already climbed an entire side of the building in which the three businesses were located, and had gotten through the roof even before crews arrived to fight it, the report said. From there, the fire spread quickly to other parts of the building, making it even more difficult to wrangle.
What does this mean for other owners?
This incident should be an object lesson for small business owners not only in terms of making sure they are as protected with insurance as possible, but also that those needs change as businesses continue to exist, grow, and change. The insurance needs a company has when it is starting out are often very different from those it has even a few years later, and for this reason it's vital that owners regularly monitor their needs in this regard as their companies grow and evolve.
