The Top Three Small Business Risks And How To Mitigate Them
A growing business is something to be proud of - but succession gaps, key person dependency, and cash flow shocks can undo years of hard work faster than you'd think.
Your business deserves protection as unique as your vision. That's why our team is passionate about helping you make smart decisions that safeguard your future.
Dive into our latest collection of risk management insights, handpicked by our experts who understand the challenges you face every day. These articles and case studies aren't just information; they're your roadmap to finding insurance coverage that truly fits your needs and gives you peace of mind.
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A growing business is something to be proud of - but succession gaps, key person dependency, and cash flow shocks can undo years of hard work faster than you'd think.
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A growing business is something to be proud of - but succession gaps, key person dependency, and cash flow shocks can undo years of hard work faster than you'd think.
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Taking on an apprentice is a smart investment in your business's future — but with younger, less experienced workers comes a higher risk of workplace injury, and making sure you have the right cover in place is essential.
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When your team comes to work unwell, it might feel like dedication — but presenteeism could be costing your business far more than a sick day ever would.
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Business email compromise is now one of the most common cyber losses facing Aussie SMEs. This article walks through how a typical email scam unfolds inside everyday payment routines, where money and time are lost, and why it often bypasses basic controls.
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SME insurance costs are shaped by more than base risk, with state taxes, emergency service levies, location, construction, and claims history all adding pressure. This guide breaks down what drives your premium and shows the practical choices you can influence to improve value and structure cover. Ensure every dollar works harder for your business.
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Tradies may be the lifeblood of your business, but are you protecting them against the risk and hazards in your workplace? Find out more about how you can better protect them and your operations.
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In the 2020s, pandemics, cyberattacks, extreme weather and supply chain shocks all collide. We explain how to use a ‘grey rhino’ lens to update your risk plan and business insurance for the decade ahead.
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Seasonal surges put year-round systems under strain as stock volumes rise equipment runs hotter and temporary staff join quickly. This article outlines how spoilage protection safe staffing liability settings and practical continuity planning can reduce loss, support stable trading, and help your business manage pressure when demand intensifies.
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2026 brings a tougher insurance environment as claims inflation, catastrophe losses, and cyber enforcement all intensify. This article unpacks the key SME trends in affordability, availability, and resilience, and offers clear steps to review limits, update wordings, test continuity plans, and sharpen everyday risk controls across the business today.
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Summer weather risks are intensifying, with increased heat, heavier rain, and stronger storm and fire conditions expected across Australia. This piece outlines the practical steps SMEs can take now to protect people, assets, supply chains, equipment, and operations, and to strengthen resilience & business continuity before extreme conditions peak.
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For Australian SMEs, the biggest threats aren’t always the ones making headlines. Inflation and cyber-attacks grab attention, but it’s the unseen risks that can do the most damage.
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Psychological injury claims have doubled in the past six years in Australia’s most populous state of NSW. They represent about one in eight workers’ compensation claims. These claims make up an outsized 38% of Australia’s total claim costs.
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Businesses in the construction, retail and hospitality are more likely than other sectors to be sued, says the Ombudsman. Clients, customers, other companies, shareholders, members of the public, and employees can file a claim against your business.
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Your business can change a lot in a year – expanding, shifting online, hiring staff, or upgrading equipment.
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Australia’s SMEs are navigating a complex environment in 2025. Economic volatility, regulatory complexity, and evolving security threats have created a perfect storm of pressures that test the resilience of even the most established businesses.
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Twelve months have elapsed since Australian businesses first grappled with the Right to Disconnect legislation. This August marked a significant expansion, with protections now extending to approximately 97% of SMEs, including those with fewer than 15 employees who previously operated outside its scope.
Australian healthcare faces a steep rise in cyber risks, growing in scale and sophistication.
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Battery-powered tools are now prime targets for thieves. Such tools are lightweight, valuable, and easy to resell on the black market, particularly online, even though they’re unlikely to fetch more than one-third of the original purchase price.
Across Australia, more businesses are operating without offices or in-house servers, choosing cloud-based platforms instead. Remote and flexible work has accelerated this switch for thousands of SMEs.
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In force since November 2024, the federal government’s Same Job Same Pay legislation applies predominantly in situations where labour hire workers perform the same duties as directly employed staff, ensuring they receive equivalent pay.
Australia is home to more than 25,000 hairdressing and beauty services businesses. If yours is among them, you’ll know how tough building a loyal base of customers and a protable enterprise can be.
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Leasing your property can be a great way to generate steady income, but many landlords underestimate the risks that come with it. Spotting those early makes it easier to protect both your building and your cash flow.
Australia is home to more than 46,000 real estate businesses. If yours is among them, you’ll know how tough working in and around the property industry can be.
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With spring here, it’s the perfect moment to reset your business and build momentum for the year ahead.
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Claims farming – also known as claims harvesting - is on the rise in Australia. It’s a practice that can impact any business, often without warning.
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When you transfer ownership of your business, you’re not always eliminating your exposure to risks. Liabilities tied to past operations, employee claims or professional services can persist long after the sale is finalised.
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Electric vehicles (EVs) are no longer niche but an increasingly larger part of how businesses move, deliver, and operate. But they also raise new insurance questions—especially around lithium batteries, workplace charging, and transport risks that may not be covered by standard policies.
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Australian businesses are feeling the squeeze of rising insurance premiums, building costs, and extreme weather—but a more silent threat is growing: underinsurance.
Aussies love a backyard, so it’s no surprise landscape gardeners are thriving. A number of dierent business models operate across the sector, including sole traders and proprietary limited companies and insurance diers across these options.
When fire tore through a commercial complex in May 2024, one real estate business owner watched her world stop. But while neighbouring businesses struggled without proper coverage, Petrie Real Estate had a different story.
AI’s rise brings hidden risks. Cybercriminals are using the same technology to launch smarter scams. In Australia, 82.6% of recent phishing attempts involved AI, with phishing emails jumping 17.3% in six months.
Running a professional services business – whether you're a lawyer, accountant, engineer or consultant – comes with opportunities, but also challenges and risks.
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In Australia, it’s not simply the age of your roof that determines whether your insurance claim will be paid. What matters more is the cause of the damage—was it due to a lack of maintenance or the result of a storm?
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Running a small business involves navigating various challenges and risks. Steadfast’s Broker Technical Manager, Michael White, shares his top five tips to help small business owners avoid many of the most common insurance pitfalls.
If your SME is using or planning to use electronic surveillance, this article outlines what you need to know to stay compliant. In retail, logistics, and professional services tracking staff can seem like a smart move to reduce theft, lift productivity, or manage off-site work. But is it?
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Australians now expect the same level of digital ease from their insurer as they do from Uber or the ATO. In fact, three in five SMEs say speed, simplicity, and clear communication matter most throughout the insurance experience.
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Running a small or mid-sized business in Australia means juggling costs, staffing, and cash flow. All that is before unexpected challenges arise. Whether it’s a natural disaster, a sudden transport incident, or a cyberattack, a single unforeseen event can disrupt your entire operation.
Cyber threats are evolving faster than most businesses can keep up, and Australian SMEs are now in the crosshairs. With bots, artificial intelligence-driven attacks, and regulatory changes hitting all at once, it’s a smart time to ask: Is your cyber coverage still fit for purpose?
Knowing what scams are out there and what you can do to help prevent them can be crucial for safeguarding your business. Here are some of the most common scams and their tactics, to help protect you and your business.
For small business owners, dealing with an insurance claim can be a bewildering experience, especially if you have never had to make a claim before. So, it pays to know who does what when it’s time to ring your broker to let them know you’ve had an insurable event.
Running your own show is a busy business. When you’re hard at it dealing with challenges in the here and now, it’s all too easy for future planning to take a backseat. That’s part of the reason why thousands of small businesses don’t have a succession plan in place.
These days, ‘keeping up a good shopfront’ doesn’t just mean ensuring your bricks and mortar premises are in apple pie order. Having a web site that’s fresh, informative, user friendly, easy to locate and lightning fast is every bit as important, if not more so.
Here are five steps to help you ensure you have the optimum cover in place in 2025.
Starting a company that’s ready to grow without burning you out begins with having the right vision, operational plan and systems.
Whether you're a business owner watching your inventory float away or a homeowner staring at a hole in your roof, knowing exactly what to do can mean the difference between a smooth recovery and months of headaches.
As your business grows and evolves, so could your insurance needs. Expanding your business, whether by increasing the scope of your operations, hiring more employees or opening a new location, may require careful consideration of your insurance coverage.
Bushfire, cyclone, flood – Australia is no stranger to natural disasters.
You may be paying for insurance, but if you’re underinsured, you could be taking a big risk.
Business Interruption Cover is designed to protect your business income in the event of a closure caused by unforeseen circumstances.
As a small business owner, you don’t need to be told that running an enterprise has its fair share of risks. Learning to deal with them effectively is critical, if yours is to prosper and grow.
It's not if but when a business will experience a cyber breach. Which means it's vital to be prepared before one happens.
It’s a season of new growth and revitalisation, which is why spring is the perfect time to make sure your insurance cover is fitfor-purpose for your business.
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Business insurance can look complicated but once you understand the basics, you’ll find it much easier to talk to your broker about your needs.
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The past few years of natural disasters, from bushfires to floods, have reminded many business owners about the importance of business interruption (BI) insurance.
If you’re the director of a company and you have not registered for a director ID, you could risk a penalty of up to $1.1 million.
In this guide, we explore some of the common insurance covers healthcare businesses should consider.
While it is not always at the top of an entrepreneur's To-Do list, ensuring you have the right insurance cover is critical. It can help protect your new business and its assets if something goes wrong. Without it, you may struggle to recover and remain viable after an accident or incident.
Understanding the roles and responsibilities of each party involved in the process is key to making sure your cover offers suitable protection for you and your business.
It’s time to finalise affairs and prepare your enterprise to start FY2025 strong. For many individuals, that means a last-minute scramble in the week leading up to June 30. But getting started early can make the EOFY process less stressful. Here are six tasks that should be on your small business’s To-do list.
If you lodge a claim on one of your policies, understanding how the system works can make the process smoother and less stressful.
Insurance is your safety net in the event of financial burden. But what happens if your asset was improperly insured at renewal time?
Engaging Medical Contractors within your practice ensures that your clients are receiving the best possible treatments. But where do your insurance responsibilities lie and the contractors responsibilities begin?
Within your premises, patrons entrust their health and safety to your care from the moment they step through your doors to the moment they depart. But what risks are you liable for protecting?
As the coronavirus outbreak continues, here are some important tips relevant to both you and your workforce.
Will your travel insurance respond if you cancel your trip because of coronavirus?
Understanding insurance in the face of COVID-19 and what you can do to maximise business continuity.
Sure it’s hard not to get distracted by the Bunnings sausage sizzle. It’s also hard not to notice how important tools are to each and every business owner that passes through the door
The big move home for businesses and their workforce provide opportunities for both good and bad.
On the good side, the flexibility and safety of employees is paramount and foremost, but what about the security of the business from a
digital perspective.
How do I pay for my business insurance when I don’t have the cash available?
So you’ve just received your renewal for your business insurances and your not sure how you’re going to pay for them?
Financing the premium is an option ....
Becoming a business owner means putting it all on the line and sometimes literally in terms of your house, your savings and your family’s future. So what happens when something happens to you?
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