38 - Risk Management Insurance: An Effective Tool for Buying or Selling a Business

Our guest for this #PoisedforExit episode is Joe Housman, Vice President for Hays Companies and Brown & Brown Insurance. Joe has held a variety of roles with privately held companies, from CPA, to Private Equity adviser; he's worked with many companies in various stages of growth, acquisition and exit. He recently added Commercial Insurance to his areas of expertise and talked about how insurance can be used when buying or selling a business. One thing that Joe recommends sellers do is to make sure and tell their insurance agent or broker that they are anticipating a transaction, which Joe says can mitigate risk and cost for the seller and the buyer as well. One way he illustrated that was in the area of Employee Benefits. Joe also talked about Reps and Warranty Insurance, versus holding back funds from a sale in escrow, and how he analyzes risk by conducting insurance Due Diligence. Insurance premiums have gone up across the board, as we all know, not just due to the pandemic and all the extra claims, but also due to some Carriers getting out of the market altogether, which has driven up the cost of premiums. Joe said that if and when some of these carriers return to the market, lower premiums and competition for the insurance business would return. Until, it's important for business owners to monitor their insurance spend and have an audit done regularly. Cyber Security has been a problem area for claims, due to so many working from home. Make sure your company has the proper amount of insurance to cover a data breach and business interruption. To hear more of Joe's expertise check out the episode here!Find Joe here: https://www.hayscompanies.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-housman-015b064/Find Julie here: https://www.poisedforexit.com/Thank you to our Sponsors! JAK + Co. CPA's and Sunbelt Business AdvisersConnect with Julie Keyes, Keyestrategies LLCFounder, Consultant, Author, Pod-caster and Instructor