Crains New York - December 10, 2012 - (Page 8)

SMALL BUSINESS Affordable insurance eludes firms Small businesses find the right policies scarce and often priced out of reach T BY EILENE ZIMMERMAN he winter of 2010 was tough for Zalmi Duchman, founder and chief executive of Fresh Diet. His company, which has a Brooklyn office, delivers pre- pared meals to a customer’s home. Twice, winter storms prevented drivers from delivering meals in New York City. All told, it cost the profitable 250-employee company, which has about $30 million in annual revenue, about $50,000. Mr. Duchman decided that in addition to the insurance he al- Post-Sandy necessity Having insurance above and beyond what’s legally required is in- FRESH DIET’S Zalmi Duchman needs an affordable business-interruption policy. STYLISH. BEAUTIFUL. CUTTING-EDGE. BREAKING GROUND ON WORLD-CLASS HEADQUARTERS FOR LEADING-EDGE BRANDS ways required to buy other types of policies that might be helpful, said Stuart Antell, a business law partner at Ferber Chan Essner & Coller in Manhattan. If you lease a retail space, for example, your landlord might require you to have liability insurance, but not always. However, he said, “it makes sense to have it.” Many small business owners find it tough to obtain the right policies at affordable prices, so they don’t buy insurance until big clients push them to get it. Atma Global, a profitable Manhattan-based publisher of multimedia learning products, has 35 full-time employees and consultants globally, and revenue in the low seven figures. It didn’t have business insurance until two years ago, when a large client told CEO Sanjyot Dunung that she needed to have both general liability and business insurance to become a vendor. “I did a lot of Internet research,but because of our category—content and multimedia publishing—there isn’t a lot of insurance information,” Ms. Dunung said. A friend put her in touch with Insureon, an online commercial agency with 50 employees focused on small businesses, primarily those with 10 people or fewer. “They were good at understanding what we needed quickly,” said Ms. Dunung. Atma’s new coverage costs less than anticipated—about $4,000 a year. Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group welcome Coach to the ﬁrst tower in New York’s next great neighborhood. hudsonyardsnewyork.com exclusive leasing agent Cyber insurance Urged by a client, Paul Basile, CEO and founder of Matchpoint Careers in Manhattan, was trying to get what’s known as cyber insurance but was having a tough time. Matchpoint uses assessments that predict performance to match candidates with jobs and careers. It launched two years ago, has seven employees and isn’t yet profitable. Recently, Matchpoint’s largest client told Mr.Basile that his company needed cyber insurance should his IT infrastructure or data be compromised. Insurance companies asked Matchpoint for a three-year record of performance and a list of clients. “Those questions are very hard to answer if you’re a young company,” he said. Matchpoint finally secured cyber insurance through Bermudabased Argo Group. Although he considers the premium expensive, he’s glad to have the coverage. To sign up for Crain’s SMALL BUSINESS newsletter, go to www.crainsnewyork.com/smallbiz. 8 | Crain’s New York Business | December 10, 2012 buck ennis ready had, he needed businessinterruption insurance. But two years later—with winter weather arriving and Hurricane Sandy’s damage done—he still doesn’t have it. “We actually can’t find coverage for this we can afford,” he said. “It looks like it could be more than $50,000 a year.” creasingly necessary for small firms. That’s an issue that’s become abundantly clear after Sandy, when many local business owners have discovered the hard way that they should have purchased business-interruption or, in some cases, flood insurance, which not all mortgage lenders require. Although New York City businesses with employees must have workers’ compensation, unemployment and disability insurance under New York state law, they aren’t al- http://www.hudsonyardsnewyork.com http://www.crainsnewyork.com/smallbiz

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - December 10, 2012

THE INSIDER
IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
SMALL BUSINESS
BUSINESS PEOPLE
OPINION
GREG DAVID
REAL ESTATE DEALS
REPORT: PHILANTHROPY
THE LIST
CLASSIFIEDS
FOR THE RECORD
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - December 10, 2012