Liability insurance?

what kind?

[backwater]

Do you guys have business liability insurance for your online business? I'm just fixing to start mine up and I'm looking into. Just wondering what kind I would need, where to get it, and maybe an average cost.....my business is gonna be small time, nothing too big.

[Automan Empire]

Well, we aren't lawyers nor do we know the extent of your operation nor the locality, so...

If by small-time you mean home based, you will probably be okay without a separate policy, at least to start. Check with your insurance agent; your homeowner policy may cover you or easily add an endorsement.

Once you have an establishment (even a rented desk in an existing office) and/or employees (other than off-site, bona-fide independent contract labor) you are playing a much bigger ballgame, and should carry insurance.

There are a lot of variables here. You'll have to consider your assets and risk exposure to determine your insurance needs; the kind of thing insurance agents do all day. :)
Good luck!
-Automan

[HRoth]

I looked into liability insurance about six months ago because people I knew who were making a certain type of widget that is covered by specific laws had it and were acting like everyone needed to have it. I thought it was expensive--they were talking between $800 and $3000/year--but it seems that the cost really depends on what you need it for and where you buy it. Also, having it can mean you might have to change how you do business, what you sell, to whom, etc. Maybe talk to some people in your niche and ask them what they do. People in my niche who have brick-and-mortar stores or who sell at festivals and such have it. Others don't.

I decided to incorporate instead. You and your corporation are legally separate entities. That gives you personally a certain amount of liability protection.