Starting a new business on your own can be both an exciting and stressful endeavor. When I decided to start my own used book shop, on the idyllic NSW north coast, all I knew was that I loved books and couldn’t imagine anything more fulfilling than spending all day surrounded by them. This meant that I had to do loads and loads of research before embarking on this journey. I’d never taken any business classes, so I was pretty clueless.
I quickly learned that starting a business wasn’t as simply as getting a shop and opening the doors for customers. I befriended a retired shopkeeper and got lots of advice over many cups of coffee. He taught me about all of the important things I’d need, such as licenses and public liability insurance. He also taught me about preparing financial documents and hiring staff. I credit him as the reason that my bookstore has been open for all these years.
You see, I could have lost the store and most everything I owned if not for his good advice. One spring about four years after opening the shop, a customer got hurt while inside. I used to keep a ladder in the store for reaching the high shelves. It was only for staff use, but one of my customers got impatient and climbed up it on their own. And you know what happened next. The books she was reaching for fell off the shelf on top of her, which caused her to tumble down onto the floor with said books. It wasn’t a long fall, but it was enough to cause injury.
Falling from a ladder on top of some books can result in a broken arm and leg. And broken bones are not cheap. Since the accident occurred in my bookstore, my business was deemed liable for her bills. It made no difference that she climbed the ladder on her own. Fortunately, that business liability insurance coverage paid for all the bills. Without it, I just might have lost the business and my assets.