Landscaping is a profession that involves altering a piece of land according to a specific design. It can involve modifying plants, rocks, water features, lighting, and more. Contrary to popular belief, it is a highly technical job due to the techniques used to modify existing landscapes. For example, some landscapes may need to have the land reshaped entirely, sometimes with dirt added to fill a slope, or even dirt removed to cut a slope. Such things require advanced equipment and planning, far beyond what most people think of when they think of the landscaping profession.
It is little coincidence, then, that small landscaping businesses need to invest in landscapers insurance, such as the insurance provided by Bolt Insurance. Many of the features of landscapers insurance are important to any small business, such as workers compensation insurance and employee dishonesty insurance. If an employee is injured on the job, you don’t want to bankrupt your business paying medical bills and missed wages, and since landscapers work often with heavy machinery and specialized equipment, the eventuality of an employee getting hurt is unavoidable. Maybe an employee steals a piece of equipment from you, or steals from the home of a client – that is what Employee Dishonesty coverage is for. There are several basic business insurance policies that are useful for many types of small businesses, including landscapers.
Landscapers can face a variety of situations that are particular to the profession. For example, after spraying a particular pesticide or herbicide, maybe a pet who roams outside has gotten sick, and a customer blames you for it. Liability insurance can cover you for such a situation. Or, perhaps chemicals that you used while landscaping burn the client’s grass, and now it’s your business’s fault. These are just two situations that are specific to landscaping that can be alleviated by good insurance coverage.
Property coverage is another particularly important type of coverage for landscapers, as the equipment needed to reshape a piece of land is both expensive and specialized. Landscaping is not simply planting a garden and tending to it, though that may be a small part of it. Landscaping work shares a lot in common with construction work, and can have a similar amount of accidents associated with it. Someone gets hurt on the equipment, or a piece that you need to complete a job breaks entirely and needs repair or replacement. Landscapers insurance can cover all of these misfortunes.
Small businesses in the United States struggle enough as it is. Oftentimes, a business can barely afford to operate, let alone make a profit. If even one thing goes wrong financially, it can often spell the doom of a small business. A customer suing you, or an expensive piece of equipment breaking down, are both unfortunate reasons for an entire business to go bankrupt. Purchasing good landscapers insurance will allow you to have peace of mind, and focus on growing your business and maintaining a reputation as a good and decent landscaping company.