June 2022: As Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance reaches its 5th birthday, the U.K.’s first and only provider of personal guarantee insurance shares 5 top tips to business success.

Todd Davison, MD of Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance says; “As a small business focused on protecting the personal finances of small business owners, we know the pain points of moving from start-up to an established and trusted brand.  We have learnt a lot along the way and on our 5th Birthday wanted to share some of the strategies we believe are important for a growing business:

1. Collaborate on the operating infrastructure and actively seek input on thoughts/ideas on the product and business at the start. Ensure that the business plan remains fluid – if I look back to our original plan, things have naturally evolved away from that and it’s important to be open to new ideas and other ways of thinking.
2. Know your USP. We’ve sticked to niche, underserved markets and develop innovative insurance solutions not available from any other insurance provider. But remember if your product is completely new, you will need to find ways to engage and educate your target market
3. Believe in yourself and your idea. The individuals behind start-ups, by their nature, tend not to be averse to risk but all the same, launching a business is not just a financial risk – which we can help businesses to mitigate – it’s all the responsibility that it brings, particularly in the highly regulated world of insurance.  As they say, feel the fear and do it anyway but do call on the support of experts and mentors who can bring valuable perspective and experience.
4. Keep Calm and Carry On! It’s vital to remain clear-headed and not to let your emotions rule your decisions. 
5. Be proactive in managing finances. Always have a real-time and accurate view of your current financial position and upcoming obligations. Also, if you are considering new finance to grow your business and find your options are limited unless you sign a Personal Guarantee – consider Personal Guarantee Insurance.  While we would hope you would never need them, mentoring and support services are part and parcel of cover for businesses in significant financial distress

Todd Davison concludes: “During the past 5 years, we’ve protected 1,300 directors on over £200million of Personal Guarantee commitments – this includes £15million for start-up businesses, on loans from as small as £10,000 to one loan which was over £11million, with the average loan £250,000. We are delighted to have worked with so many compelling businesses and it has been a pleasure to have witnessed how resilient they have been whilst facing the headwinds of Brexit, the pandemic and the high-inflation economy we all find ourselves in. We look forward to continuing to support small business owners – from start-ups to established businesses – through what looks set to be a very challenging period ahead.”