Getting an insurance policy for your business is crucial, even if you have to use your personal investments. You never know when a natural disaster or a catastrophic event will occur, and if you aren’t covered it can be detrimental to your business. Here are four tips on the different types of coverage you can get to insure your business.

Find the Right Type of Coverage

The first thing that needs to be done to get your business insured is to take out a business owner’s policy. This type of policy covers virtually every type of liability and gives your business general  protection against such things as property damage or business lawsuits.  It’s generally recommended that you get at least a $1 million policy for liability coverage. After you get your business owners’ policy there are several different types of “extra” coverage you can choose from, such as automobile, earthquake, or flood. Choosing the right type of  coverage depends on the risks that are associated with your business’s  location, practice, industry, etc. You may also want to think about  getting business-interruption insurance, which protects against any loss  of income that may happen as you rebuild your company.

Find a Good Agent

It may take several tries for you to click with an agent, but finding  a good broker that you feel represents you and your business well is  important. Make sure that your agent manages your business insurance  policy appropriately, and thinks broadly of what your needs are. It is  also critical to find an agent who is good at analyzing your business’s vulnerabilities and predicting any future exposures to different risks. You can find great agents by asking other businesses in your industry or  business groups for their referrals. Keep in mind that different  agencies specialize in different areas of insurance, so make sure to  choose on that fits your business.

Don’t Wait to Insure Your Business

It can be hard to justify spending your personal investments on your  business’s insurance, but as your company expands, it is important that  you become more aggressive about protecting your business. Anytime there  are major changes in your business you should review your insurance.

Spending More Results in Spending Less in the Long Run

If you have a small business, it is understandable if your budget for  insurance is small. However, it is often the case that when you spend  more initially for insurance, you end up spending far less in the long  run. With business insurance, there are several payments that must be  made (including premiums and deductibles) but these combine to make a  lower investment.

If you don’t pay attention to your business’s  finances, and its profits vs. costs, your business can end up in debt  and on the road to bankruptcy. When this happens, it can be near  impossible to get it back on stable ground. Understanding the financial decisions that can get your business in trouble is crucial because it  will allow you to stop poor spending habits in its track before it leads  to you running your business into the ground.

Misusing Credit Cards

It can seem like a good idea to put your business’s expenses on a credit card, but it is all too easy to end up spending more than your  business is bringing in. Credit cards are a great way to pay for things  without having to immediately put down your money, however it is  important to not spend more than you can actually afford, even if it  seems like a good idea in the long run. You never know when you’ll run  into any unforeseen situations that require you to spend more money than  you thought you’d have to.

Taking Out a Bank Loan

Taking out a loan to finance your business may seem reasonable, however there is no way to guarantee that you can repay it in the long  run. The typical length of a bank loan is several years to a decade, which is much to long when financing a business, especially a start-up.  Your business is meant to make you money not put you in debt. A better  option may be to take out a payday loan. These are quick and easy loans  that can benefit your business as long as you are only paying off small  bills. They give you a small infusion of cash without the long-term  repayment bills. If you go with a payday loan make sure to be absolutely  certain of your ability to pay it off within a few weeks. If you go  with this option make sure to consult with quickloans.net for the best  rates.

Not Monitoring Your Business’s Cash Flow

If you are neglecting to monitor your business’s cash flow throughout  the day, you are committing one of the biggest sins of owning a  business. It is absolutely essential that you keep tabs on your cash  flow if you want to not only avoid going out of business, but also be a  successful business.

Not Pricing Your Items High Enough

Be realistic about how much you need to price your  products to make per sale. If you don’t charge enough, you will not be  recouping your invested funds. It is important to price your items so  that you are turning a profit.

Credit card debt is something that many of us have become accustomed to. The reality is, the vast majority of American households not only have credit cards but carry balances on those cards from month to month. Unfortunately, much of this credit card debt is due to overuse of these cards. Taking this too far could put you right in the middle of a financial hardship. Another unfortunate twist to this entire thing is that understanding credit cards and debt is not a course taught in your average school. As consumers, we just try to wing it! Well, below is a little bit of guidance to help you avoid overusing your credit cards…

Know And Control Your Debt To Income Ratio

Your debt to income ratio is a factor included in the calculation of your credit score. And, for good reason! If you have too much debt for your income to afford to pay back, chances are, the lenders will have an extremely hard time getting their money back. It is important to keep your total credit card balances below 10% of your annual income. Doing so and budgeting properly, you should have no problem paying your debts back. However, if you calculate your debt to income ratio and find out that it’s over 10%, you may want to stop using your credit cards all together until you’ve brought your ratio down.

Think Logically At The Checkout

As consumers, we are bread to spend with no regard for future consequences. Don’t become another slave to consumerism! Challenge yourself to think logically when it comes to the use of your credit card. Before you ever use your card, you should always ask yourself, “Can I afford to pay this purchase off along with the rest of my credit card debt within the next 6 months, should I have to?” and, “Is this purchase a need or a want?”. If you find that you don’t necessarily need what you are buying, you shouldn’t make the purchase. If you think that the purchase will make it impossible to pay off your debts within 6 months, you shouldn’t make the purchase.

If All Else Fails, Choose An Extreme Option

As consumers, many of us need credit cards as a financial pillow. However, the drive to use their credit cards outside of emergencies has caused many households to undergo financial hardship and in extreme cases, even bankruptcy. If you really want to stop using your credit card for non-emergency purchases but it burns a hole in your wallet, I’ve got a great option for you. Put your credit card in a freezer bag and fill the bag with water. Now, put the bag in the freezer and forget it was ever there. If you want to make a frivolous purchase, you probably won’t be willing to clean up the mess to get to your card. But, if you need something in an emergency situation, cleaning up a little water is a cost you will be willing to pay!

About The Author – Joshua Rodriguez

This article was written by Joshua Rodriguez, proud owner and founder of CNA Finance and avid personal finance journalist. Join the conversation about this article on facebook or Google+!

This guest post was written by Jason Bushey. Jason is a personal finance blogger and the Editor of Creditnet.com, an online authority on credit repair and comparing credit cards.

“What’s up with my credit score?”

It’s a reasonable question, especially the first time you check your credit score. If you see a low number staring back at you – 680 and below – then you’ve got a little bit of work cut out for you. It’s also a good opportunity to ask why your credit score is … well, the way it is.

If you want the best possible interest rates – be it on auto loans, a mortgage or future credit card offers – you’ll want to nudge that credit score from just OK to good and even excellent. And in determining how to improve your credit score, it’s imperative to understand what your credit score is made up of.

OK, here’s what’s up with your credit score.

First, if you’ve ever skipped a credit card payment entirely or made multiple late payments, then yes, your credit score will suffer for it. The inventors of the FICO score (the score you’re probably looking at) have said time and again that the biggest factor in determining your score is your payment history. Every time you make a credit card, loan or mortgage payment on time, you’re helping your score. And every time you miss one of these payments … well, you’re hurting it significantly, along with your chances of future creditor approval.

Second, if you’re carrying a high balance on some or all of your credit cards, you’re doing further damage to your score. Those same FICO inventors have said that the second biggest factor determining your score is your credit-utilization ratio, which is essentially the amount of debt you owe relative to your total available credit line. The guys and gals at FICO are super helpful, and will even go so far as to tell you how much debt you’re allowed to keep without negatively affecting your score; 30 percent, though 10 percent is ideal. Keep your credit card balance as low as possible; it’ll save you money on interest in the short and long-term.

There are several other smaller factors that play a role in calculating your score, but those are the two biggies. And if the above issues sound like they could be wreaking havoc on your score, there’s an easy way to start repairing that score, and it begins with applying for a new credit card.

That’s right – credit cards, when used correctly, can be extremely helpful in your journey back from “meh” credit. There are credit cards to repair credit aimed at various credit levels, from the bottom of the barrel to so-so, and even those scores bordering on fair or good.

How do they work? By targeting the above issues directly, namely improving your payment history and extending your credit line.

Applying for a new credit card gives you another opportunity to improve and expand your payments history. For instance, if you only had one card previously and up the ante to two, you could double the amount of payments you make each month. That means you’re improving your payments history at twice the rate you were previously, which is no small feat when you think about it.

If your credit is good enough (in the mid-to-upper 600′s), you might even get approved for a credit card that applies 0 percent interest for a temporary period of time on balance transfers. These cards can help you pay down your debt interest-free by literally transferring some or all of the balance on your old card and applying it to a new card. It’s the equivalent of refinancing your credit card debt, basically.

Paying down your existing debt is crucial to repairing your credit score because it lowers that all-powerful credit-utilization ratio, which is the second reason using a new credit card responsibly to get your score in order is a good idea: a new card extends your credit line.

If you go from owing $350 in credit card debt with a total available credit line of  $1,000, to $350 in debt and a total available credit line of $2,500, you just lowered your debt-to-credit ratio considerably.  (Note that credit lines vary, but this example assumes a new credit card limit of $1,500.) That’s yet another way in which your shiny new card can help you improve your credit.

To sum it up, building your credit is simple but it does take time and a little action on your part. The trick is to know what makes up your score and how to use a credit card intelligently and to your advantage. (And if you made it this far into the article, then you should be good to go!)