Often said in business 'You need to get out there and network!' The problem with this statement is it is not that helpful for those who haven't done it before. 

In a recessionary market, the way forward is to get out there and market, not retrench and pull back. "When in Hell, don't stop! Keep going." often attributed to Winston Churchill 

Yes, you may have been to a conference or two, but if you haven't been in a sales or relationship role previously, networking can be daunting, especially when you're trying to get your new venture off the ground. 

Great idea, product or service. You're busy getting going, so adding more to the load isn't easy to contemplate. Even if you've been in business for a while, you need new or more contacts, but you're not sure how or where to spend your time.

Look before you leap. Aussie shopkeepers and Kiwi small business owners. Terms often used by people looking at our respective markets when looking at the predominant structures for trade and commerce.

Probably not too far wrong, New Zealand has one of the highest per capita self-employed rates in the world. Which is why I am focussing this posting on those of you who are employed rather than self-employed. Because employed Kiwis often have a change in situation and end up self-employed.

As a home based worker, insuring your income can be a bit of a challenge in some situations, though with post Covid, work from home has become more accepted by insurers. 

The question is what do you do and how mobile do you have to be to do it? 

To be clear, I'm talking about those people who earn an income rather than those who are in unpaid occupations. The later is another article.

I'll be exploring a few situations and the insurance approach for paid home based workers, to give you a bit of an idea about how you can protect your income if you work from home.

A better question, do you want your things to go to those you care about and have your family looked after?

• Yes? A will and good estate planning will help ensure this happens.

If you have good estate planning, it often means I can do better insurance planning for you. This often means you insure less and pay a lower premium.

Are you prepared for the worst-case scenario? It’s not something any of us like to think about, yet us business owners die and get sick too. We may also end up having to sell our business. Having a succession plan in place makes it nice and clear who gets what and what they must do. Writing one isn’t that hard and involves mostly two actions: transfer of assets and transfer of control. Let’s walk it through …

What is a Succession Plan?

This question gets asked from time to time, and the simple answer is to help people. Which often gets a 'say what' sort of look, then 'but you sell insurance?' Yup, that's what I do.

Those in the industry understand my answer intimately, those outside often don't understand it so much.

I'll try and explain.