Even the best business plan can fall apart without proper preparation. Answer these 8 questions to find out whether your one-person business would survive the hard times.
You don't start a business without planning for success. But even the best plan can fall apart if you aren't properly prepared. If you want to check whether your business would cope in difficult moments, answer these 8 questions for yourself.
There's no mercy here — the bills have to be paid. Add up all the monthly costs your business generates, but also your own: private bills and personal obligations.
A financial cushion is the foundation of running your business with peace of mind. On top of savings, savvy entrepreneurs hold well-tailored insurance policies, so they don't have to liquidate investments in a hurry, and so that in the event of an accident or illness there is money for treatment and a fast recovery.
How much revenue comes from your own work, and how much from your employees, from individual parts of the business, or from investments? If your entire livelihood depends on whether and how much you work, then a decline in your health can become an enormous threat.
Now we're heading straight for the grave — but this topic is worth thinking through as well. After all, we don't start a company for it to become a burden on our family, right? Check who will inherit your assets after your death, including the business. Ask yourself whether those people have the knowledge and the willingness to keep running it. Or perhaps you have minor children, on whose behalf the family court would manage the inheritance — and therefore the running of the company too?
And what even is that? In short, a succession manager is a person who, after the owner's death, sorts out the mess in the company on behalf of the heirs. What does that mean? They can close out contracts, settle accounts with the authorities, and keep the business operating. The tax ID doesn't disappear, so the jobs don't disappear either. Who can it be? Ideally someone who understands at least a little about your business, knows where your accounts are, who does your bookkeeping, and where to find all the documents (which is why it pays to keep them in order).
You don't have to die for this to matter — a long hospital stay or sick leave can paralyse your company's operations. It's worth having an appointed proxy for various key actions, such as contact with the authorities, withdrawing money from insurance policies, or receiving court correspondence.
It's no secret that social security (ZUS) benefits are meagre. But it's worth knowing just how meagre, so you can plan your financial cushion for a rainy day and work out what insurance sums your policies should carry.
Curing something like cancer takes three currencies: money, time, and knowledge. You may have the money — after all, you earn (if you don't have a spare 50,000–80,000 PLN for cancer treatment, you might not even get started — this is where a good policy helps), but where will you take it? How long will all the tests and queues take, even to private specialists? If you want the peace of mind that, in the event of a diagnosis, you'll get into the best clinics in the world without waiting, look for market programmes such as Dbamy bez granic, Global Doctors, or Medycyna bez granic.
Plan B and Plan C are just as important as planning the growth of your business. Even the largest ventures collapse without stable and secure foundations. A conversation with an insurance broker or an inheritance lawyer will give you peace of mind.
You register the succession management on your profile at biznes.gov.pl, in the "change of details" section.
Yes, a conversation with an insurance broker is free of charge — they will help you tailor solutions to your type of business and obligations.
Most lawyers charge a fee for legal advice, but you can often get a free consultation at public offices, for example at the city hall.
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