5 cost-effective ways small business owners can support customers
Accidental injury insurance, equipment maintenance and more can help you keep your workplace safe.
Sponsored by Flip Insurance. When you're planning your next adventure, why not get cover with Flip? With on-demand accidental injury coverage, no-lock-in contracts and easy claims, it helps you get prepared for whatever life throws your way.
Running a business that involves physical activity? From martial arts studios to massage parlours, there are many simple and inexpensive ways you can protect customers.
1. Invest in accidental injury insurance
Accidental injury insurance can help you provide additional protection for customers and employees within your workplace.
For example, Flip Group Active allows you to cover customers and staff on an individual basis. Unlike traditional policies, you're not paying year-round, either.
Instead, cover is purchased on a switch-on, switch-off basis. So you're only paying for individuals on the days when insurance is required.
You can see on the Flip website that a massive selection of activities are covered, too. This can help provide more flexibility, particularly if you run a range of different activities on or off-site.
There are a number of benefits to you as a business. For one, it's something you're able to advertise as an inclusion in your services. This can help you stand out from your competition while clearly demonstrating to customers that you're invested in their care and wellbeing.
It can be used to supplement more traditional public liability insurance, as it's primarily focused on covering costs related to relatively minor activities.
Importantly, it won't add any extra admin. If a claim does need to be made through Flip Group Active, the affected party can make it themselves. The claim can be addressed at their pace, while you're able to take a step back.
Learn more about Flip Group Active
2. Check (and maintain!) your equipment regularly
Part of keeping your customers safe is ensuring that any equipment they use is working correctly.
Depending on your industry, this can cover a pretty broad range of items – exercise mats, weights, boxing equipment, tables and uniforms, just to name a few.
However, it's important to inspect them regularly for any signs of wear and tear. Regular checking helps you spot smaller issues before they turn into bigger ones.
Repairs can then be made as necessary. This type of maintenance also keeps costs down; if you're putting in the effort to keep your gear up to working standard, it's much less likely that you'll need to fork out for a replacement (or a lawsuit!) down the track.
3. Clean communal areas regularly
When it comes to getting active, the "blood, sweat and tears" stuff isn't always metaphorical.
So cleaning regularly is essential for maintaining good hygiene. This can help keep customers and staff alike safe from germs and bacteria, helping prevent issues like staph infections or athlete's foot.
Importantly, regular cleaning also helps keep your workplace looking great. No-one likes getting active in a grubby area – so ensuring cleanliness is also a great way to attract future business and retain staff.
Safework Australia has a handy guide for cleaning and disinfecting your business on a day-to-day basis.
But it's also worth getting the pros involved for periodic deep cleans, too – they'll be able to zip through the job much more quickly while making sure that dirt and germs are blasted away.
4. Keep staff up-to-date on WHS procedures
As a business owner, it's not just important for you to keep up to date on workplace health and safety (WHS) procedures for your industry. It's also your obligation to ensure that your staff are up to speed with the latest information, too.
Part of this can be done by providing signage where relevant (e.g. hazard signs, lists of procedures in staff-only areas). These aren't meant to be a catch-all but they can be a handy in-the-moment reminder.
However, more formal sessions may be required to keep employees in the loop too – whether it's training sessions before they're next on shift, or arranging for them to take appropriate courses outside of work hours.
You can also find out more about WHS and risk management on the Business.gov.au website.
5. Ask for customer feedback
One of the best ways to find out how you can better serve your customers is to ask them. It seems obvious – but you'd be surprised how often it goes overlooked!
These days, there are all sorts of ways you can collect customer feedback – forms on your webpage, social media and customer surveys, just to name a few. And of course, we'd be remiss not to mention the good old suggestions box on the counter.
But whatever method you use, make sure you've got a way to actually capture that information, too. Depending on your business, you may just need a simple spreadsheet; for a larger company, you may want a more specialised program.
By keeping this information centralised, you'll be able to get a clearer picture of how customers view you – as well as having the opportunity to address issues that might have otherwise slipped by.
Last but not least, make sure you take steps to action it. Change can't always happen overnight (and frankly, some customers will have unreasonable expectations) but even small adjustments can go a long way to preserving the future of your business.
Find out more about Flip Group Active today
Sponsored by Flip Insurance. When you're planning your next adventure, why not get cover with Flip? With on-demand accidental injury coverage, no-lock-in contracts and easy claims, it helps you get prepared for whatever life throws your way.
