You already run your own small business and can sometimes wear dozens of hats in a day, from HR, to customer support, to tech support, the list can feel endless – so why not just add insurance and benefits Advisor to your list as well? We’ll tell you. Benefits are a huge part of the total compensation package for your employees. It plays a critical role in attracting new employees, as well as retaining the employees you have already invested time and money in. With benefits being so important to your business, doesn’t it make sense to get help from an expert?

Here are five reasons why using an Insurance Advisor for your small business is not only beneficial for your business, but crucial as well.

Insurance is complex and you need to know the contract wording, administration, and legal precedent. There is a lot of money riding on knowing each of these areas in-depth and making the wrong choice with coverage because you did not understand something can have catastrophic consequences.

Nobody wants to buy insurance. If you leave it up to most people, you will never purchase all of what you need to mitigate risk. There may be risks that are there for your employees that you may not even know about. Also, most products can be confusing, so it would be hard to shop for products you know nothing about. Then, learning and framing the risk so you can make an informed decision is prudent.

There are so many niche insurance types that being a generalist in all of them is almost unheard of, as it would be impossible to know the ins and outs of each type. An Advisor who specializes in one type is very useful for everyone. For example, employee benefits has over 20 types of insurance and different products related to the field. From life insurance, disability, drugs, to Employee Assistant Programs (EAP), to Wellness accounts - the list goes on. Not knowing how a bonus ties into a disability program can have hundreds of thousands of dollars in claims as a consequence.

An Advisor can help you source the right product. Do not be fooled, this is not just the right product, but the best product for the price. In many cases, there are tons of options for each benefit offering. An Advisor can help you benchmark the coverage, find quality providers, and ensure that when the product is implemented, that it is meeting the standard your business should expect.

For HSA’s specifically, you will want an Advisor to help you with deciding how much and when a spending account makes sense. If you only deal with us, you get into a situation where it can start to look like you should "hammer everything that looks like a nail." You run the risk of getting bad advice stating that an HSA or a spending account is the only product you should consider. We came from the industry; this does not make sense. I did not only sell spending accounts, but I also offered insured plans, spending accounts, group RRSP, and all sorts of combinations of different products. Benefits are not a “one size fits all” solution and your benefits needs are as unique as your company.

Besides the fact most insurance products require a licensed advisor, you always want someone to educate, source, and give you expert advice on options for your employee benefits plans. There is a lot of money riding on your company’s ability to attract, hire, and retain staff, and the risk of making a wrong decision because you did not use an Advisor is too great, with potentially disastrous consequences.

Steve McEwan COO & Co-Founder myHSA