With fall weather just around the corner, businesses across Texas are ready to celebrate the arrival of milder temperatures and more pleasant outdoor opportunities for their customers. For retailers, this might mean hosting outdoor events for shoppers and visitors, and for restaurant owners, this might mean additional guests and special events in patios and outdoor dining areas.

Now more than ever, customers are far more likely to do their research online before spending money at a new restaurant, hiring a contractor, or visiting a retail store. They're also more likely to leave an online review of a business on social media accounts, both good and bad. Getting a bad review is part of owning a business since not everyone will love meal, their shopping experience, or their contractor's work.

Even with the economy continuing to feel the impact of Covid-19, many entrepreneurs are still pursuing their dreams and opening their own businesses. With the start of a new business comes several important decisions, such as finding an ideal location, hiring the right staff, and making sure permits, documentation, and financial protection are in place. One of the most important decisions a new business owner can make is having General Liability coverage to protect the immediate and long-term future of their new company.

In a very short period of time, Hurricane Nicholas developed from a line of tropical rainclouds into a category 1 hurricane that hit the Texas coast this week. While the flood and wind damages were not as significant as with past hurricanes, it still left behind flooded properties, toppled structures, and large power outages across the coast.

With businesses facing all types of labor and supplier challenges right now, the last thing companies need is dealing with property damage or losses due to thieves and vandals. A single act of theft or property damage can cause thousands of dollars in repairs, or cause business operations to slow down. Some businesses might not even realize that they have made themselves an ideal target for criminals looking for an easy score.

Businesses are often so focused on running their business and meeting customer demands that they don't take the time to notice the condition of their building or surrounding property until it's too late. In the hustle and bustle of running a busy restaurant, an owner might not notice new cracks in the kitchen tile floors, or a retail store owner might not see a new water stain on the ceiling of their backroom storage area.

Business owners can be bogged down with decisions when they're getting their company off the ground. From choosing a location, service and product offerings, hiring staff, marketing, and more, it can be a daunting task to know what choices should be made and which contracts should be signed. However, some of these decisions have more significant and lasting impacts than others. In today's Aegis blog post, we discuss three contracts that can have a major impact on businesses as well as their immediate and long-term success.

Business owners across all industries continue to focus on their recovery process from the pandemic as they deal with labor shortages and try to return to pre-Covid revenues. However, there are always issues that can arise and derail the recovery process, and in Texas, a major issue that businesses must face is the threat of flooding. In the Gulf Coast region, hurricanes and severe summer storms can cause thousands of dollars in flood damage in a very short amount of time.

One of the stories dominating the U.S. economy headlines is the current labor shortage impacting industries across the nation.. Although a large percentage of businesses have been able to stay afloat, many have had to do so with a much smaller workforce. In addition to putting additional pressure on business owners as they figure out how to run their daily operations with a smaller staff, it can also create new or growing liability issues for business owners.

First impressions can make or break a business. Whether customers are walking into a restaurant, retail store, or other business, what they immediately see and experience will shape all future interactions with that business, and well as how they tell others about it. It's imperative that business owners take an honest look around their business on a regular basis to make sure they correct any red flag issues that could create bad first impressions with customers.