Have you ever considered starting your own fabric store? If sewing and quilting are your passion, running a quilt or fabric store could be a dream come true.
However, there's more to it than just selling fabric. You also need to master the business and operational aspects.
In this blog, you’ll discover five essential reasons to insure your fabric store and learn how the right point of sale (POS) solution can help streamline your business operations.
Why Fabric Store Insurance Is Necessary
Insurance is vital — especially when it comes to running your business. It’s one of those things that you always need to have, but hope you never have to use.
It’s important to be equipped with the right insurance so that you can make sure that you, your employees, your customers, and your fabric store are protected.
One crucial reason for insurance is risk protection. This includes fire damage, theft, and customer or employee injury. While you can never predict when these incidents might occur — and hopefully they never do — having insurance ensures you’re covered during times of need.
Insurance is also necessary for compliance. Governments mandate that businesses carry specific types of insurance. To keep your fabric store operational, you have to meet these requirements.
Insurance also gives you peace of mind. In the event something happens to your fabric store or someone on your property, the financial consequences could be significant. Even if rarely used, insurance offers reassurance that everything will be taken care of.
Related Read: ANSWERED: How Much Does It Cost To Open a Fabric Store?
5 Types of Fabric Store Insurance You Need
Fortunately, there are various types of fabric store insurance that protect you and your business. While you might not need every insurance type, here are five essential ones for opening your fabric store.
General Liability Insurance
General liability insurance protects your customers and your property in case of an accident. If your customer gets injured on your property or your fabric store is somehow damaged, this insurance protects you and helps cover the cost of damage that you’d be liable for.
This is especially important if a customer takes legal action against your company if they were hurt on your property. Not only will this fabric store insurance help cover legal costs, but it will also pay for your customers’ medical bills.
Related Read: 7 Fabric Store Marketing Ideas To Attract More Customers
Property Insurance
This fabric store insurance is especially important because any potential damage to your property is probably done by someone or something that you can’t control. Basically, property insurance protects your store’s physical location and products against damage or loss.
If there’s ever a natural disaster or fire, property insurance will keep your mind at ease. Property damage can be expensive, but this insurance will help you get back on your feet in no time.
Business Interruption Insurance
Business interruption insurance covers lost income if your fabric store must close temporarily due to a covered event. It helps maintain cash flow and supports financial stability during unforeseen disruptions.
If you decide to invest in this fabric store insurance, make sure that you look at the events that your business interruption insurance covers, so you aren’t blindsided when you need it most.
Related Read: 25 Quilt-Making Accessories To Sell in Your Store
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Workers’ compensation insurance is often legally required. If an employee is injured on the job, you typically have to cover those costs. Workers’ compensation pays for medical bills and a percentage of the employee’s wage during their recovery.
You might think you’ll never have to utilize this insurance because fabric stores aren’t typically the most dangerous places to work. However, accidents happen. Inventory can fall off shelves, employees can pull a muscle while restocking — the accidents are endless.
Not only is workers’ compensation insurance legally required, but it's a great fabric store insurance to keep you and your employees at ease.
Product Liability Insurance
Product liability insurance protects against claims related to the products you sell. You most likely won’t have too much of a problem with this in your fabric store. But remember: Anything can happen.
If for some reason your product malfunctions and causes harm to your customers, you can be held liable. You might think, “Wouldn’t that be the manufacturer's problem?” In reality, any party in the chain of distribution can be held responsible.
You can also be held responsible if you don’t warn your customers about an issue that previously came to light. At the end of the day, you want to have this insurance just in case something goes awry.
Related Read: 15 Inventory Management Features Your Fabric Store Needs
How the Right POS System Insures Your Fabric Store
While your point of sale system isn’t technically insurance, it does protect your company and optimize efficiency.
Like Sew is an all-in-one industry-specific POS system that safely stores your customer data and sales analytics. It goes the extra mile by offering a comprehensive software solution for every operational aspect of your fabric store.
Here’s how Like Sew can help you start your new fabric store on the right foot:
- Inventory management: Tracks stock levels and helps manage orders.
- Customer management: Keeps detailed customer records and supports loyalty programs.
- E-commerce website: Seamlessly integrates with your fabric store’s website to unify in-store and online sales operations.
- Sales tracking and reporting: Provides detailed sales reports for better business insights.
- Integrated payments: Simplifies transaction processes, including split payments.
- Security: Ensures data protection and manages employee access rights.
- Fabric-specific payments: Allows you to charge customers based on fabric measurements.
So, in a sense, Like Sew is fabric store insurance — it ensures your fabric store is always efficient and keeps your customer data safe.
See how Like Sew can change your fabric store for the better with its fabric-specific software — schedule a demo today.