Small business owners ask us this question constantly: "What insurance do I actually need?" The honest answer depends on your industry, but four policies form the foundation. If you're missing one, a single incident can take down everything you've built.

1. General Liability (GL)

This is the must-have. GL covers third-party bodily injury and property damage caused by your business. A customer slips in your shop. A contractor's tool damages a client's hardwood floor. Someone sues over an injury at your event.

Typical limits: $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate. Cost: $400–800/year for most low-risk service businesses. Without GL, a single slip-and-fall lawsuit can mean a six-figure settlement out of your pocket.

2. Business Owner's Policy (BOP)

A BOP bundles GL + commercial property + business interruption into one policy at a discount versus buying them separately. It's available to most businesses with under $5M revenue and modest property.

Commercial property covers your equipment, inventory, and improvements to leased space. Business interruption replaces lost income if you can't operate due to a covered event (fire, theft, etc.). For a typical retail or office business, a BOP runs $700–1,500/year and replaces 2–3 separate policies.

3. Workers' Compensation

Required by Georgia law if you have 3+ employees (counting yourself if you're a corporation officer). Pays medical bills and partial wages if an employee is injured on the job.

Cost: Varies wildly by industry — clerical work might be $0.30 per $100 of payroll; roofing can be $20+ per $100. Penalty for non-compliance: Georgia can fine $500–5,000 plus require you to pay all medical bills out-of-pocket if an injury occurs.

Sole proprietors with no employees can usually opt out, but if you have even one part-time employee or a 1099 contractor that the state would reclassify as an employee, you need it.

4. Commercial Umbrella

Sits above your GL and BOP, providing extra liability limits when those underlying policies are exhausted. A $1M umbrella typically costs $400–700/year for most small businesses.

The math: if a customer sues for $1.5M and your GL only covers $1M, your umbrella picks up the remaining $500K. Without it, the difference comes from your business assets — and potentially your personal assets if you're not properly structured.

The "should consider" list (industry-dependent)

  • Professional Liability (E&O) — for service-based businesses where a client could sue over the quality of your advice or work
  • Cyber Liability — increasingly necessary if you store customer data or process payments
  • Commercial Auto — required if you use vehicles for business beyond a personal commute
  • Employment Practices Liability (EPLI) — for businesses with 5+ employees, covers wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment claims
  • Group Health — required if you have 50+ full-time employees; valuable retention tool below that threshold

Bottom line for Georgia small businesses

A typical 5-person service business in metro Atlanta should expect to spend $2,500–4,500/year on the foundational four policies (GL + BOP + workers' comp + umbrella). That's the cost of doing business properly — and it's substantially less than what one uninsured incident would cost. We can quote all four in a single afternoon.