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Lawsuits happen all the time – they’re a regular part of the business world, and can sometimes be impossible to avoid. Nevertheless, every small business owner should make an effort to avoid lawsuits as much as possible. There are certain things you can do that will protect your business and prevent you from being sued in many circumstances. While this might not make you 100% un-sueable, it will go a long way to stopping a few careless lawsuits that many small businesses sadly fall victim to.

What should you do? Read on to find out…

Always get legal contracts created

Are you dealing with another person or company? Whether this is an employee you’re hiring, a potential client, or a new supplier – you need to have legal contracts each and every time. These contracts are an opportunity for you to clearly state the terms of your deal on paper. For employees, it lets you know what’s expected of them, what your business is entitled to do, and so on. The same goes for clients and suppliers, and this is a way of avoiding being sued if something goes wrong.

For example, a client might try to sue you because they’re unhappy with the work or what you’ve charged them. If they have signed a contract that clearly stipulates your prices and the work you will do, they can’t sue you if you have followed through with your side of the contract.

Protect your business with insurance

In truth, the majority of lawsuits against small businesses come in the form of compensation claims. Typically, someone will get injured on your premises and sue you for compensation. Or, in the case of door-to-door businesses, you might damage someone’s property while on the job, and they’re entitled to sue you.

Lawsuits can be avoided if you have the right protection in place. Normally, all you need is liability insurance for small business owners. Here, if someone gets hurt or you damage their property, your insurance provider can pay compensation, avoiding the need for any lawsuits. Thus, your reputation is protected, and you don’t have to deal with days in court.

Don’t take any risks

To prevent lawsuits, you have to think about how they come about. We’ve covered a few situations in the previous tips, but there’s still a way that businesses are sued that we haven’t spoken about.

Put simply, many companies are sued when they take risks or do things that they really shouldn’t. This could be an ethical risk, a moral risk, or a legal one. For example, you put things down as business expenses that you really shouldn’t. The taxman finds out, and you will end up in trouble. In lawsuit terms, you could lie about something to a client, and they find out and can sue you. To ensure nothing bad ever happens, always stay honest, moral, and don’t take any silly risks.

Follow the advice in this guide if you want to make your business as hard to sue as possible. You’ll be able to avoid massive financial distress and maintain a positive reputation if you don’t keep getting sued!

Running a profitable plumbing business takes skill and hard work. It involves strategies that aim to reduce the costs of running the business without compromising service delivery. Signs of money leaks in your plumbing business are

• Disgruntled customers
• Misplaced or lost paperwork
• Disorganized appointment scheduler
• Unclear costs of equipment, inventory, and running the business

To save money or seal all money leaks, here are simple tips any plumbing business can implement.

Have a Reliable Inventory Supplier

You’ll need enough inventory to run the business and meet customers’ needs effectively. Apart from ensuring quality suppliers, make sure products are available when required and meet all set safety and industry standards. 

You don’t want the parts breaking down soon after installation or causing safety hazards in your clients’ premises. For instance, when shopping for an aluminum anodized finish, check whether it meets high-quality standards, and the supplier has the experience and capability to meet your demands.

Digitize Operations

When experiencing inefficiencies such as loss of paperwork and a disorganized appointment schedule, it means your establishment is not yet digitized. Although old habits die hard, it’s essential to keep up with the industry standards and minimize paperwork by opting for safer banking, invoicing, and record-keeping processes.

The change will reduce handwritten mistakes, make the processes faster, secure, and more efficient. You also don’t need a lot of storage space for your paper documents or worry about losing your files through occurrences such as theft, fire, or flooding.

Improve Customer Satisfaction

When you have a disorganized appointment scheduler, you cannot effectively meet customers’ demands. You’ll sometimes fail to attend to bookings or emergencies. Note that some plumbing issues need quick attention to limit property damage. 

When you’re not able to do this, it can cause your clients immense losses. Disgruntled clients will not come back to you and might blame you for the damage, sometimes leading to lawsuits. 

When you lose a customer, it will be twice as hard to attract a new one, especially when your service delivery is subpar. To keep clients satisfied, continually update your skills and adapt to technology and new ways of handling plumbing processes. Make sure you use quality products and methods. Understand your customers’ needs well before starting a project. 

Grow as The Demand for Your Services Increases

If you are at the same level you used to be when starting the business, it means that you’re not plowing back to improve service delivery. As time goes by, more people will know about your services, enabling you to create a more extensive client list.

It also means that you have to improve efficiency and meet all customer demands, including offering emergency services to keep them choosing you every time. Make sure you have enough employees and equipment such as hardness testers to handle the rising demand. Also, take time to find the talent you want to include in your business to ensure quality service delivery.

As your business grows, stay in control of all your expenditure and understand your financial standing. You’ll be able to maintain an efficient company that meets clients’ expectations. 

Here are a few best practice tips for studying for a water treatment license exams.

Common Sense

You might expect every water treatment facility to operate along the same litany of best practices, but you may be surprised. Some communities fluoridate their water, some don’t, where you are may differ from where you spent your formative years. Also, practices change over time.

As an example, even as big cities like Cedar Rapids to the north and Iowa City to the south adopt practices like fluoride treatment, little communities like Mount Vernon, Iowa between these cities can lag behind. Today, Mount Vernon incorporates fluoride in their water supply. But there was a time when they did not, and local lobbyists had to push for it.

When it comes to wastewater certification, treatment practices could differ widely from one municipality to the next. In terms of volume alone, you’re not going to find the same levels of waste in Chicago that you will in some farming community a hundred miles from any big city in the middle of the state. For more background, consider these four treatment methods.

In light of these realities, following we’ll explore a few things you may want to keep in mind as you study for the license exam to attain your water treatment license.

Don’t Only Memorize; Assure You Understand

Memorization doesn’t teach critical thought, it just teaches a sort of constrained summary of a given subject. If you want to attain your water treatment license in a meaningful way, you’ve got to do more than simply memorize relevant material.

You’ve additionally got to understand why certain treatment methods work, others don’t, and the community you’re in uses what methods it does.

With water, there can be a surprising number of angles to consider; and given the farming communities of Illinois, some wastewater may serve multiple purposes. Understanding these things helps you not only pass the test but work more effectively for the community you’re a part of as well.

2. Ask Friends Or Co-Workers What To Concentrate On
   Friends who have taken the exam or co-workers that are taking it with you may have information on water treatment certification exams that you didn’t realize were relevant. Ask around, don’t go it alone unless you have no other choice. Friends and co-workers can help you not only attain and maintain study motivation, but they can also help you study the right things.
   
   https://pixabay.com/photos/homework-the-student-tablet-3235100/
3. Use Study Materials Specifically For Water Operators
   There are specific study materials designed to help those about to take their water treatment certification exam. Such materials are calibrated toward water workers in general, but you can find information that specifically applies to local laws. A great example of such study materials is Aypotech.
4. Carefully Research Specific Positions You’re Applying For
   You’re going to need different kinds of knowledge for different positions pertaining to water treatment. Sometimes your job involves maintaining equipment, sometimes it involves actual treatment of water, sometimes you’re looking at planning positions for future expansion.

As you go about achieving your water treatment certification, be sure you research things that will specifically pertain to the job you’re trying to get.

5. Instead Of Cramming, Study Over A Long Period
   Cramming is great for absorbing knowledge that you swiftly lose after the fact. Think of it like a sponge. Cramming is soaking that sponge, but all the water falls out in time. If instead of cramming you take the time to study for your water treatment certification every night (or several times a week) for several months leading up to the exam, you’ll retain the knowledge better.

It’s the difference between using a sponge to soak up water quickly, and bottling that water in a container where it won’t evaporate.

6. Explore Alternative Methods Used In Other Places
   Different locales have different best practices associated with water treatment. Illinois wastewater certification may not include the same sort of qualifications as Wyoming wastewater certification. However, there could be practices in other states, other cities, or other countries that are more efficient.

Contrarily, there are likely practices that are less efficient. Understanding how different areas conduct their water treatment management will help you see why what is done where you are is how it is. Also, it could help you provide necessary upgrades or innovations over time, establishing greater value as an employee. In a nutshell: round out your studies.

Being As Prepared As You Can Be

Water treatment license is relatively straightforward in terms of associated bureaucratic hoops. There is an exam to consider, but you’ll pass it if you study properly. Look at multiple treatment methods, study over the long-term rather than cramming the night before, and carefully research specific positions for which you’re applying.

Following these tips won’t just help you pass the exam, they’ll help you be a better and more valuable employee overall.

It’s no secret that being a plumber can sometimes be a hazardous occupation. When you conduct any plumbing work, you could potentially injure yourself or other people around you, such as your customers, if things don’t go according to plan.

Thankfully, there are some ways you can boost your safety while you’re at a customer’s. Plus, here are a few ideas you can follow to protect your plumbing business from litigation.

Take a look at these examples to see what you can consider for your business:

Check Your Tools Before Each Job

As a plumber, you will undoubtedly use an array of hand and power tools to complete your work satisfactorily. You may also use things like gas torches and even welding equipment, depending on the nature of your work.

It’s crucial that you ensure each tool you use is safe before you commence any work at a customer’s premises. For instance, torches shouldn’t leak gas and potentially cause an explosion.

Get the Right Insurance

You will undoubtedly have some insurance coverage for your plumbing business to protect you against the most common legal threats. For example, one type of cover that all plumbers will have is public liability insurance.

Make sure that your insurance policies provide comprehensive coverage for the type of plumbing work you do. Find out more about what to consider with public liability insurance, especially if you work at industrial premises.

Don’t Take On More Work Than You Can Handle

One of the biggest mistakes that some plumbers make is taking on too much work. For example, some plumbing contractors might attempt to repair unfamiliar equipment or pipework because they don’t want to turn the job down.

The truth is, such decisions are incredibly risky. If you don’t fully know what you’re doing, you could possibly cause a dangerous situation – both for yourself and other people in the vicinity.

You should either turn down the job or sub-contract the unfamiliar elements to suitably experienced plumbers in such situations.

Stock the Parts You Will Likely Need

There’s nothing worse than getting to a job and discovering you don’t have the right parts to complete the work. Such scenarios typically mean plumbers will need to go and purchase those parts and make a return journey to their customer’s premises.

Sadly, some plumbers try to get creative by adapting the parts they have available to them. It might be a concept that can work in certain situations; however, it’s not a recommended option for every case.

Wear the Right PPE

Lastly, you should always make sure that you’re wearing the right PPE (personal protective equipment). Doing so means you have some degree of protection in your work, and you are less likely to cause an injury to yourself or other people.

Safety glasses and gloves are the two most essential PPE items you should always have at your disposal. You may need other things, depending on the types of jobs you usually complete.