In the spirit of Halloween and all things spooky, here are some scary scenarios that small business owners should watch out for when participating in this haunting holiday.

1. Some punk kids throw a pumpkin through your window

There will always be those kids who love to cause mischief in between carving pumpkins and drinking hot apple cider. This year, you decide to setup a fun pumpkin display outside your storefront. During the night some of those punk kids decide to wreak havoc around town and smash your beloved pumpkin display. Things get out of hand and one of the culprits accidentally throws a pumpkin through your storefront window. You show up at your business the next morning to find the mess and can’t pinpoint who did it. Luckily the business personal property coverage on your property policy covers the damage and you can go about your daily business operations.

2. What’s in the punch bowl at the holiday party?

You decide to have a costume party at your business where your employees can mingle and let a little loose after a busy week. The party includes a punch bowl that quite literally packs a punch – it contains “jungle juice,” a fruity vodka drink. You don’t think you should be worried, until one of your employees has had a few too many cups. He swears he’s fine to drive home after the party is over, and puts up a fight when someone tries to take his keys.

This situation could go one of two ways, and both options result in an awkward conversation come Monday. You don’t ever want to have to deal with a scenario like this with a coworker so here are some tips to ensuring your costume party goes smoothly when alcohol is involved:

• Provide a sign up sheet for possible designated drivers, the phone number for a local cab service, and/or directions to download a local rideshare application for smartphone users
• Set a “keys in bowl” policy – i.e. if people are going to drink, they need to ditch their keys at the door and have alternative transportation lined up for the end of the night
• Provide a variety of refreshments: non-alcoholic beverages, water, and food

3. Haunted house gone awry

This year you want to transform your business into a functioning haunted house – a fun way to bring customers into your store. Lights are dim, spider webs strewn, skeletons and scary masks galore! You’re pretty proud of your decoration job. Your customers even love it too, except when someone trips and falls due to the ill-lit storefront. And that’s not even the scary part. You don’t have a general liability policy in place to cover the costs of the legal expenses you’re about to endure.

4. Burglary in your business

It’s a crisp fall evening and you are under the impression that your business is locked up safely for the night. You find out the next morning when you arrive to work that someone has broken into your business and stolen a bunch of your equipment. Some of your inventory, computer, and printer are gone and your register is cleaned out. If you don’t have a property policy with business personal property coverage in place then things are not looking up. But you’re prepared and have a policy with AssureStart so your losses are fully covered.

All of these real-life scenarios can easily occur at your small business. The scary thing is that if you’re not prepared, your business could be wiped out from one of these incidences. Do the smart thing this Halloween and buy a Business Owners Policy from AssureStart. Leave the scaring to the pre-teens trick-or-treating this year.