In communities across Canada, small-business owners are always trying to adapt and grow. 

Often described as driven and passionate, business owners have to embody those traits—and more—as they continue to face challenges that test their resiliency. 

“Businesses have completely changed their operations,” says Drew Collins, a Co-operators Financial Advisor based in Brandon, MB, “like moving much more heavily into the digital side of things and reimagining the way they deliver service to clients.”

Staying afloat during the pandemic meant frantic action on deck. “One minute, you’re an accountant. The next, you’re dealing with a client or you’re managing risk,” Collins adds. “I think it’s really important for small-business owners to seek qualified assistance. You wouldn’t wire a house yourself if you didn’t have that technical expertise and understanding.”

This is why Collins is so passionate about working with small-business owners, providing expert advice on protecting their assets with a tailored insurance policy, growing a healthy financial buffer and more. 

Collins is among the many Co-operators Financial Advisors focused on the evolving needs of local businesses. With its range of insurance and investment products, and with more than 600 locations, the financial services co-operative has established longstanding roots in communities across the country—roots that stretch back more than 75 years. Protecting Canadian businesses is an integral part of the company’s history and identity.

Offering the convenience of investment and insurance services all in one place, Co-operators provides business owners with a range of customizable business-insurance options that can help to keep things running, if the unexpected happens. 

Options include broad liability insurance, as well as protection against water or fire damage, crime, cyber risks, business interruptions and many more potential threats. Co-operators has also developed unique solutions that offer protection for co-operatives and non-profits—showing the organization’s commitment to Canadian communities and the small businesses that bolster them. 

But helping small businesses avoid risks isn’t limited to finding the best policy, says Collins.

“A big part of the value we offer is educating owners on what risks exist within their business, and then determining if the right mechanisms are in place to control those risks – or if they can avoid them completely,” he says. 

“We try to take a more risk-management–based approach. It’s not just about setting up an insurance policy for that individual and for their small business. It’s making sure that we’re helping them understand their risks and how to build their resiliency through protection and mitigation.”

And it’s an approach that’s built on trust, adds Blain King, a Co-operators Financial Advisor in Halifax, NS.

“Many times, business owners feel like they’re out on an island, on their own,” he says. “But where would our communities be without them? I want them to know how we can help.”

King’s commitment to the success of his community is rooted in much more than just professional care. He, like other Co-operators Financial Advisors, is a small-business owner himself, and he experiences the same highs and lows that come with that journey. That reality, he says, gives Financial Advisors greater empathy and understanding around just how difficult it can be to operate a small business. After all, these advisors were working with small-business clients to help them navigate pandemic-related changes, while they were navigating those same obstacles, in the same communities and market climates. 

Collins adds that this connection to the community, paired with the right advice and tools, is what sets Co-operators apart. 

“We don’t focus solely on the property and casualty insurance needs of small businesses,” Collins explains. “We don’t focus solely on their wealth-management and investment needs, either. We take a holistic view, getting to know who they are as an individual and as a business owner. That means developing an understanding of the unique risks in their life and in their operations.”

“At the end of the day, these are the people we see at the grocery store and the gas station,” King adds. “These are our friends and neighbours, and we take a lot of pride in being the partners they trust to advise them and help them thrive.”

Click here to learn more about how a Co-operators Financial Advisor can help you.