Has your business insurer raised your rates recently? If so, how have you handled it?

Our insurance rates aren't rising. We changed insurance agents about a year ago. I talked to everyone I know, and asked who had an agent who was honest and trustworthy. Then I went about calling and meeting with them and going over different plans, and once I found one I liked, we have just trusted him ever since. Of course, we've never had anybody make a claim, so its pretty easy to get complacent. We also cover our employees for dental. We had a staff meeting and found out they were all covered under their spouses' health plans, but none of them included dental, so we decided to offer that. We pay 100 percent.

We have been lucky enough to avoid any problem with rising insurance rates, because my landlord is also my insurance guy. He came in and assessed what I needed, and I went with his recommendation. I've never shopped around since he seems to have given us a great price, mostly due to our relationship. Our store is covered for just about everything — except for lack of sales!

I renewed my policy just before September 11, 2001. I'm locked into a rate with no increase. I'm very fortunate, because I know people who have faced big increases. One thing I've learned is that the insurance person needs to stay in contact with you. My new insurance person is my realtor's wife. When I switched I didn't have appropriate coverage, and I was paying too much for what I had. If your business is growing, you can end up underinsured, but if no one's calling on you, you just don't think about that. We did actually just get an increase on our health insurance, however. It went up $100 a month for my family and two employees, which is significant.

Everything we're legally required to have, we have. But health insurance is the only one that we have an issue with. We spent years looking for a policy that we could afford, fit our philosophy, and let employees choose their own doctors. Three years ago we finally found one, but since then our cost has doubled. We pay 75 percent of the premium, and it's an important way to keep key people. But the price is outrageous: 2.5 percent of our gross sales go to insurance. We only pay 6.5 percent in rent! We may be forced to drop our health insurance. If we do, we'll increase salaries to help our employees buy their own. But I pay $700 per month for my family's insurance. I couldn't do it if it weren't through the business.