Bjornbee,
How much did this insurance through the soap guild cost? I'm helping my girls start a home business and we only plan to sell $1,000/year of stuff. $400.00 would eat all the profit.
A real catch 22 for small home business. You open yourself up to liability, but yet, the coverage is too expensive off the profit margin. I think many small business do not have liability. As you grow, your liability "risk" also grows. At what point do you cover yourself? Insurance certainly makes you sleep better. For me, I actually talked to several retailers that would not take my product without coverage. One place would not take my honey without having a proper honey house certification. So, the insurance does do more than just cover you. It also opens up otherwise closed doors of opportunity if you expand to that point. Certainly, many small operations and for those who sell the product themselves, insurance is seen less worthwhile.
I checked my invoices. In 07, I had "The Hartford" insurance and it was $350.00 for the honey operation liability (stings, accidents, etc.) and product liability (honey). 1 and 2 million in coverage. As I mentioned , this was the same coverage advertised in the bee mags through one of the honey boards at $850 or something like that. Problem is, they do not cover beyond honey. (No candles, soaps, lipbalm, etc.)
In 08, I changed over to HSMG (Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild) and the cost was $480.00 It covers everything possible you make. Candles, lipbalm, soaps, facial products, etc. It did not come with honey, but they gladly added it to the policy with no additional fee. This fee also includes the membership into the HSMG, which I think was 75 or a hundred. So in reality, the coverage was so much greater, without much more cost. (soapguild.org)