Partner With Your Surety to Take Advantage of Growth Opportunities

摘要

While most contractors readily share balance sheets, they too often forget to communicate a strategic change in business plans. Shifts in work scope, such as a move into new markets or geographic areas, create risk. Beware the change that puts you and your surety's appetite for risk in conflict.Communicate any change in your business plan. It is a rare instance that contractors run into problems when they're performing familiar work, with the same staff and per already-proven internal processes. However, risk rises when a contractor leaves its core competencies.Sureties certainly understand and laud their contractor customers' desires ' to evolve and grow to take advantageof new opportunities for growth. The challenge for a surety underwriter is how contractors will manage change to their business models.For everyone's success, partner with your agent/broker to communicate proposed changes to the surety underwriter. Be prepared to talk about your internal risk evaluation of the business change. Ask questions, suchas: What is the proportionality of this change relative to your balance sheet? Do you have a strategic partner or joint venture partner in this new area? Do you have a peer group member that has assisted in this move?