What insurance should a startup arrange before its first enterprise contract?
Enterprise customers often ask for insurance before a startup is ready. Here is what usually matters, and what can wait.
Enterprise contracts can turn insurance from an admin task into a revenue blocker. The request usually arrives late in procurement: public liability, professional indemnity, cyber, workers compensation, certificates of currency, sometimes a specific interested party notation.
Start with the contract
Before buying anything, read the insurance clause against the work you are actually performing. A customer template may ask for limits designed for facilities, logistics or consulting businesses even when the startup is providing software.
The usual core covers
Most software and services businesses need a sensible combination of public and products liability, professional indemnity, cyber insurance, and management liability. The right limits depend on contract value, data exposure, geography and whether the customer is asking for uncapped liability.
Do not ignore wording
The cheapest policy can still fail the contract if exclusions, jurisdiction, retroactive dates or cyber sublimits do not match the risk. This is where broker review matters.
Build the program around growth
A first enterprise customer should not force a full rebuild at every renewal. Put the basics in place, keep evidence tidy, and make sure the program can scale as larger contracts arrive.