Risky Business

Entering their fourth year in business, Paul's and Bourne's lives as business owners seemed sweeter by the day--but the insurance predicament was destined to rear its ugly head yet again. History repeated itself: Their second insurance company jumped off the adventure-business bandwagon. The partners were disappointed, but they were also familiar with the painstaking, back-to-square-one application process. This time, at least, the insurance company had given them eight months' notice.

Over Fulcrum's next four years in business, Paul and Bourne watched as each of their B-rated carriers bowed out after a year, no longer willing to offer the liability protection they needed. Even A-rated insurance companies were becoming more discriminating in the adventure companies they were willing to cover, says Paul. But last year, thanks to their sparkling safety record--a zero-loss history spanning eight years--Fulcrum scored an A-rated insurer, now an affordable option for the flourishing company. And this time Paul and Bourne did it on their own merits rather than those of their former employer. "[There was] still a lot of nervousness [waiting for approval]," Paul says, "because without insurance going into our ninth year, what could we do? Quit? Even after nine years in the industry, we felt like rookies."

This article was originally published in the May 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Risky Business.