Pets are big business

Who'd a-thunk it. Pet insurance is the latest product invented by the insurance industry. And a Cleveland company, Embrace Pet Insurance, is going out on a very sturdy limb with it. A quick Q&A with owner president Laura Bennett.

Q. Why did you choose to do business in Cleveland?

A. Because people here are genuinely interested in our success and are doing everything in their power to help. We’ve had a lot of support from many different sources; I can’t imagine this happening in many other cities I’ve been to in the US.

Q. You got a whole bunch of money from JumpStart--several hundred thousand dollars I believe. Congratulations! How are you using it to get started?

A. Building an insurance business is much more complicated than you would think given the myriad of regulations and having to deal with very conservative insurance companies. They aren’t used to entrepreneurs outside of their circle coming in with a good idea about risks they know little about. We raised $335,000 from Jumpstart plus angel investment funds and now we’re negotiating an insurance contract. Once that’s done, it’s full steam ahead to get up and running. No more talk, just lots of action. I can’t wait!

Q Is Embrace a franchise?

A No, not a franchise. We are what is known in the insurance industry as a Program Manager. Not only do we sell a product like other insurance brokers, we’ve actually designed and priced it (with input from our potential customers) and will run a call center, administer the policies, and pay the claims (albeit on the insurance company’s bank account). We do all the work for a commission and management fee; the insurance company takes the insurance risk for the rest of the premium.

Q. How will you be selling your insurance?

A. We’ll be selling in the internet and through the inbound call center, plus a few marketing alliances we are working on as well. We are hope to be selling policies by the end of the year but in the meantime, we are building our site and blog.

Q. Great website. Did you hire a Cleveland company?

A. No, we did it ourselves – mostly Alex, my business partner for the visuals. Not bad for amateurs, eh?!

Well, Embrace is a great example of good entrepreneurship at work: When you've got a good idea and you know how to present it and to whom, the money 's out there.