Coverage for the People Running the Business Not Just the People
Working in It
Some1 Family Office designs corporate-level protection and compensation planning for business owners and key executives across Georgia, addressing the coverage gap that most group benefits plans leave open for the people actually responsible for keeping the business running.
What Most Business Owners Miss When They Build a Benefits Plan
The business owner who sets up a group health plan and a retirement contribution for employees has done the right thing for the team. They have often done nothing for themselves.
Owner-level benefits planning is a different conversation from employee benefits — not because the products are entirely different, but because the stakes are different. The business owner is both a person and a business asset. A key executive whose departure would disrupt operations, lose clients, or trigger loan obligations represents a concentration of risk that no standard group plan is designed to address. Based in Atlanta and advising business owners across Georgia, Some1 Family Office works with practice owners, private practitioners, law firm partners, construction company owners, and small business owners with critical key employees to close the protection gaps that
group benefits
leave open
Owner-Level Protection and Executive Compensation, Covered in One Advisory Relationship
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance covers medical emergencies, trip cancellations, and evacuation costs when standard health coverage stops at the border. For frequent business travelers and international visitors, it is straightforward, low-cost coverage that fills an otherwise significant gap.
Business Owner Disability Insurance
Individual disability coverage for business owners operates differently from standard group disability plans. It is designed to replace the owner's personal income when an illness or injury prevents them from working — not a payroll function but the revenue and leadership the business depends on. For sole practitioners and small business owners whose income is not separated from the business's operating function, this is often the most consequential individual policy they do not carry.
Keyman Insurance
Keyman insurance — also called key person insurance — is a life or disability policy owned by the business on a key employee or partner whose loss would create significant financial disruption. The benefit pays to the business, not the individual's family, and is designed to cover the cost of recruitment, lost revenue, loan obligations, or buyout agreements triggered by the loss of that person. For small businesses where two or three people carry most of the operational knowledge and client relationships, keyman coverage is often the most overlooked risk on the balance sheet.
Deferred Compensation Plans
Deferred compensation plans allow a business to set aside a defined amount of a key employee's compensation and deliver it at a future date, typically tied to continued employment or a vesting schedule. The structure creates a retention incentive for employees the business cannot afford to lose without extending that benefit company-wide or increasing base compensation across the board. For business owners trying to hold key people through a growth period or ownership transition, a well-structured deferred compensation plan is often more effective than a raise.
Executive Compensation Plans
Executive compensation planning goes beyond salary and group benefits to include supplemental retirement income, equity participation, and structured long-term incentive arrangements for owners and senior leaders. For small business owners who want to reward the people driving growth without triggering broad compensation increases, and for those planning an eventual ownership transition, getting executive comp right is both a retention strategy and a financial planning decision.
The Business Owner as the Business Risk — How Some1 Thinks About This Differently
When a key person cannot work, the business does not pause to accommodate the situation. Revenue commitments continue. Loan covenants remain in place. Client relationships are at risk. Payroll does not stop. The financial exposure created by the loss of a business owner or critical key employee is often the single largest uninsured risk a small business carries.
Some1 approaches corporate-level benefits planning from both sides of that risk: the personal financial exposure the owner faces as an individual and the business continuity risk the company faces if that person is unable to perform. Business owner disability insurance in Georgia addresses the personal income side. Keyman coverage addresses the business continuity side. Deferred compensation and executive compensation planning address the long-term retention and transition side. All four are part of the same advisory conversation — not four separate referrals.
What Business Owners Ask About Corporate Benefits and Owner Coverage
What insurance does a small business owner need for themselves — not just for employees?
Most small business owners have meaningful gaps in three areas: income replacement if they cannot work, coverage for the business if they or a key person cannot perform, and a structure to retain key employees over time. Individually, these translate to business owner disability insurance, keyman coverage, and a deferred or executive compensation arrangement. None of these are addressed by a standard group health or retirement plan — they require a separate owner-level planning conversation.
What is keyman insurance and how does it work for a small business in Atlanta?
Key person insurance — often called keyman insurance — is a life or disability policy purchased by the business on an individual whose loss would create significant financial disruption. The business pays the premium and receives the benefit. The payout is designed to cover the cost of finding and onboarding a replacement, absorbing a period of lost revenue, satisfying loan obligations that may be tied to the key person, or funding a buyout agreement triggered by their departure or death. It is one of the most consistently overlooked corporate benefits for Atlanta small businesses operating with a concentrated leadership team.
How do business owners protect themselves and not just their employees?
The starting point is separating the personal coverage conversation from the group benefits conversation. Group health, dental, and retirement plans are built for employees — they typically do not extend meaningful protection to the business owner in their capacity as the primary revenue generator and operational leader. Owner-level protection requires a separate review: individual disability income coverage tied to the owner's personal earnings, a keyman policy that addresses business continuity risk, and a compensation structure designed to retain the people the business depends on most.
What is a deferred compensation plan and who should consider one?
A deferred compensation plan is an arrangement in which a portion of a key employee's compensation is set aside and paid at a future date, usually subject to a vesting schedule tied to continued employment. The structure allows a business owner to create a meaningful, targeted retention incentive for a specific individual without raising base compensation for the full team. It is most useful for businesses in a growth phase where key employees have options elsewhere and the cost of losing them is significantly higher than the cost of the plan.
What is the difference between an independent broker and a captive agent for group benefits?
A captive agent represents one carrier and can only offer that carrier's products. An independent broker like Some1 shops across the market and recommends based on the client's needs. For small businesses, this distinction matters most at renewal time — when a captive agent can only offer a renewal from their carrier, an independent broker can bring competing options to the table and help the business owner make a real comparison.
Can Some1 help with both the personal insurance side and the executive compensation side?
Yes. That is the point of the corporate benefits advisory relationship. Some1 covers business owner disability, keyman insurance, deferred compensation, and executive compensation planning through a single advisor relationship — so the personal protection side and the business retention side are designed with full visibility into each other, not as separate engagements with separate advisors who do not know what the other is doing.
Some1 Family Office is an independent insurance agency serving business owners, private practices, law firm partners, and trades contractors across the Atlanta metro area and throughout Georgia. For corporate-level benefits planning that covers the owner and the business in the same conversation, this is where it starts. Learn more about our advisory approach on our About page.
Need Help Managing the Books Too?
For small business owners who want more than coverage and compensation planning, Some1 works alongside Mind Palace to provide bookkeeping and business support services as part of the broader advisory relationship. If keeping the financials organized is one more thing on the list, ask us about it.
Your Employees Are Covered. Now Let's Cover You.
A 24-minute conversation is enough to identify the gaps in owner-level protection and understand what a better structure would cost. Schedule a consultation and find out where the exposures are before they become a problem.