Start a Cyber Insurance Readiness Assessment Service

1. 1

   Learn what underwriters actually check

   Pull real application forms from carriers like Coalition, Cowbell, and Chubb and study the control questions. Five things recur on nearly every application: enforced multi-factor authentication, endpoint detection and response on all devices, immutable backups with tested restores, a written incident response plan, and a documented patching program. Your audit mirrors that list, item by item, because that list is what gets a policy bound or refused.

2. 2

   Package a fixed-fee readiness audit

   Sell a defined engagement: assess the client against the carrier checklist, score each control, and deliver a prioritized remediation roadmap with evidence requirements spelled out. A fixed price and a clear deliverable make this an easy first yes for an owner who just got a scary renewal questionnaire.

3. 3

   Quantify the risk in dollars, not jargon

   Owners fund what they can price. Use published benchmarks honestly: IBM's 2025 Cost of a Data Breach report puts the global average at $4.4 million and the US average above $10 million, and a single unremediated gap can mean a denied claim after an incident. A one-page breach cost model for the client's own revenue and data is often the deliverable that unlocks the remediation budget.

4. 4

   Do or broker the remediation

   The audit finds gaps; someone has to close them. Implement what you are competent to implement (MFA rollouts, backup configuration, response plan drafting) and partner with an MSP for the rest. Remediation is where the engagement grows from a one-time audit into real project revenue.

5. 5

   Make brokers your sales force

   Insurance brokers lose commissions every time a client fails underwriting, so a readiness partner makes them money. Build relationships with two or three regional brokers and become the person they send struggling applicants to. This channel compounds because every renewal season resets demand.

6. 6

   Convert audits into annual retainers

   Carriers re-interrogate controls at every renewal, and controls drift the moment staff change or laptops get replaced. Offer an annual readiness retainer: quarterly control checks, evidence collection, and renewal application support. Recurring compliance-style revenue is what makes this a business instead of a string of projects.

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