The most important asset in any business is its people. The ongoing profitability and sustainability and, as a result, the capital value of the business, are largely reliant on the input of the key employees in the business. Therefore, the loss of a key person constitutes a risk for the business.
What is a key person? A key person is someone whose absence through death or disability will have a material effect on the future of the business in terms of sales and/or the high cost of replacing a skilled employee, as well as the opportunity cost in the loss of profits/sales while a new replacement is being trained.