You may think it will never happen to you, but chances are it will. Businesses, especially small start-ups, are a huge target for criminals because they often have lots of valuable assets and house lots of data on their customers and clients.
Unfortunately, many small business owners disregard the importance of securing their business premises, because they think that they will never be the victim of a break-in. In most cases, it is not until a break-in or robbery actually takes place until security investments are made.
Technology has massively changed the way in which business owners can protect their premises. What was previously a figment of a sci-fi writer’s imagination is now reality, and the digital revolution has made its way into the operations of many a business.
There are plenty of ways you can keep your business safe, and even a small investment in security equipment – such as remote CCTV monitoring – can save you lots of time, trouble and money further down the line. It’s not all about clever security systems though, so let’s take a look at some key ways to keep your business safe:
Remote CCTV Monitoring
This is possibly one of the best ways to keep an eye on your business premises whilst you are at home, or out and about on the job. As a matter of fact, even if you are holidaying on a beach some few thousand miles away, you can rest assured that the control room can view CCTV footage in real-time and see what is going on at any hour of the day.
Some of the very best remote CCTV monitoring solutions even have the ability to manage the situation too, such as arming or disarming your security system, sending alerts to the local authorities and sharing your camera stream in real-time with other people.
Carry Out a Risk Assessment Early
When you are looking at potential premises for your business, carry out a full and comprehensive risk assessment of it and the surroundings before you sign a lease or buy any property. Doing so could expose key vulnerabilities or problems in the local area, and use this risk assessment to decide which security solutions you should invest in.
Secure Your Key Assets
You should always audit your equipment and stock and make sure to lock away your expensive assets when the premises are empty. Now, we are not saying you should be unplugging all your computers and locking them up, but securing key assets and any external hard drives which store sensitive data should be locked up in a secure room or safe.
Plus, if you regularly carry out audits you will know if anything does go missing, or know exactly what has gone missing if your business was to be targeted.
Train Your Staff
Security training can introduce new techniques and information to your staff, so that they able to identify security threats and suspicious behaviour in clients and customers. Your employees should be provided with comprehensive training on how to operate your security systems (if appropriate) and how to react in the worst-case scenario.
You should also fully background your staff before they are hired, so that you do not inadvertently bring on board any unsavoury characters who have a criminal past.
Keep Checking
It is all too easy to become complacent when you have done all of the above and you think you have secure premises operated by properly trained staff. You should make a habit of always reviewing your security processes to weed out any vulnerabilities or potential threats. Becoming complacent means you are letting your guard down, providing a golden opportunity for criminals to strike..