It’s tough enough succeeding in business with all of the usual obstacles a business owner faces without having to deal with losses due to crime. The following are several ways you can protect your business.
Indoor Surveillance Cameras
A good system of cameras can protect your business from theft, both from customers and employees. Simply having these cameras in areas that can be seen by everybody is often enough to reduce theft in your business. Electronic surveillance is crucial in retail establishments, however, your cameras need to extend to the work areas too, especially areas where inventory is kept.
Some businesses experience more problems with theft by their employees than customers. In addition to theft, a camera system can help prevent workers’ compensation fraud. It is more difficult to fake an injury at work when there are cameras around.
Good Outdoor Lighting
Perhaps the most cost-effective way to protect your business from theft and vandalism, especially during closing hours, is to have a good outdoor lighting system. Naturally, you should have a good alarm system that will notify the police if your business is being broken into, but if the outside of your business is well lit, this offers a strong deterrent to potential burglars and to those who may want to spray paint graffiti on your building or vandalize it in another way.
Background Checks Before Hiring
Prospective employees should be well vetted before being hired. This means not only checking references and speaking to previous employers, but also completing thorough background checks. This is one of the services routinely provided by a private investigation firm such as ours.
For fear of lawsuits, a previous employer may not tell you information that you need to know before hiring someone. References that applicants write down are usually people who will only say positive things. It is only a professional background check that will reveal issues that may be a red flag for an employer. A background check can help protect your business from many problems by not hiring the wrong person for the job.
Computer Security
There are many threats to your computer systems, and most of them have the potential to be expensive. Some of the threats can come from the outside, through the Internet. This type of threat can be addressed by installing good anti-virus and anti-malware programs.
You also need to make sure all of your data is encrypted. If critical information gets in the wrong hands, it can result in employee, vendor and customer information being compromised, which can lead to lawsuits. You may also have problems with employees, so you need a system where passwords are routinely changed, and ex-employee passwords are purged from the system.
There are many ways to protect your business from theft and vandalism. Some of these steps you can take yourself, while other things such as background checks can be done by a private investigation firm. Contact us today, and we can discuss how our services can protect your business.
Bruce Robertson
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