No matter how small or big your organisation, business security is not something that should be taken lightly. Businesses face a variety of threats on a daily basis, from criminals and thieves, to unruly customers, internal theft and more. In order to run and maintain a successful business, prioritising security to ensure the safety of your merchandise, customers and employees is paramount. If you are a business owner looking to amp up your business security strategy, you’ve landed on the perfect article.
Today, we share 6 practices you can put in place to ensure the security of your business, so read on to find out more.
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Invest In Business Alarm Systems
Regardless of whether you own a small store or multi-chain franchise, implementing a reliable business alarm system is step one towards building an iron-clad security strategy. The primary purpose of any alarm system is to protect your property, including everyone and everything inside. One of the major benefits of investing in business alarm systems is the fear it creates to deter trespassers, vandals and thieves from criminal activity. Aside from deterring crimes before they even happen, a business alarm system will also alert the relevant authorities quickly in the event of a break-in, thus improving employee and customer safety while on your premises.
Furthermore, investing in a reliable monitored alarm system can help to lower your insurance costs, saving you a significant amount in the long run. You’ll also have complete peace of mind knowing there’s a highly experienced and professional team monitoring and protecting your business 24/7.
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Consider Installing CCTV Cameras
To further refine and build upon your business security strategy, business owners should always consider installing CCTV cameras on top of a reliable business alarm system. CCTV security and/or video surveillance systems are one of the most cost-effective ways to provide security to a business or workplace. Generally, businesses are more likely to be targeted by criminal activity when there is no visible monitoring or surveillance in place. Thus, the installation of CCTV cameras helps to discourage would-be thieves or criminals from both entering your business premises and/or getting up to no good.
In essence, security cameras offer an effective way to extend the reach of your eyes and ears, allowing you to keep close watch over your business round the clock. Additionally, CCTV footage can play a big role in assisting authorities to catch culprits in the event a theft, incident or emergency occurs at your business premises. Explore 25 reasons why your business needs CCTV surveillance here.
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Prioritise Retail Security Services
Aside from preventing theft-related losses, keeping your staff and customers safe is paramount in today’s climate. Retail stores and businesses attract masses of people everyday. With so many individuals streaming in and out of your premises, ensuring the safety of all patrons and employees is critical to the success of business security. One of the best ways of achieving this feat is to prioritise retail security services such as an on-site security guard. Security personnel are highly trained to deal with a variety of different scenarios, situations and problems. Most importantly, they are capable of immediate response, especially during emergencies.
Your store might have specific protocols or measures in place. Nonetheless, unlike trained security professionals, not all managers or staff are able to react swiftly and smoothly in stressful situations. Furthermore, guards can even provide emergency medical support (First Aid, CPR etc), to ensure the safety of your customers and members of staff. Whether it is dealing with unruly customers, theft or medical emergencies, on-site security services lower the risks and offer you an added level of protection when conducting daily business.
Fun Fact: Research and polls have found that over 79% of people feel safer with security guards and officers on site over CCTV or other security solutions. Explore the many benefits of employing retail security staff for your business here.
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Implement Lost Prevention and Anti-Theft Devices
Even with alarm systems, CCTV surveillance and security guards in place, no business is immune to the sophisticated and ever-evolving strategies of thieves and criminals. As such, embracing further methods and security strategies such as implementing lost prevention and anti-theft devices is key to ensuring the security of your business. The good news is that there are many tools, devices, and strategies you can use to address a variety of different problems, some of which include:
Display Security: If your business deals with high-value goods such as technology or high end fashion, display security is a great way to allow customers to pick up and test your products while keeping them tethered to your display furniture. Examples of merchandising security include table top recoilers, security stands, physical locks and cables.
Inventory Management Tools: Inventory management tools such as smart barcode scanners and cloud inventory systems are a great way to regularly account for your inventory levels to prevent inventory loss.
Retail Security Tags & Labels: Retail security tags and labels such as anti-theft hard tags and labels are innovative ways to protect items to open merchandise with confidence. Tags require special equipment to remove tags from the clothing or merchandise, and items protected by ibe will sound an alarm when a shoplifter attempts to remove them from a store.
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Train Employees To Deal With Suspicious Customers
Even with the abundance of business security technologies available in 2022, one cannot underestimate the power of employees and staff when it comes to improving business security and dealing with suspicious customers. As such, business owners are always encouraged to empower staff by teaching them how to take charge of their own safety. Employees should be given periodic training for issues such as:
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How to answer probing questions about the business;
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How to identify potential shoplifters and store policies for dealing with them.
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How to react to customers behaving in an aggressive or threatening manner.
Additionally, all training material should be well documented and easily accessible for employees to refer to. This will also make it much easier to educate new members of staff on training and store policies to ensure that everyone is up to date and on the same page.
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Strengthen Your POS Network Security
Last but not least, honing in on cyber-security threats to your business in 2022 is paramount. As we continue to evolve and rely on technology as a society, business owners should never underestimate the level of threat that exists in the online sphere. As such, in addition to beefing up your retail space, security measures and equipment, ensuring that your POS network is just as secure as key. You will want to ensure that you encrypt network data, so that traffic, activities and sensitive customer data (identifiable data, credit card information etc) aren’t visible to hackers and cybercriminals. This is especially important if you run an e-commerce business in addition to a traditional brick and mortar store, in order to protect your customer data and keep patrons coming back.
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And there you have it – 6 practices you can put in place today to ensure the security of your business. No matter the size of your organisation, prioritising security is key to creating a safe environment that is conducive to long-term business success.
Are you a business owner with tips of your own to strengthen business security? Be sure to leave your thoughts, ideas and suggestions in the comments section below!
