Business Security Tips

You want your customers and employees to feel safe when at your store. Whether in person or online, they want to be able to shop with you and not get worried about getting their information stolen or getting into an accident. As a business owner, it’s your responsibility to do everything in your power to make your establishment as safe as possible. Here are some tips for keeping your business safe for customers and employees with a commercial security system.

Safety Tips In-Store

  1. Install Video Monitoring and Security System

When someone tries to steal from your store, you want to catch them in the act. If you install cameras, you’ll be able to keep an eye on everyone in the store. If you do catch somebody stealing, you will have clear evidence to press charges. You can also install a security system for when the store is closed. You can even get business security systems you can control from your smartphone. When everyone is gone for the day, you can turn on the alarm. Anyone who tries to enter the store after this point will trigger an alarm. Get a silent alarm so that they never see it coming.

  1. Smoke Alarms/ Fire Extinguishers

You never know when a fire can strike. Accidents happen all the time, so you need to be prepared. Install smoke alarms throughout your store. Test them regularly to ensure the batteries are working. Keep extra batteries on hand for when they do need to be changed. You should also have fire extinguishers in multiple locations. Be sure to tell employees where these items are in the case that they need them. You should also establish a clear fire escape plan when the moment comes.

  1. Eliminate Potential Hazards

While you can’t prevent all accidents from happening, you do have the power to minimize the chances of something happening by getting the risk of potential risks. Examine your store through the lens of safety. Look for items that could present a safety problem down the road. Examples include dangerous chemicals not stored properly, employees not using the proper safety gear, ice outside your store, and uneven steps. To further help eliminate risk, place safety notices wherever useful.

 

  1. Establish a Safety Committee

You should have a dedicated voluntary team dedicated to being leaders when it comes to safety at the workplace. You can pay for these volunteers to go through safety training at a nearby facility. They can then help analyze safety at your place of work. Explain to them that you want to increase safety while keeping the costs as low as possible. Hopefully, they can help create a plan that will inexpensively improve safety.

 

  1. Hire Security

If you have a lot of expensive items or people who expect a certain level of security, you should hire security to man the door every day. They can also stay behind a desk to watch video monitoring for any suspicious behavior. Also, seeing security will discourage people from stealing.

 

Safety Tips Online

  1. Limit Access to Confidential Information

Very few people should have access to everything on your computer. In fact, you should keep certain things for yourself and maybe one other trusted person in an emergency situation where you need their help. Do not let regular employees alter your system in any way. Ensure that only you have access to financial documents and other sensitive material.

 

  1. Use Strong Passwords

A password isn’t very useful if anyone could guess it. You want to be careful to choose a very unique password that people won’t be able to guess. Do not use items like your birthday or the birthday of your children, your last name, your initials, your street address, or your pets’ names. People can guess these quite easily. When you do come up with a hard to guess the password, avoid writing it down by your desk. You don’t want someone to come to your desk and find it. You should also pick security questions that people would not know. Just in case they somehow get the password.

  1. Keep Your Malware Up To Date

You want your computers to be secure. Ensure this by updating your malware when necessary as part of your commercial security systems. Put this additional charge in your budget every couple of months. There are a number of different types of Malware, so find the one that you like the best. In general, you can get a better deal if you pay for an extended period of time. Make sure you go with a company that will allow you to alter your needs as you continue to grow as a company.

 

  1. Make Your Website Safe

No one is going to shop on your online store if they hear that people have had their identity stolen by shopping on your site. Don’t let this happen in the first place by doing what you can to keep your website secure. You can do this by paying for an SSL certificate to get an https domain. Google and a number of other sites have made it clear that they plan to increase business security systems on those websites. There will likely be an additional charge for this type of domain.

 

  1. Avoid Risky Online Behavior

Sometimes we can only blame ourselves for the situations we find ourselves in. If you are on a work computer, you should be extremely careful not to open suspicious files or click on suspicious links. You should also avoid going to any questionable websites. Teach employees what behavior is not appropriate. Gain access to logs of their online activity to ensure they aren’t doing anything that might open your system up for a security breach.

People need to feel comfortable and safe if you expect them to shop with you. Unfortunately, there are stores that put customers and employees in unsafe conditions both in the store and online. Follow these rules to help keep everyone safe.