If you’re a business owner, keeping your business as safe as possible is likely to be one of your top priorities. At the end of the day, you haven’t spent countless hours, invested huge amounts of money and nurtured your business for anyone to walk in and damage it or steal from it in any way.

But what can you do to keep your business safe? There are so many potential threats out there that it can sometimes feel overwhelming trying to think of ways to tackle them all. But not to worry. Here are a few of the most effective ways to keep your business as safe as can be!

CCTV

CCTV stands for “closed circuit television”. These surveillance cameras have become such a standard part of day to day life that many of us don’t even take notice of them anymore. But the truth is that they’re almost everywhere. They’re in public spaces. They’re in commercial spaces. They’re in professional spaces. They’re even attached to many people’s homes. But what benefit could CCTV have for your business? Well, a similar benefit to the benefits they provide wherever they are!

When you have CCTV installed on your commercial premises, you’re letting those in the space and around the space know that they are being watched and recorded. This, of course, minimises chances of anyone doing anything they shouldn’t.

Having CCTV in your commercial premises can prevent people from acting in a violent manner. It can prevent people from stealing from you. It can prevent people from vandalising the property. It can prevent people from trespassing into areas of the space they shouldn’t be in. After all, if anyone goes ahead and does any of this while the CCTV is watching, they know that there will be recorded evidence that could be used to find and prosecute them.

Security Systems

Chances are you have a security system on your home. This is essentially a device that can be set and will detect movement in your property during times and in spaces where there shouldn’t be movement. If the sensors are triggered, they’ll set off an extremely loud alarm. This can alert you to the presence of trespassers and cause any trespassers to flee before they’re caught, protecting your home effectively. If you run a business, you should be aware that security systems are great for commercial premises too. They work in exactly the same way and some systems can even contact the police when they’re triggered, securing as fast assistance as possible.

Ensuring All Doors Have Access Control

No matter what business you’re running, chances are you should really have access control on all of your doors. While the term “access control” may not be as well known as “CCTV” or “security system”, chances are you’ve seen or used access control systems countless times. Access control systems are essentially entry systems placed on doors. The door will be locked until you enter the right passcode on buttons on the front, swipe a fob that grants access, or swipe a card that grants access. Different access systems will have different access methods, but the three just listed tend to be the most common.

Now, if you have an office block, an access control system can ensure that only staff and authorised visitors can enter. This prevents people from accessing the building and causing trouble, and it can also prevent people from accessing the building overnight. This can prevent valuable goods or equipment like computers, laptops, tablets, TVs, phones and more  from being stolen.

If you have a brick and mortar store, you probably won’t have access systems on the entrance, as customers need to freely flow in and out of your store. However, you may want to attach access systems to back rooms, such as stock rooms or rooms where staff store their belongings where they work. This, again, prevents theft and other issues in spaces where the general public shouldn’t be.

Security Staff

If you find that your business attracts trouble and that people either continually cause trouble in your business (perhaps rowdy fights if your business is a bar, or theft if your business sells luxury goods), you may want to hire security staff. Security staff can deal with any situations that may arise and settle them down before they progress and become significant or damaging for your business. Many businesses make use of agencies rather than hiring permanent members of security staff. This ensures that you will always have the staff you need, when you need them.

Insurance

Of course, there are some threats to your business that may be impossible to avoid, or that could be sheer accidents. Incidents such as flooding, fire, damage from falling trees and more can all have a devastating impact on your company.

While you may not be able to prevent these things from happening, you can secure your business against them. Taking out business insurance policies can ensure that if the worst does happen, you can at least reclaim the cost of damages and get your business back up and on the road again.

Policies to consider include commercial property insurance (if you own the property you’re operating from) and commercial contents insurance (to protect the contents of your commercial premises). Make sure to fully understand any policy you’re considering investing in to make sure that it genuinely covers what you expect it to cover. Paying a small premium each month could prove business saving in unfortunate situations.

As you can see, there are a huge number of threats that face any business and you need to make sure that you protect your company against as many of them as possible. While this may not be a comprehensive list, it does highlight some of the most common and significant threats that most businesses face. Hopefully, some of the advice will come in useful for you!