WHY DO SMALL BUSINESSES NEED A SECURITY CONSULTANT TO PROTECT THEIR ASSETS?

THINK ABOUT SECURITY OF YOUR ASSETS

It is a natural urge in every person to own something which he can call ‘his own’ and which gives him the satisfaction of being able to earn money from it for the rest of his productive life. To this end, many of us have ventured out from the relative security of being employed with an organization to starting off their ‘own venture’.

While the ‘entrepreneur’ in us aggressively takes on areas of creation, production, marketing and sales, one thing should not be overlooked is the importance of security of the assets that are being created for building up the business.

LOSS OF PROPERTY, PEOPLE, PROCEDURES CAN COST A LOT

For entrepreneurs who start their own ventures establishing their own property, people and procedures is of utmost importance in the initial stages of their business. Thereafter, they concentrate on productivity and profitability to see that they have a long run in their particular field. These business principles are apt when one looks at the management of the business as a whole. However, a business owner has to also stress upon the security of these assets, as he continues to operate his business on a daily basis. Just as stress is given to the upkeep of assets required for his business functioning, the owner also has to keep in mind that the loss of any of these assets will severely disrupt the continued performance of his business.

The assets which we talk about here are the physical assets like furniture, machinery, tools, cash registers, safes. While many entrepreneurs have migrated their money transactions to online platforms, they should not lose sight of the fact that the inflow of the money is from all the assets that are physically present within the property from where they operate their business.

TAKING PREVENTIVE SECURITY MEASURES IS MORE COST-EFFECTIVE

Security of assets essentially means that these assets, are not stolen or damaged by any criminal activity like burglary, robbery or sheer breakage by customers or employees.

Business owners should not always bank on insurance or product replacement; as at times, insurance may just not be enough to cover the damage the crime has caused to their property and reputation and the cost of replacement might just be more expensive than the original product which was lost or damaged causing a severe strain on their investment. Keeping this in mind, taking preventive measures is the more cost-effective method to ensure that the business operations run smoothly without being a victim of a crime.

Business owners should assess the worth of their assets like goods which are to be sold or equipment required by them to service their client’s needs in terms of money. When they have the overall value of the end-product they are selling, they should concentrate on areas such as the place where it is kept and the people who are required to maintain the product. In this they have to see the physical layout of their property, how they hire people for the business and how do they monitor their work and the procedures they have set to go about their business in that property.

Once the worth of the property as well as the procedures followed there are established, then the owners can clearly identify the areas which can be exploited to commit various types of crimes from burglary to embezzlement. When they identify such vulnerable areas, they can put crime prevention measures in place to secure their assets.

SIMPLE MEASURES TO PREVENT / MINIMISE LOSSES DUE TO ASSETS

- Standardize work timings and shop opening-closing procedures for all employees. Within these lay down and enforce clear policies about employee behaviour regarding theft, substance abuse and reporting of losses.

- Lay down protocols for securing of assets of the business and train the employees to spot suspicious behaviour of customers as well as service-providers.

- Use good security equipment like locks, safes and alarm systems. Engage a security consultant to give you best solutions which give you good security and value-for-money.

- Regularly maintain and update inventories of all assets and daily business transactions. These help in giving accurate information on exact value of the assets to law enforcement

officials on occurrence of a crime. Maintain two sets of such records; one on-premises and the other at a secure place off-premises.

- Mark all the equipment used for business with unique, personalised engravings which help the owner identify his property in case it is recovered by the law enforcement as stolen goods.

- Post warning notes on the premises, like “these premises are under surveillance” or “shop-lifters will be handed over to the police” which makes potential criminals cautious that they might get caught, discouraging them from stealing. Avoid putting signs which state, “the customer will pay for items which they break”. Such signs help criminals create a diversion where they intentionally break a cheaper item and distract the owner, while they themselves or their accomplice steals another item of higher value.

- Keep detailed records of all the inventory items and financial records off- premises in a safe place like a bank locker or a safe at home.

- Compare money invested into security procedures and improvements against the potential losses avoided due to crimes of opportunity, and when you see how these methods benefit you, practice them meticulously.

CONCLUSION

Small businesses are started with limited funds and resources and every asset is very precious for an entrepreneur. They don’t have the room for excessive expenditure till they reach a scale where their profitability exceeds their investment. Therefore, security of these assets is the top priority for them as any loss causes disruption in their timeline of achieving their intended goals. Apart from material losses, the emotional pain caused by such an incident cannot be measured, and that damage can, at times be irreparable. Therefore, it is necessary that small businesses prepare themselves beforehand against such emergencies by applying preventive security measures.

Do connect with us on 9930136932 / omarspathare@gmail.com to see what security measures can be taken to protect & secure your business.

- Lt. Col. Omar Pathare (R),

Security Consultant & Founder, Fortify Security Consulting