Being a business owner in New Zealand is not an easy task and one of the biggest challenges is to prevent losses, protecting inventory, equipment, data and cash.
Being a business owner in New Zealand is not as easy as it might seem to be for most of the people (New Zealand is the first country in the “2018 Ease of Doing Business Rank” from DB 2018), requires focus, hard work and the ability to manage wisely your resources in order to thrive.
Entrepreneurs know that competition is very high these days and margins are lower, so they must take charge of their business and try to cut costs and avoid any losses in order to keep it running and profitable.
One of the biggest challenges is to prevent losses, which include protecting their valuable assets and that includes inventory, data and monies. While there are still some business owners that rely on luck, most of them are preventing security issues and hiring a security expert to help them to protect their buildings, assets and people.
Why can you be the next target?
Some entrepreneurs invested so much in their companies: nice premises, equipment, inventory, systems, database and their time, that’s why they know how critical it is to keep their assets protected.
Criminals usually look for lack of preventive measures and procedures, limited personnel, lack of security monitoring and equipment and distractions and errors, while people are busy doing their business.
The cost of these losses goes directly to the bottom line of a retail balance sheet causing lost profits. It is very difficult to avoid them, but it is absolutely easy and accessible to prevent it.
As your business grows and acquires more customers, inventory, equipment and employees, good security practices are key to your ongoing success.
Only a deep dive into the business can tell you what the specific needs and potential solutions are in order to be effective. For example, a Small Café has different needs than a Retailer, a Parking Lot or a big Warehouse.
Most common Types of Crimes
Employee theft
Internal Theft (Employee) is one of the largest contributors to a loss for most businessess and occurs from simple merchandise, inventory and cash theft alone or in collusion with other employees, up to elaborate frauds and data stealing.
External Theft
Often caused by shoplifting, break-ins and robberies and causes a substantial amount of loss, usually including not only physical but also psychological costs.
Cyber Attacks
All electronic devices and systems that are used within your business and buildings must be fully maintained, updated and protected to prevent failure and avoid external hacking attacks as they are becoming more frequent than we usually imagine and can cause a huge amount of costs and losses.
How to prevent Security issues
Here are the 14 Essential Security Measures Every Business Should Take:
- Check how things are in your neighbourhood, be aware of statistics and talk to other business owners
- Get to know your vulnerabilities so you can act to minimise them and up your security – it is even better when you hire a security consultant to do this check for you (their accuracy is much higher as they have trained eyes to look for vulnerabilities)
- Before hiring any employee or service check their credentials and references first
- Establish procedures to control access to your stock/inventory and money
- Protect important areas such as cashiers and stock and only give access to a controlled number of people
- Keep your most valuable goods and equipment in protected areas under constant vigilance
- Check and protect the gates, windows and doors as they usually are the main entrance to wanted and unwanted people
- Implementing a surveillance system is cost-effective and helps both to prevent and to solve any incident
- Keep your security equipment updated, working and maintained (it includes battery and video storage)
- Update software and operating systems to avoid vulnerabilities
- Store important data in the cloud (including backups)
- Report any suspicious activities to police and community
- Rely on Security Professionals or Mobile Apps to monitor the business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and act promptly and correctly if something happens
- Also, include signs such as “Surveillance Cameras in Operation” or “Monitored by…” in the premises as it also helps to prevent theft
Following these tips, it is possible to increase your security and avoid being the next victim.
On the other hand, Commercial Security is not an easy subject, that’s why it is very important to rely on professional services and high-quality equipment.
What’s more, it also requires ongoing maintenance which is critical for hassle-free operations, ensuring that CCTV security cameras, alarms, electronic door locks and access control systems are ready and working.
Taking preventive measures, investing in equipment and procedures and acting soon can play an important part in the loss prevention and your business achievements.
It doesn't matter if it is a small cafe, shop, commercial building, school, retail store, construction site, warehouse or industry, keep your business safe and watch out for your community.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact our Security Experts.
