Technology is an often overlooked yet vitally important factor when setting up or developing a successful business.
Even if your business doesn’t physically require digital technology to undertake your services (physical trades, physical stores ect…), there’s always somewhere within your establishment that digital or security-based technology can be a worthwhile investment.
Small businesses can find themselves on the back foot very quickly when starting up. It often isn’t all sunshine and roses, lots of money and great success. There are often obstacles along the way and these can often lead to cut backs and very specific, calculated investments. Digital and physical security can often see a cutback in relation to this, with many companies opting for a “hope for the best mentality instead”.
If you have a customer base or hold vital information that your clients or customers would rather not be exposed, well invested, secure digital security is a necessity. However, many companies don’t realise the importance of securing brick-and-mortar buildings the same way they would their online customer database. By increasing security to a physical location, the company can benefit from visible security, asset theft prevention, theft deterrent and better job performance and satisfaction among its employees. Good, well performing employees often then translate to loyal customers. Luckily, there are a few specific steps any business can take to make itself more secure, digitally or physically, and here are three of our best suggestions.
1. Install Intruder Prevention
A business that has its premises on a commercial property is more often than not still using basic security. These are often just locks and bolts, padlocks and keys. Replacing them may seem like an unnecessary expense if your premises haven’t been broken in to but complex high-security locks are always a much-recommended investment.
Good locks, however, should only be step one. All businesses should invest in a proper, fully monitored alarm system. This may be in the form of automated police contact or remote access CCTV. In the event of a break-in, having the ability to immediately respond – or even better, have ab automated response- may mean the difference between major and minor damage or loses to the business.
No effective commercial security system would be complete without an integrated CCTV system. In a great CCTV system, cameras can be programmed to record all data in real time but to also access all of that date remotely. In the case of a break-in, the cameras will also help to identify perpetrators and may be used as evidence or in prosecution.
2. Invest In Online Security
Physically making your business secure is only the first step. Ensuring that its data systems are impenetrable, or at least extremely secure, is an entirely different matter. Smaller businesses are one of the most attractive targets for hackers and criminals since they’re often easier to break into than large corporations but can still yield big reward.
All a small business needs to secure its data is a cybersecurity system that makes it inordinately difficult for a malicious user to gain access.
Another way of securing your business online is investing in an SSL certificate. The SSL certificate on a website makes it secure from a customer point of view, building up trust with users. It will also help from a marketing point of view as Google favours and promotes SSL secure websites within its algorithms to form search engine rankings. This means your business SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) will benefit from having an SSL secure site. Michael Ryan, owner of MR SEO, a digital marketing agency in Essex states “There are many reasons why a business may not be ranking well or converting online traffic on their site. Having an SSL certificate can often be the difference between customers converting on a business site – especially within eCommerce websites.”
3. Safely Store Or Shred Unwanted Documents.
Shredding documents may seem like a thing of the past, but it doesn’t just apply to physical documents anymore. Investing in a good program or software that ensures unwanted but potentially harmful digital data is erased correctly means that this data cannot be accessed remotely or if hardware is stolen or misplaced. This is great for invoices or personal, private emails for example. For any paper-based documents, there isn’t anything better than a shredder even in the modern office.
A massive part of a business growing and staying successful is making sure they are secure both physically and digitally. Security is one thing that when effectively invested in can yield stability and success for years to come.
