After years of sweating over marketing plans, property leases, and loans, you launched a business you love in an industry that ignites your passion. Imagine losing everything you’ve invested because of a theft. Whether someone steals the products or services you provide, a dishonest employee is slowly draining your funds, or your identity is hijacked online, the impact of a theft can be devastating.
The Annual Impact on Small Business Owners
It might be hard to imagine someone stealing from you, but theft is remarkably pervasive. Employee theft is an immense problem that encompasses everything from clocking in fraudulently to collecting and selling customer data. In fact, annual losses due to employee theft are estimated at $200 billion. This is one troublesome area, but you must also account for issues like identity theft and piracy.
Protect Your Enterprise From Theft
There are two different types of theft that can occur: digital and physical. In our modern world, these don’t always involve confiscating money or goods. You have to protect your intellectual property, too. Here are few of the common crimes and what you can do about them:
Physical Theft
- External concerns. Your business may not be large enough to face issues like antitrust violations or economic espionage, but retail or cargo theft can affect anyone. Depending on the enterprise and industry you’re in, how and where you store your goods is vitally important. Avoid being an easy target by installing perimeter security, which should include an effective alarm.
- Employee theft. This is a far more common problem than criminals breaking in at night. The issue here is common and can take the form of fake vendor accounts, cashing checks in the company’s name, or even something as serious as collecting and selling customer records. Keep workers accountable with appropriate logging systems and similar access controls. Surveillance systems are also an effective deterrent; if employees know they’re being monitored, the temptation to steal may never surface.
All modern business need to also consider their digital presence. Issues like identity theft and data breaches can bankrupt an enterprise, and they may also lead to extensive legal problems.
Digital Theft
Even if you don’t have a website, you’re a target for identity thieves. Furthermore, if you accept debit and credit cards, you must keep that data out of the wrong hands. Here are a few areas to square away:
- Identify theft. A simple phishing scam or a hacked account can be enough for someone to assume your company’s identity. While impersonating your business, this person may attempt to access bank accounts or make a large purchase in your name. Keep your security system up to date, and ensure everyone logged into your network knows how to stay safe online.
- Data breaches. Customer data is a precious commodity today, and crooks can use it to steal identities or simply sell this information. Keep this from happening by locking down your computers and laptops, which prevents files from being shared and gives you greater control of your virtual presence.
Once you set up these systems, inform your employees of the risks of theft, what to watch for, and how they should approach a potential issue. Get everyone on the same page, and take control of your enterprise. Contact All Secured for more information.