When you’re starting a business, it might not be a thought that occurs to you initially. You spend so much time focusing on fighting the natural risks of the market that you don’t consider that the biggest dangers might be from outside it entirely. The truth is that crime does pose a risk to every business. The longer you leave it until taking that risk seriously, the more likely it is to impact you.
Your Ideas
It’s the most basic principle of your business but many people don’t consider protecting them until it’s too late. Your business isn’t just the product or service you deliver. It’s also the brand identity that grows alongside it and the reputation it develops. There are plenty of opportunists willing to use that reputation to their own gain. They’ll use the visual brand identity, even the name, to get a head start on their business. But as they do so while they damage the integrity of your brand. Fail to protect your intellectual property, and your customers might start associating your business with another whose practices and quality fall far beneath your own.
Your Network
Regardless of what kind of business you run, there’s a good chance that good use of tech plays a big part in your success. The more extensive that side of the business becomes, the more valuable it gets. Your own financial details and customer data are some of the most sensitive data. So sensitive, in fact, that most businesses that suffer a large data breach have trouble surviving for more than two years after. Invest in digital protections, whether it’s spending a bit more on the anti-malware software or hiring IT security firms and ethical hackers to identify and close off any vulnerabilities in your system.
Your System
If you’re in retail or production, then the goods themselves are going to constitute a lot of the material wealth in business. This means you simply can’t accept that they would be at risk of theft. A security guard company can play a big role in ensuring the premises isn’t just kept safe, but visibly so. After all, most criminals are cowardly by nature and rarely go after targets that are likely to draw attention or look like they have defences that are hard to get past. Kit out your security staff with armor plates and defense systems such as mace or pepper spray to ensure they're kept as safe as possible.
Your Team
There’s plenty of unlawful activity that can happen between the members of the workforce, too. Harassment, bullying and discrimination are treated as civil matters as opposed to criminal, but they can still put you in a lot of danger. As the employer, after all, the buck stops with you. Without taking concerted efforts to stamp out intimidating or offensive behaviour through enforcement of an HR policy, you are in danger of having to pay out because of it. Creating a safe environment to report such behaviour, investigating thoroughly, and having a policy of corrective or punitive action is essential to keeping you on top of those responsibilities.
Law-breaking can’t be tolerated. Whether it’s a data breach, theft, a use of your intellectual properties, or the failings of your legal obligations. Make sure you’re considering all these risks when you’re thinking about what your profits should help you invest in.
