7 Smart Security Solutions for Small Businesses

smart security solutions for small businesses

Burglaries and theft cost U.S. businesses $800 million each year. That's an unacceptable and dangerous number. Worse yet, you have to protect your business from employees and outsiders alike. 

Physical harm isn't the only damage that can be done. Cyber attacks are on the rise and can result in the loss of essential business data. 

So, how can you protect your business from becoming another statistic? 

Read on to learn 7 security solutions to protect your business from both kinds of harm. 

1. Control Physical Access

The first step in any small business security plan is managing the physical access to your business's building. Monitoring who comes in and out is essential in preventing a robbery and in finding out who is to blame if something is stolen. 

The easiest way to control access to your business is to use keys and keep your doors and windows locked at all times. If you use physical copies of keys, you'll need to keep track of who has them and when they return them. The more points of entry your business has, the less viable keys become. 

Although keys provide some protection, there is always the risk of someone making a copy or picking the lock. 

If your business has multiple points of entry or is in need of extra security, there are other options available to you. Based on how valuable your assets are you might consider keypad entry or fingerprint scanning. 

It's also important that businesses with multiple entry points only allow customers to come in through one doorway that's monitored. 

For many, an affordable security solutions option is a workplace visitor management system. This system keeps track of signing in and monitoring visitors for you. 

2. Consider ID Cards

Creating ID cards for each of your employees is a great way to prevent strangers from entering the premises. Each employee should be required to have their ID card to enter the building.

If a visitor doesn't have an ID card, they'll be easy to spot and keep an eye on. 

This solution is surprisingly affordable compared to most. 

3. Parking Lot Security

When protecting your business from outside threats, it's easy to forget about your parking lot. You should always include your parking lot in your small business security plan just in case a thief parks their car there.

Monitoring the lot will lessen the chances of burglary and make it more likely that their license plate will be noticed for identification. 

So how do you monitor a parking lot?

You might consider putting up barriers around the lot. A barrier can be a fence or well-spaced concrete polls that create only one entrance and exit. 

If this is too large of an expense, you can always put cameras up facing the lot. 

4. Invest in a Surveillance and Lighting

The best business security systems provide lighting and surveillance. 

Placing exterior lights on your building is a great way to prevent robberies at night. Not only do they prevent thieves, but you're more likely to catch them on camera if it's well-lit. Motion sensor lights are a great way to prevent wasted electricity and high utility bills. 

It's also recommended that you strategically place video cameras in and around the building. Put up signage that alerts thieves that they're on camera, and they will leave you alone. 

Many small business security services will come with the option to place tamper sensitive sensors on doors and windows. These will alert you and the authorities as soon as a thief tries to enter the facility. 

5. Backup Your Data

Unfortunately, physical threats aren't the only type of threat to business security. Cyber attacks and data loss can be just as harmful. In fact, 60% of businesses that get hacked will fail within 6 months time. 

This is because hackers and viruses can steal or erase valuable data including documents, databases, confidential information, software, financial files, and more.

Employee accidents, physical damage to technology, and power outages can also cause loss of data. 

The only way to ensure that your company won't lose this data is to back it up offline or in the cloud. There are professional IT business security systems that can help you. 

You'll want to make sure that data is backed up frequently because disaster can strike at any time.

6. Use Multi-Factor Authentication

One of the best ways to improve your business's cybersecurity is to use multi-factor authentication. This means incorporating text message codes into the sign-in process in addition to the standard username and password. 

The more steps there are, the more difficult it is for a stranger to get into your system. 

You should also enforce the use of strong passwords that include upper and lowercase letters, symbols, and numbers. Studies show that 63% of data breaches are a result of weak or default passwords. 

7. Train Employees in Security Solutions

No matter what business security systems you have in place, you need to train all of your employees in those systems. Security training should be revisited for all new employees and on a regular basis for all employees. This will help prevent employee mistakes that lead to security threats. 

Make sure to outline all overarching topics and details when preparing for a training session so that you don't forget anything. You'll also need to make the training specific to your business and the systems specifically used. 

All security plans should include a communications plan that informs employees on how to report a breach and what steps to take. 

Protect Your Business  

The threat of physical and cyber harm can be terrifying for small businesses. One incident is all it takes for you to be unable to recover. 

Be sure to consider the seven security solutions in this article to protect your business from harm. The sooner you implement these online and offline security solutions, the safer your company will be.
