Security Cameras,spend A Little, Save Alot.
Tuesday, November 6th, 2007 by Subscribe To Our Feed
Are you aware that as a small business owner, one of the biggest and most expensive issues facing you is loss prevention? Many small business owners make the mistake of thinking that problems like theft, vandalism, and embezzlement will not happen to them. Unfortunately, research suggests that small businesses suffer huge losses from these types of events every year. Here are four tips that will help small business owners who are considering investing in a security system.
1. Choose a reputable security company: many security companies advertise themselves on the basis of cost effectiveness. This is of course very important, but what is more vital is to make sure that you are getting your money’s worth. Ask your small business insurance agency to suggest a security firm, and you will be assured of making the best choice.
2. Don’t do it yourself: many business owners try to save money by setting up their own ” security system “. They use cheap web cameras or off the shelf solutions and expect to obtain high-quality results. However, they discover that it is very time intensive to obtain these results — they must spend much of their valuable time watching security videos, without a clear idea of what they are looking for. Instead of doing it yourself, spend a little extra and pay a firm to do it for you — you’ll be glad you did.
3. The ever important location: one key to successful prevention of loss is the installment and monitoring of security cameras at all locations. Many small business owners make the mistake of using only one or two security cameras in an effort to save themselves money. Unfortunately, the fewer cameras that you set up, the easier you are as a target for potential criminals as they will be able to find a way to steal from you in an unmonitored area of your business if you have too few cameras.
4. Monitor your employees and customers: small business owners often aren’t aware that loss prevention efforts need to be targeted toward both employees and customers. The small business owner that only trains security cameras on his or her merchandise can be stolen blind by a crooked employee. Likewise, if you are only monitoring employees, a single break-in can bankrupt you.
We hope that these suggestions will help you decide on a comprehensive solution. We know that the most important goal for a small business owner is to manage costs. But don’t forget that the key to staying on top of loss prevention is implementing strong security. A little investment in security will pay dividends by saving thousands and thousands of dollars in shrinkage.
One of the most important, but often overlooked aspects of small business is loss prevention. A recent study estimates that billions of dollars are lost each year by small businesses from vandalism, theft, or embezzlement. If you are a business owner, and are considering installing a security system, then consider: finding specialized security companies with good track records; investing in specialized security cameras instead of cheap, jury-rigged webcams and such; monitoring all locations possible; and monitoring both your employees and your customers. Spending a few extra dollars on loss prevention now can prevent thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses later.
- Edson Buchanan
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