Theft cases are always reported from day to day. The break in maniac will stop at nothing to take away what you have accomplished through working so hard. Remember the effort you put, the sleepless nights, late nights behind the desk; the target being to make your business prosperous. They say hard work pays. Well, not every person works hard, for instance, thieves. These will forcefully break into your premises and take your property or services without your consent. Their intention of depriving you of your right to own property is achieved illegally.
Theft can be very costly to you as the business owner. Ensure your business premises is properly insured.You can put in place both short term and long term measures to protect your business premises.
The measures to take are:
- Ensure that your premises are protected at all times by security personnel from a reliable and legit security firm. The personnel should do both static and mobile patrols. Mobile patrol personnel will be on the lookout for any fishy moves in your business surrounding and take the necessary precautions. Static patrol personnel are usually based at strategic checkpoints, they conduct checks on people entering the premises and leaving the premises. To ascertain that they are not armed and carrying property from the premises of which they haven’t paid for.
- Secure your doors to the premises with padlocks and locks. Go for padlock made from hardened steel and mounted on bolt hasps. Always keep these locked a measure that will deter exchange. The locks of security doors on the inside and outside entrance should feature double cylinder deadbolts which have removable collars every inch throw of the deadbolt should be secured by a latch guard and should have hardened steel insert.
- Ensure all the conspicuous door hinges are well pinned to hinder their removal. The jambs around your premises doors should be solid and all doors are secured with heavy metal crossbars, lined with metal and are of a solid crafting.
- Install the polyester security film on your window to make them burglar resistant.to increase the efficiency of the film incorporate the glass break sensor alarm. Your windows should always have secure locks. The rear windows are more vulnerable to break-ins, these should be secured with heavy metal grates.
- Your entire premises perimeter should be well illuminated. Emphasis on possible entrances and all the premises doors it is best if you install motion-activated lights. A well-lit business premise will make thieves very nervous; this minimises the probability of your business premises being a target. Also, there is a likelihood of passers-by identifying a break-in.
- Install alarm system from an accredited company. The alarm should be within the recommended standards. Consult with your insurer to be sure the standards are good. If you have already installed an alarm system ensure it is functional, always monitored by the centre receiving the alarm. The central monitoring centre will respond to the alarm once it goes off by placing a call. Scare away the thieves by pulling up stickers or signs by informing them of the alarm system presence.
- Ensure the cash register is left open when not in use and empty hence drawing less attention from burglars. Limit the amount of cash in the register, access to the cash safe. Always transfer cash from the register to the safe regularly, keep the safe keys in a secure spot, always take with wherever you leave, memorise the safe combination number and change it regularly especially when an employee who had access to the safe has been relieved of duties.
- Conduct a security risk assessment. This will enable you to be planned for any incident of theft. The assessment will help identify the specific avenues that create opportunities for theft. These are; having idlers around the business premises, keeping cash unsecured.
- The surrounding of the premises should be patrolled. This includes the basement, walls and rooftops. Ensure good visibility by clearing overgrown bushes and trimming hedges, an unkempt appearance makes it easier for thieves to break in thinking that you haven’t put any security measures in place. Remove trash and other bins and cans as they can provide access to the wall and roofs of your premises.
- Paint your walls and fences with the anti-climb paint to deter thieves from climbing into your perimeter. Combine this with an electric fence so as any thieve will be electrocuted.
- Install both exterior and interior security measures. Implement a good quality surveillance system. The CCTV dissuades any prospecting thieves from targeting your business premises for fear of being monitored. With CCTV the thieves can be identified and be tracked down.Get your CCTV cameras installed and from a licensed company that has a monitoring unit.
- Prevent internal theft, well it is always nice to see the good in people but this isn’t always true. Much you trust your employees they too are capable of robbing you. The likes of embezzlement of funds, fraud and shoplifting are the common theft by employees. Don’t become a victim: always check the references of your new recruits before hiring them, keep an eye on your account by hiring an independent auditor, allocate specific duties to each employees this will enable you to know who to hold responsible when there are anomalies in the specific departments, clearly spell out the measures that will be taken on the employees if they are involved in internal theft and be firm with your decision.
- Ensure: your business has purchased a bonding insurance, regularly review and update your insurance so as to capture changes in your business or growth. Bonding insurance guarantees repayment of losses that come about as a result of employees’ actions.
Conclusion;
Implementing the above measures to prevent theft is the most important thing to do to protect your business and realise its long-term and short-term goals. Businesses are an important part of the community as they generate job opportunities. They should be kept safe at all costs. Never forget; security always starts with you.
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