There’s a lot of ground to be covered when running a business. You have to think about money, strategy, public relations, and one of the most important things – crime prevention. Crimes can come in many forms; from theft to vandalism to something more violent. It’s important that your business is prepared for these things in order to avoid any long-lasting damage. It can sometimes be hard coming up with reliable strategies to prevent a crime from happening in your business, especially when you can’t predict how people will act in these situations, but there are plenty of things you can do that will help your business stay safe. Read on for a few crime prevention tips for running a business.
Stay Tidy
Keeping your business clean and sanitary is important for any business, not just for the health of your staff and customers but because it shows you care about your business. Back in the late 60s, a psychologist from Standford left an average car parked in a neighborhood in California. He returned a week later and found the car untouched. When moving the car to a similar neighborhood and breaking one of the windows, he returned to find the car had been stripped clean and vandalized only mere hours later. This is known as the broken window theory and applies to businesses just as easily as it does cars. When the facility you use to run your business isn’t properly maintained, it sends a message to potential criminals saying that you don’t care about your business, so it should be easy pickings.
Think Of Your Staff
Your staff should be one of your top priorities when running your business. They are essentially the lifeblood and without them, you likely wouldn’t be able to properly operate. It’s important that your staff understands proper safety procedures for their own peace of mind as well as yours. Install panic buttons and make sure all employees are aware of their locations and the situations they should be used. Depending on the type of business you run, you may also want to think about keeping accurate records of the people who visit or have your employees defer to management when larger cash transactions occur. When employees feel safe and comfortable, it’s less likely that a crime will occur and you’ll likely do better business.
Make Sure You Have The Basics
A few basic safety precautions come to mind when operating a business, especially one with a physical location. While obvious, you’ll want to make sure that every entrance has an effective locking mechanism and that keys to the business are held only by those who need them and are trustworthy. It’s wise to also make a record of everyone who maintains control of a key, including individuals temporarily entrusted with them–the reason they key was temporarily used and when it was returned are especially important details to maintain. This system helps keep all your bases covered. You’ll also want to make sure that emergency phone numbers are posted in places accessible throughout the business but outside the view of patrons. Finally, security cameras with at least one monitor viewable to patrons can convey to would-be criminal elements that they are being watched because they are able to see themselves on the monitor.