A Guide to Protecting Your Business

No business is immune to disaster. Be it crime, a complaint or the emergence of new competition, a business can fail without much notice or hesitation. Yet not all business owners take the appropriate measures to protect themselves and their business.

For ways on how to do so, the following guide has practical tips to help all types of business owners safeguard themselves. Making sure you have a good HR onboarding software is very important. But what is a HR onboarding software? This is a system you can use to control incoming employees before their first day and for the future.

Protection against digital threats

1. Optimise email security. Stop hackers in their tracks by having multiple layers of security that will prevent them from accessing employee emails.

2. Invest in protection software. Audit your firewall, malware, antivirus, and email spam and phishing protection software so that you know it is in good working order.

3. Passwords. Many employees will have passwords that are personal to them. These can be easy to crack, and if your employees use the same password for many accounts, your whole defence system can crumble.

Cover against indemnity claims

Anyone offering professional advice - such as consultants and financial advisers - as their main business service is vulnerable to risks of things going wrong under their instruction. As a management consultant, if you were hired to sort out a company’s finances to stop the business from failing, but they end up failing anyway, this insurance can stop any blame heading your way. Hiscox specialise in indemnity risks, so if you are wondering how professional indemnity protects businesses from risk, turn to the professionals for guidance.

Insurance most businesses should have included:

1. General Liability Insurance

2. Property Insurance

3. Business Owner’s Policy (BOP)

4. Worker’s Compensation

5. Professional Liability Insurance

Business owners are also required by law to have certain insurance. It is always a good idea to speak to many professionals and obtain numerous quotes before settling.

Preventing criminal damage

Way back in the day, business owners only had to worry about physical crime. Nowadays, there is the added worry of cybercrime. Crime against businesses makes a huge 20% of all recorded crime in the UK, with cybercrime becoming a growing threat.

1. Secure your premises. Invest in CCTV, state-of-the-art locks, alarms and a front door you have to buzz through. Windows should also be locked, and install security lighting.

2. Protect yourself and your staff. If there is ever the event of a serious threat, train your staff so that they know what to do. Also, train employees to detect suspicious behaviour.

3. Secure all equipment. Perform regular property and equipment audits, and at the end of the day, account for all equipment being back in its usual place. Employees can steal tablets, laptops and even coffee containers – not all threats are outside the office.

4. Shred all sensitive information. While many documents are stored online, there are still many paper copies scattered throughout an office. Be sure to shred all copies with sensitive information/data if you have no use for them anymore, or if you need to keep them, have a filing system that is under lock and key.