Assessing Your Property for Security Vulnerabilities
It’s important that you frequently look at your property and review your security situation. Criminals often target properties that are obviously lacking in certain protections. They want to strike the easiest target possible. If your business has a security flaw, a criminal will find it and he or she will exploit it.
Even if you’ve reviewed your business and your security situation a while ago, it’s a good idea to take another look. You might have missed something last time or the situation may have changed. A common mistake that many people make is assuming that once everything is set up initially, you don’t need to concern yourself with security anymore. In reality, you should review your security situation every few years. Not only because you may have missed out or something or because your situation may have changed, but also because new technologies may now be available.
Here are a few things that you should be on the lookout for:
- Well-lit areas are more easily seen from the street. This is important because criminals don’t want to be caught in the act. They often look to break into locations that aren’t properly lit in order to stay out of sight. You can greatly improve security by installing lighting.
- Secure all possible entrances. Don’t just focus on securing the front door of your property. Criminals will take the path of least resistance, whether that be a window, a back door or any other possible entry point. Walk around your property and make sure that all possible entry points are secured.
- Remember visual deterrents. Criminals look for easy targets. If they see that security has been installed effectively, they’ll likely move on to another location. For example, having security gates installed at your property will let criminals know that they will have a tough time getting inside your location. Compared to other tools, such as protective window film, security gates are a much stronger visual deterrent. Window film may make it more difficult to break a window, but no one knows that it’s there, so it doesn’t discourage criminals.
Depending on your situation, you may not find any additional weaknesses or flaws when you review your security set up. This is good! The important part is that you check and that you take efforts to prevent crime before it happens.
Be Proactive
Too often people don’t concern themselves with security until they’ve already experienced a break-in or other crime. One reason why people don’t like to focus on security is that they believe it’s too expensive to do so. Another reason is because they feel like it’s too difficult. If you’re one of these people, it’s crucial that you remember that recovering from a break-in is even more costly, more difficult and more time-consuming.
If your business is broken into, you’ll need to repair your location, which costs money. You’ll also lose the value of the goods that were stolen, which costs even more money. Plus, depending on the amount of damage, you may even need to shut down for a few days (or longer) while your property is repaired. This will cause you to lose business and, yes, lose money. Plus, you’ll then find yourself dealing with police, security authorities, insurance people and many others in the aftermath of the break-in. This is time-consuming and exhausting for just about anyone.
Taking steps to secure your property before a break-in will save you from these hassles and unnecessary expenses.
Want some more helpful tips to improving the security of your business? Download our helpful guide to Improving Your Security Mindset.
