As the manager or owner of a businessyou should see your company as your most prized asset, but like with any valuable item, this should also be safe and secure. Unfortunately, there are more and more means both online and offline that your business can be targeted – from compromising your private information, to poor products reflecting negatively on your firm.
Equally though there are ways and means to help prevent this. What follows are a few examples of someonline and offline threats and how you can manage them effectively:
Online
Cyber Attacks
Attacks on company data or private information are becoming increasingly common and can be hugely damaging for a business. As such you should limit the possibility of any issues by having only the best protective systems (passwords, firewalls etc.) in place for your business – especially if you use cloud storage. Also if you are getting rid of old servers or systems, make sure these have their data wiped; you can find companies like Pinnacle Data who offer this service.
Product Integrity
If you are going to launch a new product or service online, the last thing you want is to promote something substandard. These should be thoroughly tested first – and again there are specialist firms like Sogeti who can do this for you – to ensure they are fit for purpose. Any negative press could be crippling for sales numbers and ultimately your reputation.
User Experience
To build on the above point, if you also have a website that is difficult to navigate or which doesn’t work particularly well, this too can reflect badly on your business and damage your company’s reputation. Again, the advice is simple invest in a decent website and if needs be hire a web designer to do this for you.
Offline
Damage to your Property
Treat your business premises like your own home and have secure locks and alarm systems on your buildings and grounds. For larger sites these should be fenced off – and budget dependent – patrolled on an evening.
Insurance
If you work in the trade or in a role where you may be liable for something, you should you have all the insurance cover and documentation you need to ensure you don’t get sued.
It can be frustrating to think that such incidents and situations can occur, but the effect of not managing this, can be much worse for your business. So, take on board some of this advice and act now to get your company safe and secure from whatever the world may throw at it.