The Importance of Small Business Security: What You Need To Know

CommPRO Editorial Staff

As an entrepreneur, you've likely spent hours, or even years, building your small business, and you know how important it is to protect your business. However, after all the time and effort you've put into running a small business, choosing the right protection and security measures for your company can be challenging. This guide will help you understand everything you need to know to protect your small business both online and offline so that you can focus on running your company. 

Company Culture

When people talk about a company's culture, they typically mention how the staff interacts with one another and what it's like to work for a particular business. However, your company culture is essential to your enterprise's security strategy as the ideas, social behaviors, and customs throughout your business will influence its security. The security culture within your company is built on a foundation from your ability to protect data, information, privacy, and employees. A strategic, long-term approach to consistent security is imperative to ensure that your business is secure both online and offline.

Employees often have confusion about what they should and shouldn't be doing to protect business information, as security experts have repeatedly communicated contradictory techniques over the years. Security is an ongoing process that should be driven from the organization's top in conjunction with your IT departments to ensure consistent feedback to employees. Implementing consistent communication to help staff understand how their daily behaviors can impact security is the key to developing the right company culture.

Physical Security for Your Small Business

Many small business owners focus solely on their digital security when they first begin documenting their security procedures. However, the security of your physical location is equally important if you want to ensure that you don't incur any unforeseen expenditure such as theft or accidents resulting in employee or customer injuries. 

The first step to securing your business is investing in the right insurance. That will provide you with the necessary protection to cover most of the unexpected problems you may face as a company. Unfortunately, it can be confusing when you first look at insurance for your small business, as there are many types to choose from. Still, the best insurance will allow you to customize what coverage you require as every business is different. For expert advice, head over to The Hartford website, where you can get more information about their small business insurance. 

Once you have the appropriate insurance in place for your business, it's time to think about other measures you can use to protect your physical location. Security systems are essential, and from door alarms to cameras, there are many options to choose from for your business.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is not typically the first thought on every business owner's mind when developing their company infrastructure. Unfortunately, smaller organizations are often prime targets for these types of attacks, as smaller businesses usually don't have the same level of technology security as larger businesses. The aftermath of a cyberattack is potentially expensive and often stressful, and time-consuming for any small business, which is why it's imperative to have the best measures in place alongside your company culture to ensure you don't suffer the losses from a cyberattack. Audit your current practices by working with your IT department or an external company to identify weaknesses and develop an effective strategy going forward.