According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), ‘every year organizations lose 5% of their income due to frauds and scams.’ If we talk in monetary terms, this loss amounts to $3.7 trillion. Now that’s a massive sum of money. Right?
But wait! There’s more!
The statistics show that small businesses lose more than large businesses. Of all the cases reported, 28% were startup or small firms, and 22% were big firms. Why? The reason being is that generally, small firms don’t have adequate resources for their protection.
Unlike the old-times, where people could protect their business with locks and alarms, the theft methods have evolved now. Needless to say that there are several types of fraud/ threats, such as theft of physical assets (skimming), identity theft, corruption, and data theft. So it is a bit difficult for them to safeguard themselves.
Hang on! Did you pay attention to what we just said? We said it is ‘difficult.’ Now, here’s the catch! We didn’t say it is impossible. With the advancement of technology, entrepreneurs can now guard their most prized possession, a.k.a, their company.
As a matter of fact, the IT industry’s development has been acting as a business security shield for several years now. With the following security practices, you can easily protect your business.
- Surveillance camera,
- Cybersecurity,
- Cloud storage,
- Network management,
- Help desk services, and many more.
Are you thinking –
‘But technology is expensive, and that’s the issue,’
‘I can manage my business without it,’
‘My location of operation is safe, so they are useless for me.’?
If your answer to all these questions is yes, then we would like to tell you something. According to a report, 78% of businesses in the U.S. face the issue of cybercrime. This means that the entrepreneurs have to face the risk of both physical as well as virtual safety.
Yes, we do understand that technology can get expensive, especially for newbie entrepreneurs. But, this expense is worth it. As it is a one-time investment, and you’ll get to enjoy the risk-free (external controllable risks) business along with the peace of mind.
Still not convinced? That’s alright! We’ll explain to you- why these expenses are worth it? And how is technology helping in safeguarding against fraudulent activities?
Are you ready? Let’s get straight into it!
Surveillance camera
We all are well-versed with the benefits of security cameras. They help in monitoring all the activities inside the firm premises, and it’s employees. Moreover, as compared to other developments, security cameras are much more affordable.
In fact, by placing surveillance cameras strategically, you’ll be able to keep an eye on every person. It will reduce the chances of employee theft, corruption, and also skimming. Not only this, but your employees and customers will feel safer in the presence of CCTV.
In addition to this, according to the report of the U.S. Small Business Administration, by installing CCTV cameras, firms can eliminate the risk of vandalism.
Wait! Did we forget to mention that you’ll be contributing your part to law enforcement? You must be thinking- how is that possible? What relation do CCTV cameras have with the law? Well, It’s no rocket science. If any incident happens in or around your organization’s premises, the footage recorded in the surveillance system can be used as evidence. Great right?
Cybersecurity
Did you know that every year around 30 million cyber-attacks happen? It goes without saying that these attacks result in more damage to the business. If any confidential information, strategies, customer and client data, etc., gets leaked to the outside world, your competitors can take advantage of it.
That’s why every entrepreneur, including you, needs to enhance cybersecurity. However, as it has been written here, 48% of the companies believe that their protection against cyberattacks is not sufficient. Thus, it is recommended to take the help of professionals who can provide you 360-degree tech protection that generally includes:
- Antivirus software
- Network firewalls
- Employee training regarding cybersecurity
- Network security and
- cloud storage
Cloud storage
Correct us if we are wrong, but the traditional storage methods using external drives are risky. The hard drive can get misplaced, or any person with ill intentions can steal it. However, by using cloud storage, you can minimize such risk to a great extent. Upload all your crucial data on your trusted cloud service provider and stay stress-free.
In fact, there are several other benefits of cloud storage, such as:
- You can easily access all the corporate data anytime and anywhere,
- It helps in reducing the operating expenses of the organization,
- It is safer, as no unauthorized person can get access to the data, and
- It is organized to make it easy to locate the files you need.
Network management
Generally, the people involved in fraud are internal (maybe your employees). You might agree with us that people don’t think straight when they are angry or frustrated. That is the reason why entrepreneurs ensure that their employees stay happy and proactive.
But how? It might sound fundamental, but the practical answer to this question is by providing them with high-speed internet as every work is done over the internet. If your internet is not working smoothly, it will for sure frustrate your staff. And will also affect their productivity.
Remember the phrase “Empty mind devil’s house,” so you need to keep your staff busy with work. Therefore you need smooth network management. If you want, you can hire a team for the same purpose. They can provide you on-site support and help in resolving the network issues.
Help desk services
Talking about the on-site support, it is beneficial for businesses to hire help desk service. Even if your employees know the basics of technology, they might not be capable of solving every error themselves. It will break their concentration and also waste their time. Besides, if it happens again and again, they will get irritated.
Nonetheless, with the help desk service, you can eliminate this risk. And no risk means no internal scam.
To sum it all up,
As an entrepreneur, you have to deal with hundreds of things, and you can’t keep an eye on everything. And, that’s where technology comes in as your guard and helps in the protection of your organization. By installing CCTV, cybersecurity, network management, and cloud storage, you’ll be able to create a protective shield that no one can break.