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When someone breaks into your business, that’s a real violation. Even if you are insured, the money you lose to lost assets, damage to your building, and time closed for investigation can be financially devastating. It could take months to recover from that, maybe longer. That’s why your best option is to focus on prevention. Here are five tips to help keep your small business safe from break-ins.
Think of your security presence as the combination of things that communicate to others your business is no place for would-be thieves. These might include:
Remember that burglars are opportunistic. They will avoid targets that aren’t worth the effort or where they have an increased chance of being caught.
Smash and grabs are one of the most popular forms of a break-in. Thieves want to get in and out as quickly as possible. The longer it takes them to enter your building, the more likely they will give up and move on to another target. Make it as difficult for them to break in as you can.
There are several things you can do to make it harder for a burglar to succeed. First, use steel doors where possible. These provide the highest level of security. You can also use deadbolt locks to make breaking in even more difficult. Keep your interior doors locked as well. The more doors they have to attempt to breach, the better.
Thieves may see it as a convenient target when the outside of your building is in poor repair or dirty. They assume that it isn’t well monitored. They may even believe that any theft will go unnoticed. Sometimes, people will break into a building, thinking it’s abandoned.
Take steps to ensure that your building’s exterior is in good repair. Keep trash cleaned up, sweep the entryway, and replace lightbulbs. Fix broken windows, paint as needed. You can even refresh exterior doors with a new finish or a coat of paint. If you share a building with other tenants, encourage them to do the same. Contact maintenance to do any exterior fixes that are beyond your ability or authority to complete.
Walk past your building, and think like a burglar. What do you see? What would tempt you to break into your place of business? Keep in mind that thieves want fast and easy access and items they can grab quickly. They are often tempted by attractive or expensive-looking items in plain sight.
Make it a policy to move valuable items out of the window’s view and put them under lock and key. Cover display cases, so they aren’t visible. Be careful about what you select for window displays to avoid smash-and-grab burglaries.
In some cases, it is what you do leave visible that makes a difference. To avoid cash theft, consider leaving cash registers in plain sight. Open them to make it clear that they do not contain any cash.
So many of the choices that you make regarding your business can impact how vulnerable you are to break-ins. At the same time, you have to consider many things, not just security. For example, you could run your business out of a concrete block building secured by steel doors and barred windows. That might keep out thieves. However, it doesn’t create a comfortable, welcoming space for your employees or customers.
You have to balance security with comfort, accessibility, function, and aesthetics. One way to do that is to make decisions that make the most sense for your business. Then, try to narrow down the choice that is best for your security needs. Imagine that you have a retail store. Your best choice for entry doors may be glass storefront doors. However, you can choose a door with insulated glass, add a security camera, and wire the door to an effective alarm system.
If you’re looking for commercial doors that can simultaneously discourage thieves and encourage customers, give CDF Distributors a call or build a quote online.
