How to Secure the Physical Space of Your Small Business

Granted a lot of small businesses operate online these days, there are still many who traditionally operate in a physical space. Very sadly, thieves are on the prowl every hour of the day looking for businesses hit. As long as there are small businesses, there will always be people out there looking to rob, burglarize, and otherwise steal from them. It’s simply a risk that every business owner must take. The trick is to minimize risk and maximize awareness. Getting out ahead of potential thieves is the best remedy. We all know that robbery is a crime of opportunity. If somehow you are able to eliminate that opportunity, your business, your customers, and your peace of mind will be better off for it.

It does a lot of good if we take advice from people who are trained and empowered to deal with thieves. That is what the police do all around the world. The police know very well that if criminals are determined to steal from you, they’ll find a way to (try to) do it. To stop them, you can set up your business deliberately to discourage would-be thieves. That effort lies in the way you design the layout and equip the physical space where you do business. LAPD and many police departments, routinely advise every small business owner operating in a physical space to do the following among many other precautions they can also take.

ð    01. Provide security system information to employees only on a need-to-know basis. The sad truth is that employee theft and fraud is a major source of loss—amounting to tens of thousands of lost profits for businesses each year on average.

02. Keep minimal cash in the register at all times, and make bank deposits often and during business hours.

03. Most importantly: Cooperate with burglars if confronted. It’s not worth losing your life over.

04. Apply deadbolt locks or metal security crossbars to all outside entrances and inside security doors.

05. Install secure locks and burglar-resistant glass on windows.

06. Keep the cash register in plain view from the outside of your business, so it can be monitored by police as well as spotted by passersby and customers if a robbery occurs during business hours.

07. Install lighting on the inside and outside of your business, especially around doors, windows, and other entry points.

08. Install CCTVs correctly and be sure they are functional at all times.

09. Where practicable, you can link your small business premises with the local police department by way alarm system.

Why You Must do Away with Rationalizing

“Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude towards it, for that determines our success or failure.”-- Norman Vincent Peale.

Excuses for not doing something are never in short supply. You are not in this world to live up to anyone’s expectations. What you do and don’t do is entirely up to you provided you do not infringe on any other person’s rights. Do not look for reasons why you will fail. The only reasons worth looking for are reasons why you should succeed. Maintain positive optimism and a “Can-Do” Attitude always. Avoid “nay-sayers” and negative thinkers. Many people find it difficult to attain their maximum potentials not because they are ill-equipped but because of the attitudes of others towards them. This should not be so. No one can ever achieve anything worthwhile in life if they must wait first for the approval of others. Nothing worthwhile has ever been achieved in this world without a significant array of people who think it can’t be done. These are the “nay Sayers” and they are everywhere. Look closely, most “nay-sayers” are either under-achievers or outright failures. This should not surprise anyone. Those who think it can’t be done do not bother to try. They therefore never achieve.

Mr. Stanley Kirk Burrell a popular rapper known as Mr. Hammer started showcasing his talent in Oakland Baseball Stadium in the United States. He sold home-made tapes to people going into the stadium and exhibited his dancing and rap talents for all to see. Many people dropped coins into his collection box more out of pity than anything else. His friends laughed at him and generally ridiculed him because his genre of music was strange. They tried to discourage him and called him an embarrassment. He ignored them and kept on rapping and dancing. Ten years later, Mr. Hammer was listed in “Forbes Magazine” as one of the wealthiest entertainers in the world. Many of those friends who laughed at him became some of his employees as Drivers and Body Guards.

Prior to 1900, two brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright thought of constructing a “flying machine.” By 1903, at Kitty Hawk, USA, when they were to test their first “flying machine”, there were people in the crowd who said the thing will not get off the ground. Some others said if it ever gets off the ground it will never land without a crash. The New York Times Editorial on December 10, 1903 vilified the Wright brothers and tried to question their sincerity. It tried to sway public opinion away from the legitimate and genuine efforts of the Wright brothers to invent an airplane. It questioned their wisdom on the choice of such a project and wondered how a machine heavier than air would fly. The Wright brothers ignored these comments. One week later, they flew the machine for a few minutes and it landed without a major disaster. The end result is that we all travel the world today in the bellies of comfortable airplanes and people have made millions for themselves in the airline business. Many thanks to the Wright brothers who learned to ignore “nay-sayers” and “dream-busters.”