You can never be too careful when it comes to protecting your business. Especially if you’ve opened up in a busy city like London. Investing in security should be a top priority right from the start. If you have a store, you’ve probably already invested a good amount of money into renting or buying it, renovating, and furnishing it. You must not neglect to secure your investment properly.
Unfortunately, security is often overlooked as an unnecessary and unwanted expense, if you fail to invest in your security you must be prepared to fail – it’s as simple as that. Whilst you can implement some basic security measures yourself, it’s often better to seek professional advice from a security company in London. An experienced security company is best placed to advise you on the whole host of threats and risks posed to you and your specific business, and suggest ways and systems to negate those threats and risks. CCTV is a good starting point, and signs pointing out your security measures as we seek to deter, detect, deny and delay any theft of your products and property.
Here are the top security tips that your business needs right now:
Increase Visibility
Visibility of your products, your customers and your security measures! Make sure you can see your products and your customers, and potential thieves can see you and your security – these are the basic principles that you need to put in place. Installing mirrors and reducing the number of blind spots in your shop will reduce the temptation of theft considerably – don’t make it easy for them ‘Deter’ them. Depending on your products, good practice is to keep the smaller and more valuable items closer to the pay point, and higher up throughout the store so you can see people reaching for them. Whilst the larger items generally displayed lower down.
Install A CCTV system
This is a crucial part of security these days; ‘Detect’ – technology has come a long way, cameras are small producing very high-quality imagery and systems are reasonably affordable to most businesses. They’re a great step in making your business safer for you, your staff and customers. Too many small business owners overlook the need for surveillance and lose valuable profits due to opportunist thieves and organised criminal gangs. A CCTV system will help you catch burglars and shoplifters in action, the surveillance system can also help you investigate any internal theft by employees of your stock or each other’s possessions. Think of the security system as an investment, not as an expenditure – it is tax deductible after all!
Have A Clear Shoplifting Policy
You should never be ambiguous about your shoplifting policy; yes, shoplifting is against the law and we all know this – but let potential thieves know that you have a strong policy of prosecuting all thieves. Have large, colourful and clear signs pointing out your policy at the entrance point and throughout the store. This should go some way in letting thieves know that you mean business and are not a soft touch for their 5 finger discounts. Let them know that any theft will be reported to the police and that prosecution will be attempted regardless of the situation or product value.
Lock Up Your Merchandise
This may sound counterproductive at first but keeping your merchandise locked in display cabinets is a great solution to keeping your products safe from thieves, plus they’ll look great too. ‘Deny’ them the opportunity to commit theft against you. Of course, you can’t put everything into cabinets (unless it’s jewellery) just the smaller more valuable items that are more easily hidden and stolen.
Train Your Staff To Be Security Aware
Your staff are a prized asset too, so train and use them to the best of their ability to the benefit of you and your business. It doesn’t cost anything but time to teach them the basics in security, and what to look out for regarding theft and thieves – how to profile people, the obvious behaviour and actions to look out for. And teach them how to deal with thefts and attempted robberies; nothing beats a bit of role play to build confidence and teach your staff how to deal with these situations. After all, doing something is better than doing nothing – but never put them or yourself in harm’s way. Items can be replaced, a life cannot.
For further expert advice, speak to a security company in London with your requirements and concerns.