Why Your Business Needs a Security System

07-15-2020

Every business if different, but it’s safe to say that if your business has a retail storefront or anything similar, you probably need a security system. You will want to prevent break-ins, theft, and vandalism and you may also need to worry about violent personal crimes such as assault.  If you have a parking lot or structure, you will want to make sure your customers and employees aren’t having their cars broken into, they aren’t getting mugged or assaulted when they go to their cars at the end of the shift and that everyone feels safe at work.

Physical barriers, lights, and quality locks can go a long way to securing your business, but a security system can take it to a whole new level.

You also never know when something like a COVID shutdown, a riot, a local disaster, or an emergency might happen.  There are times when you just have to lock the doors and walk away. This can be scary knowing that everything you have spent years building is all locked up in one place and you won’t be there to protect it.

Break-ins

Most businesses aren’t open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s these times when a security system offers the most obvious protection. A good burglar alarm system will make noise and contact your or a security monitoring company right away if there is a break-in. That can be the difference between having a business and not having one. If your money or equipment is stolen, you may not be able to do business until it is replaced. That could be a death blow for some businesses.

Sure, you can board up the windows and doors when you know trouble is coming, like a hurricane or something like that, but can you predict when a peaceful demonstration will turn into a riot complete withy looting all the nearby businesses? Recent news reports suggest that this could happen almost anywhere. Rioters aren’t going to stop and check to see if you agree with them or not before smashing your windows and stealing everything they can get their hands on. OK, so a burglar alarm system might not prevent all that, but at least the video should help the police find the culprits and convince your insurance company to pay you.

A more likely scenario is bored high school kids looking to make name for themselves by spray painting graffiti all over and smashing TV or computer screens. A nice loud alarm will probably scare them off and a call to the local police department can get them arrested. 

Protect Your Exterior/Parking Lot

A few well-placed security cameras and lights (maybe even some alarms) can go a long way towards preventing a break-in and securing your parking lot. Signage making it clear that someone is always watching also helps, for when the bad guys don’t notice the cameras. Hopefully, the prevention will do the job, but if something bad does happen in your lot, those cameras can really help to catch the bad guys and make sure they will never try that again.

Fire / Disaster

A good automated security system will integrate with a fire alarm system as well. In the unfortunate event that your business catches fire, floods, or otherwise falls victim to a natural or unnatural disaster, your system will protect you as much as it can.

Employee Theft

An often overlooked but very important feature of security systems is in the prevention of employee theft. In many savvy businesses, cameras are pointed at the cash register. This serves a dual purpose of watching for and hopefully preventing stickups and also watching to make sure the employee isn’t stealing. There are quite a few small businesses (and big ones, too) where an owner or manager can watch those videos from her office or even from home and make sure every transaction is happening on the up and up. In bars and restaurants where employees are tipped, it’s not always easy to determine if that money going into the employee’s pocket is a tip or not. One common way for a worker to increase tips is by providing goods or services for free. This keeps the worker happy, but it can cost the business plenty of money.

If times are tough and you can’t pay your people, a security system might be all that stands between you and your employees figuring out creative ways to pay themselves. If they know they are always being watched, they are less likely to try stealing stuff.

A security system for your business is essential if you have a retail location and a good idea for manufacturing or production facilities, too. If you run your business from home, a good home security system may be all you need. In any case, you can get a FREE QUOTE here and get started with securing your business today.