If you have a small business, you want to do everything you can to make it successful. While you’re juggling finances, marketing, employment, and the dozens of other aspects that go into entrepreneurship, some are easier to overlook but just as important to remember, such as a business security system. You will need to look at your business to determine what fits your needs, but here are some suggestions to help you get started.

Smart Locks

If you’re a small business, you probably don’t need a state-of-the-art access control system with access badges and James Bond-proofing. You may have areas around the office with sensitive information that not every employee needs access to, though. You could put locks on these doors and closets and distribute keys, or for a solution that doesn’t add another key to keep track of, you could install a smart lock. This way, you just need to punch in a code, no key necessary. Depending on the smart lock, you may even be able to check from an app on your phone to see if people locked up behind them after they finished what they needed to do inside. If they forgot, you can secure the lock for them without leaving your desk.

Security Cameras and Alarms

If you don’t have a business in retail or are online-only with an office closed to customers, your initial thought might be that you don’t need security cameras or an alarm system because there are never any customers on-site who might try stealing merchandise. However, there are other reasons you would want to have cameras and an alarm system. Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first. When you hire an employee, you are looking for someone honest who can do the job well. Sometimes, despite your efforts, it doesn’t always work out this way.

75% of employees have admitted to stealing from their employer at least once. This isn’t a reason to get worried and never trust your employees, but you can take measures to protect your business and positively motivate anyone who might be tempted to join the 75%. If you install cameras and your employees can see they’re there, any who might be in the 75% will be less inclined to steal company supplies or products when they know someone could see.

You probably have better things to do than watch hours of footage—if you don’t, you may want to consider starting a new hobby—but you can skim through it, especially if you have reason to believe things are going missing when they shouldn’t or being used faster than they should.

Cameras are also good for deterring external culprits who might vandalize or burglarize your business. Even if you don’t have any onsite products, there are still plenty of items to catch their attention. Computers and electronics are among the most stolen items, and offices have an abundance of these. Burglars are less likely to break into a building if they see it has cameras, and an alarm serves as an extra defense to scare them away.

Protection While You’re Away

Even if you do have an alarm and cameras installed, they aren’t an invincible burglar deterrent. Some thieves will just ignore the alarm and proceed. Because of this, it’s important to have monitoring services for your business security system. In the event someone breaks into the office after hours, the monitoring company will be able to catch it and dispatch help.

Then, there’s the scenario that could be far more expensive than a burglary. It’s the middle of the night, there’s no one at the office, and the smoke alarm goes off to announce a fire. The fire would have to reach a high intensity before a well-meaning bystander outside would notice and call for help on your behalf. If you had a monitoring company, they would receive notice when the smoke alarm goes off, and they would be able to dispatch help much sooner, mitigating your overall loss.

As you’re reviewing your options for what security features you would like to add to your business, WISE is here to help. Call us at 844-904-9473 or request info online, and we’ll help you customize a plan that best fits the needs of you and your business.