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Welcome to RUSECURE NOW newsletter.
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Its a big world out there and we all find it hard to navigate business challenges at times. RUSECURE NOW newsletter was created to help keep the business owner informed, updated and in tune to business security issues. This newsletter will be published twice per month to keep you abreast of relevant issues. I hope you find my newsletter informative and helpful. Please feel free to go to my comment section to let me know how I'm doing and how I can improve this website. Should you want me to address issues that are relevant to your business please feel free to leave a comment.
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This newsletter will be delivered bi-weekly on Mondays. We will discuss issues surrounding fraud, theft, employee theft, cybercrimes, crime prevention and organized retail crime. The topics discussed will be intended to get you to see the issues through a different lenses and to be able to act on information that is beneficial and will provide solutions to your business.
Knowledge Is Power
Let's flip the script for a moment and look at the mindset of the common criminal. The criminal element looks for convenience, money, information, and the thrill of the ride. I have arrested countless people who had hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars in their wallet or purse and still committed an act of theft. So lets be clear, it is not always about if they have money to pay for the merchandise, sometimes it's the thrill and addictive action of getting away with something for some people. Sad but true! On the other side, it is about stealing out of necessity; the gain of money and information.
Unfortunately, nothing that I mentioned in the above paragraph will go away anytime soon. So, it is vital to say that you must and have to be proactive in your approach to crime. You must be willing to look at what doesn't work and what is useful in combating crime on all levels.
Lets look at 6 Essential Elements of Business Security.
Assessment
Business Security Knowledge
Infrastructure
Policy/Procedures
Implementation
Continued Education and Training
Assessment
"It is sad to say, but the common criminal always looks for the easy target and the low hanging fruit on the tree."
John Ridgeway
If knowledge is power then applied knowledge is even better. If your retail store makes it easy to steal products/information, then you will continue to continue to call yourself a victim of crime. We would like to think that ALL people are honest but that isn't the world we live in today.
Everyday, thousands of business owners are affected directly or indirectly by some type of crime.
Take a moment to conduct a security assessment of your organization to determine your vulnerabilities and strengths. For example, do you have a security policy regarding the acceptance of debit/credit cards? How should you train your staff and document training? How is your customer data protected?
These are questions you MUST answer to get moving in the right direction.
Business Security Knowledge
Just because you open up your doors for business does not mean anyone has the necessary training and education to understand business security.
Let's look at the basics of business security. Your job as the owner or manager is to protect your assets and to make a profit. As you begin to manage those tasks, you must know and understand your weaknesses.
The question you should ask is how can you gain more knowledge and understanding is this area of business security.
After almost three decades of enforcing the law, conducting investigations and staying abreast of new crimes, I am still learning new strategies, techniques, and tactics. So as a business owner or manager, you have a number of duties to fulfill. The type of crimes evolve over time and so should your knowledge and training.
Just over 20 years ago, cybercrimes were not as prevalent as they are today. Hackers now have the ability to break into almost any infrastructure without you knowing. This leads into our next element of infrastructure.
Infrastructure
Your infrastructure is the bedrock of your business. If your infrastructure is weak, this will reflect in your day to day business.
Take a snap shot of your business from the front to the back. If you haven't done so already, you must look at how you process payments, accept checks/ credit cards, your merchant processing system.
Your training of personnel will also reflect in the success or downfall of your day to day operations. If poor training is passed from trainer to trainer, the system is broken but can be corrected by proper training and having a written policy and procedures in place.
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Policy/Procedures
Writing policies and procedures sometimes seems like a daunting task. However, when you start losing money and information because you have not put anything in place, it makes financial sense to put your policies/procedures in writing.
When I was in law enforcement, our Standard Operating Procedures (S.O.P) was as thick as a yellow pages book. Of course this made sense for how we had to operate by law.
Your policy/procedures manual does not have to be as detailed but it should be clear on your company's policy/procedures and what is expected of all personnel in their day to day operating tasks.
Imagine this, if you do not have anything in writing, it is always possible for an employee to say they were never trained in specific procedures or was unaware of the policy.
When you get your policy/procedures in writing, you can always have the associate(s) sign a acknowledgement form. When this is implemented, you will have the proper documentation in place.
Remember this, your policy/procedures should not forever remain stagnant, but should change as your business operations change.
I have helped rewrite policy/procedures and understand the importance of having one in place and current.
So take the time NOW to get your policy/procedures in writing.
Implementation
Implementing your policy/procedures sometimes require your organization to work out the kinks.
The best way to go about this is to look for failure or vulnerabilities in your system. If you are involved in other tasks of your business and have personnel who work inside your office area or cashiers, assign someone to help you find the weaknesses in your system.
You could have your office manager carry out this task and report the information back to you. Once the problem area is identified, you can correct the issue and change the policy/procedures in writing.
There is nothing worse than to have money,merchandise or information disappearing and not know how it is happening.
So now you have a better understanding on why it is important to have your policies/procedures in writing.
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Continued Education and Training
The success of your organization is hinged on continued education and good training. For any business to grow, we have to continue to stretch and challenge ourselves in all areas of business.
Don't be afraid to challenge yourself in the area of business security. This is a necessity and is critical to the vitality of your business.
Take the time to learn from this newsletter and speak to other business owners who have experienced some of the negative setbacks. Shorten your learning curve!
You will also find it beneficial to get training and pass this training on to your staff at least once per year. Your staff should be involved in some type of office/sales training to make your operations run as smooth as possible. This is not to say you will not have or encounter problems.
However, the better trained you and your personnel are, the more prepared they will be to handle everyday issues.
I hope you found this information helpful and insightful.
Please feel free to ask me about any business security issues you may have with your organization and I will do my best to get back to you as quickly as possible.
If you like what you are reading, please share the RUSECURE NOW newsletter to a business or organization whom you think could benefit from this type of information.
RUSECURE NOW
John Ridgeway CEO & Founder, RUSECURE NOW
www.rusecurenow.com|contact@rusecurenow.com
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"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Benjamin Franklin
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