With most of the world going digital and taking their business online, running a successful physical store is becoming more challenging by the day. Brick-and-mortar shops are slowly but surely dying out, as the unique challenges of running such a shop in the modern day and age are becoming too much to bear for some owners.
However, if you own such an establishment and don’t want to see it closed or moved to the cloud, today’s guide on protecting your shop from physical and legal threats might help. Stick around as we’ll review four vital tips that every physical business owner should know and master to protect their store from harm.
Securing the Grounds – Placing Surveillance Cameras at Key Locations
Protecting your physical business should always be a priority, whether you own a tiny mom-and-pop jewelry shop, a medium-sized electronics store, or a massive warehouse-sized department store.
Alarm systems don’t cut it anymore, as local law enforcement usually takes much longer to arrive than any intruder needs to get in and rob the place. Thus, investing in high-quality surveillance cameras and dedicated security systems is a must.
While it can be a financial strain and take a more significant portion of your budget, it’s undoubtedly worth more than it requires to do.
Not only will intruders refrain from trying anything when they see cameras around the shop, but even if something does happen, you’ll have video proof of the events, allowing you to take legal action against the perpetrator(s).
Preventing Legal Issues – Understanding Your Obligations as an Owner
Speaking of legal action, securing your physical business is also about preventing legal action against yourself or your employees. After all, as a store owner, you’re responsible for any injuries to customers and employees in your physical business.
Like with most things in life, prevention is better than treatment, and that’s also the case here. That’s why you should ensure that any defects in your shop are promptly fixed. Hazardous conditions must also be dealt with swiftly; even something like a wet floor without a sign pointing at it can be catastrophic.
Otherwise, someone could easily hire a good premises liability lawyer and sue you for negligence, causing massive financial damage to your business and permanently and negatively affecting your shop’s reputation and future sales.
Controlling Access – Allowing Only Authorized Personnel to Enter Areas
Brick-and-mortar shops that contain a lot of valuables in a single physical location, like jewelry shops, exchange offices, and similar businesses, can also benefit from dedicated access control systems, which limit specific shop areas to authorized access only.
Like the high-end surveillance cameras mentioned above, these access control systems can also prevent many emergencies from starting. They include investments like key cards and biometric scanners, which, while undoubtedly considered investments, might be necessary for physical businesses with valuables inside the store.
Of course, this tip also goes hand in hand with hiring trustworthy people and conducting rigorous job interviews to find specific people for the task, which you can later authorize for security-oriented jobs and give them access to areas where the shop stores its valuables.
Training Your Staff – Teaching Employees About Emergency Procedures
Ensuring the safety of your customers, employees, yourself, and assets starts with creating detailed emergency response plans. Every brick-and-mortar store employee should have a specific role depending on the type of emergency.
Being prepared for everything and having separate response plans for robberies, fires, natural disasters, and other emergencies is fantastic. However, these comprehensive plans won’t help if your staff isn’t trained explicitly for them.
That’s why teaching employees to behave in particular situations is essential for preventing security breaches and legal issues. These training sessions will likely require staff meetings, plan overviews, and occasional drills to be part of your employee’s work schedule, during which you can hire safety experts to create a mock emergency and test your staff’s response to that situation.
Conclusion
Surviving as a physical business in a world increasingly dominated by digital shops and online commerce can be incredibly challenging. However, it’s not impossible, and you can protect your brick-and-mortar from harm with some strategic planning and diligence.
Store owners can fortify their defenses through various methods and protect their businesses from physical threats and legal issues.
These methods range from dedicated security measures like high-end surveillance cameras and access control systems to comprehensive emergency response plans and staff training sessions. They also include preventing legal liabilities through proper maintenance, prompt resolution of physical defects, and quick hazardous condition removal.
