Fortifying Against A Rainy Day
When you own or operate a small business, you’re going to come against many obstacles. Some can’t be predicted, some can’t be overcome, and some you’ll kick yourself for being compromised by, because a little foresight could have saved you some real trouble.
It’s like noticing a leak in the roof and having months to patch it before a monsoon comes. You knew the vulnerability was there, but you didn’t get around to fixing it. Well, now the bedroom is soaked—whose fault is that? With your business, you can’t afford such a lackadaisical approach to operations.
You have to identify all vulnerabilities and diminish their threat to operations. There are several fronts you’ll need to consider to avoid the floodwaters of bankruptcy and the potentiality that they may invade or overcome your operation.
Financial Security
There are a number of ways to fortify your business financially. Firstly, live within your means. You want to avoid loans unless you can absolutely pay them back before the initial period where interest doesn’t apply expires. Additionally, you don’t want to over-hire. You also want stock options requisite to your company’s size.
Additionally, you want to include with infrastructural costs things like marketing, and to deduct everything legally possible. And don’t underpay employees; they represent an investment. You want to treat them well, so they’ll stick around until you can afford more. But paying them too little won’t make that happen.
There’s a balance here, and it can take a few years to get the hang of—this is one reason you can expect a regular business to normalize over between five and ten years. The idea’s to err on the side of caution. Always have a “rainy day” fund tucked away for emergencies, then have a “risk” fund you can use for investments.
Physical Security
What’s the real estate mantra pertaining to business? Location, location, location! Unfortunately, sometimes locations that are good for business aren’t conducive to security. When you’re in a visible spot downtown, if you’ve got that which can be stolen, you may be vulnerable to a break-in.
Having a security system installed at your business is much more important than having one installed at your home. At home you can get the neighbors involved, and you likely won’t be gone too long, or too often. With your business, most every night there will be a time when no one is there, and it’s ripe for plunder.
One of the best stores to buy a home security system locally is HomeSecuritySystem.co who has truly put security systems to the test; this organization has: “…compared 8 of the best home security monitoring systems in various categories. Clearly, LiveWatch offers the best overall package…”
Getting such a system installed in your store is a recommendable security solution. But if you can’t afford a big-ticket security system like LiveWatch, you definitely want to have some kind of surveillance system in place.
It may not fix your broken window, and it may not identify the thieving perpetrator; but then again it might. And it will definitely act as a deterrent to many would-be criminals who are of that opportunistic mindset.
Be Socially Secure
Last but not least is your community perception. You want your business to be socially secured as a component of your community. This means good advertising, good marketing, and solid PR.
Beyond finances and physical security, your business needs to be perceived as a positive asset to a given locality. To that end, community service projects and other aspects of operation that “give back” are to be recommended.