Top 10 Ways to Protect Your Business this Holiday Season

It’s never fun to think about bad things happening, however, we all realize that they do. Although the Christmas and New Year holiday season is mostly one filled with laughter and fun, it’s also a prime time for burglaries, robberies and various other crimes and even accidents. So we have to do our best to be prepared and minimize the damage during times of heightened crime.

We know some situations are completely out of your control, but these are some real tips that could help in your safety and preventative efforts.

This vital information will help keep you and your business safe this holiday season. So please read and heed our Top 10 Ways to Protect Your Business this Holiday Season.

1. Provide training for all employees, including cleaning staff, so they are familiar with security procedures and know your expectations.
2. Make sure all outside entrances and inside security doors have deadbolt locks. If you use padlocks, they should be made of steel and kept locked at all times. Remember to remove serial numbers from your locks to prevent unauthorized keys from being made.
3. Remove all expensive items from window displays at night and make sure you can see easily into your business after closing.
4. Make sure you have the sticker for the security system that you use in a prominent location like on the front door or window. You would be amazed how many burglars can be deterred by that simple warning.
5. Light the inside and the outside of your business, especially around doors, windows, skylights or other entry points.
6. Keep your cash register in plain view from the outside of your business, so it can be monitored by police during the day or at night. Leave it open and empty after closing.
7. Fire is the most preventable yet the most common cause of loss during the holidays. Inspect your holiday lights for frayed wires, bare spots and kinking or wear. Never link more than 3 strands.
8. Shoplifting during the holidays becomes even more prevalent. Make sure employees greet & make eye contact with everyone who enters your business. This tells the potential violator that he/she has been recognized.
9. Make personal contact with other business owners and neighboring businesses in your area. They can help report any suspicious activity to you and local law enforcement and vice versa.
10. And the top tip is just to be aware. Have an awareness of what is going on in your business from the inside and outside so that you are the first to notice suspicious activity or the potential causes for accidents.

Have fun, make memories, enjoy your family and friends, but above all be SAFE this holiday season!

Special thanks to Hinesville Police Department Crime Prevention Officer, James L.L. Williams for his help on providing some of the very useful tips in this Top 10.

– Keturah Greene, Public Information Assistant for the Liberty County Chamber of Commerce

 

The Right Blend Blog is written by three different authors employed by the Liberty County Chamber/CVB. As we are able we rotate weeks and each write about our individual experiences, opinions and let our writing reflect our personalities and creativity. All content provided on The Right Blend blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.