Your business is an asset, but it also owns assets as well. Of course, your people are your greatest asset, but there are lots of other things that your business simply could not survive without. Your gear, or your equipment, should be protected just like you should be protecting your staff and the property on which you all work. Failure to do so could lead to disaster, both physical and financial. Here are some ways that you can protect your business and your gear from whatever might come your way.
Create Policies and a Culture of Respect
Here’s the thing: when it comes to protecting your business and your assets, it’s crucial to have your staff on board and bought in. Otherwise, you will be trying to plug a damn with chewing gum. You can’t be everywhere at once, and if your staff aren’t invested in helping, then your equipment will be at risk.
It’s important to create a culture of protection and respect. When you hire someone new, their orientation should involve training on taking care of business assets like equipment while in use, and at the end of the day, too. Regular training to all of your employees can also stress how important the equipment and inventory is to the business, and that everyone needs to work together to keep it safe.
On top of training and awareness, you need to have clear policies in place to provide to your employees. They may have bought in, but if they don’t know exactly how to treat their equipment and keep the building safe, then it’s not much good. Make sure everyone is on the same page.
Understand Your Insurance Coverage
While you can do a lot of preparation and work on prevention, you can;t stop everything. There are still ways that your business or your equipment can get damaged. You could suffer from a natural disaster, or have a persistent criminal or vandal get inside and cause trouble.
Your business insurance can help protect you from the financial fallout if any such thing should happen. Make sure that you have coverage for not just the common risks that all businesses have, but also the risks that are specific to your industry. For example, if you are a cleaner, you should get cleaning business insurance. This will make sure that your risks are covered, and things such as your cleaning equipment and inventory are safe. With coverage that is geared towards your type of business, you will have the right coverage for you, not for some other unrelated business.
Theft Prevention
Theft should be a concern for any business. It’s not just about losing inventory or cash in a safe. It’s also about losing valuable gear that is indispensable to the operation of the business. This can include manufacturing equipment, vehicles, computers, devices, and any number of valuable items.
There are several ways that you can try to prevent theft of your property. For one, install an alarm system connected to a remote service. They will call you whenever there is movement or a breach when the alarm is set. The police are also notified, so someone will be on site quickly to hopefully catch the perpetrators.
Security CCTV cameras can also be very helpful in prevention and in catching criminals who have attempted to steal from you. If they are visible to everyone who comes into your building, then they will help deter people from even attempting. Unfortunately, they can also help you identify if you have staff who are stealing from the business.
Your employees should all have individual pass codes and key fobs so that you can track when people access your building. Depending on the size of your team, certain individuals should be tasked with knowing the alarm codes and making sure they are set at the end of the day.
Electrical Surges
Electrical surges can cause a surprising amount of damage to any equipment that is plugged into an outlet. They can happen often during lightning storms. If a bolt strikes near the building, the electricity that it releases can get into your power system all at once, overloading the outlets and the appliances that are connected to them. To avoid this, make sure to have surge protectors installed to regulate how much electricity can come into your building at one time. A surge protector will not allow your equipment or building to be damaged by power surges.
Water Damage
Water can be incredibly damaging to your business. If you have a leak, or if there is flooding, it can ruin equipment, inventory, and even cause you to have to evacuate your building. If that happens, you may not be able to conduct business until it is completely cleaned up and everything is repaired and replaced.
Make sure that you have regular plumbing inspections to catch any problems before they become too serious. You can also have water leak sensors installed to alert you when there is a possible leak. Combined with this, you should also have a shut-off valve for your entire building so that any damage can be contained.
Maintenance
Many problems with equipment can be avoided just with a little preventative maintenance. Make sure that everything is properly cleaned on a regular basis. If your equipment needs lubrication to function, make sure that it is always properly lubed. Do regular inspection to check for wear and tear on any parts, or if there are screws and fasteners that are broken or look about to break. Keeping your equipment clean and maintained will help avoid breakdown, production delays, and massive headaches for you.
With all of these issues, insurance can help to mitigate some of the effects. You can get coverage for things like water damage, theft, vandalism, and electrical damage. You can also include business interruption coverage in your policy. This will provide compensation to keep your business up and running if you have to vacate your business or if you lose valuable equipment.
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