Keeping your business up to date

Running a business requires commitment and dedication. You’re going to face a whole lot of competition, no matter what products or services you’re offering and no matter what field you’re specializing in. So, you’re going to have to work hard to stand out from the crowd, operating more effectively and making sure your business is up to date and up to speed!

There are so many areas you’re going to have to focus on to keep your company as up to date as possible. But here are just a few different areas to take into consideration for the time being. Each can help you out in a different and highly beneficial way.

Security

Security should rank pretty highly in your list of priorities when it comes to running your business. At the end of the day, any commercial premises you have are going to be relatively valuable. They’ll contain all of the machinery, tools and equipment your staff need to complete their work – coming up with products, conducting research, creating products, testing products and more.

Chances are there will be computers, tablets, smartphones, desks, chairs and a whole lot of other expensive items inside. You’re going to want to make sure that nobody with bad intentions can get in without authorized access, as theft could potentially bankrupt your business or at least result in lengthy insurance claims. Here are some areas to focus on when it comes to ensuring your business’ security is kept up to date.

CCTV Systems

CCTV camera systems are essential for most businesses. Not only do they help to ward off criminals (as people are less likely to commit crimes when they’re aware there will be footage and tangible evidence of doing so), but it can help to identify and prosecute anyone who does go ahead and cause any damage to your commercial premises.

Updating your camera systems with companies like Suncoast energy can help to ensure you have the most current options. This means better quality cameras which can capture better quality footage. It can also mean benefiting from extras like being able to view camera footage in live time from your computer, laptop, tablet or phone. This means you can easily check in if you feel there is anything wrong going on.

Alarm systems

Alarms systems are also essential for businesses. If someone does attempt to break into a building with a good security system installed, alarms will be activated and local police departments can even be automatically contacted.

This should cause any criminal to flee (to avoid the damage to their ears from the blaring alarm and to remove themselves from the scene before police arrive), minimizing the amount of damage they can carry out before having to leave the site. Updating your alarm systems regularly will ensure you have all of the most current features and will have the best quality security available.

Access systems

All commercial premises should have access systems to ensure that only authorized individuals can enter during the day as well as the night. It’s your responsibility to protect your employees and ensuring you know who is accessing the building and when they’re accessing the building will help with this.

Access systems are systems that can be fitted to entrances of your building and staff may need to know a specific security code to type in for the door to unlock, or they may need a key fob to get in. Just make sure that there are easy access release buttons from inside the building so that people can get out in case of emergency – even if they don’t have a code or fob.

Updating your access system regularly can help to manage who can get in and out. Change the code or recode fobs to ensure access information isn’t leaked or passed on.

Cybersecurity

Physical security isn’t the only form of security your business should be focusing on. Cybersecurity is of the utmost importance for many businesses nowadays too. We’re operating in an online age and our businesses are keeping increasing amounts of information and data online rather than in tangible paper files. Sure, this is much better in many ways. Your staff will be able to source and save information much more easily. They will be able to access it remotely. They’ll be able to effectively remove and delete anything that needs to be removed or deleted. It also means data can’t easily be destroyed or lost, as paper files could. But at the same time, this opens your business up to cyber attacks.

Cyber criminals are aware that most businesses store sensitive data online and will do their utmost to access any sensitive information you may have on hand for the sake of committing crimes like identity theft and fraud. Make sure to consistently update and upgrade any security software your business may be using, like firewalls. You should also use cybersecurity or IT services to cover your business as best possible at all times!

Software

You and your employees are bound to use all sorts of different software on a day to day basis in order to complete work on time and keep your business driving forward. So, it’s absolutely essential that everyone has the software that they need and that this software is kept up to date. Whatever software you decide to use, chances are you’ll regularly be offered software updates.

This is often free, but so many of us give in to the temptation to click the “ignore” or “remind me in an hour” option when posed with the option of updating. This is understandable. Chances are you’ll be busy when the pop up comes up and software updates often require you to not use your device during the update and will generally require a system restart. But it’s important to avoid clicking these opt-outs regularly.

Software updates are there for a reason. They are generally available because the creators of software you’re using are now able to offer an improved version of the app or programme – it may be easier to use, is more aesthetically pleasing, or is more functional. All in all, this will help you and your staff to be more productive and to complete work to a higher standard. Another important element of software updates ties into cybersecurity, which has been mentioned above. When you update your software, you make yourself less vulnerable to being hacked by cyber criminals.

The longer a particular piece of software has been running, the longer people have had to figure it out and try to break into it. When you update to the latest version, people aren’t going to be able to break into it as easily.

Health and safety

Health and safety measures are in place to make sure that your business protects everyone it needs to protect. This generally includes your employees, members of the public who come into contact with your brand and anyone else you engage with. Of course, health and safety measures and protocol change with the times.

You may find yourself having to adapt practices and procedures to ensure that you’re always in line with what you should be doing and in order to avoid court cases that could see you having to fork out a whole lot of compensation. This is more obvious now than ever with the current coronavirus outbreak. The spread of a potentially deadly and highly contagious virus around the world has seen the vast majority of businesses have to take new guidelines into mind and take more precautions in order to slow and prevent the spread of the virus. So, make sure your business is in line!

For this particular example, make sure any staff who can work from home have the option of working from home. This will prevent spreading the virus on public transport and in workplaces. You should also make sure any staff who are working on site are offered sufficient PPE or “personal protective equipment”, such as face masks or face coverings, latex gloves and other measures. You may also want to implement social distancing measures within your workplace to reduce contact amongst different employees. This will benefit everyone in both the short term and the long run.

These are just a few ways that you can keep your business up to date. Hopefully, you’ll be able to implement some into your working routine and they’ll have a great impact on your business! Each individual point is beneficial. Combined, they’ll really help your business to remain safe and a forerunner in its field!