0

5 Steps You Need To Take To Protect Your Small Business

As a small business, you need to be taking precautions to protect yourself, as any business would. Even if things are going well at the minute and you can’t foresee any problems, everything can change in a second, as proven by some of the UK’s biggest and seemingly most stable companies liquidating over the last few years. In such an uncertain economy, if you’ve not already taken the following steps to protect your business, now is the time to do it. The small investment that these things take will absolutely be worth it, as one day, they could be what saves your entire business. 

Get Sufficient Cyber Security 

The first thing you should do to protect your business is get sufficient cyber security. Every business uses devices, networks or data in some capacity, and so you need software to protect it against hackers and scammers. As a business, you have a responsibility to protect customer and client data, as well as to protect employees and your information as a business too. As technology gets more advanced, so do scams, and so you can never get complacent and think you are able to protect your business without professional help. 

 

You should work with a business cyber security expert to get the right software in place, as well as working with them on an ongoing basis to ensure if there are any issues, they can be identified and resolved quickly with minimal impact on your business. Carrying out cyber security training with all of your team is also advised, particularly as scams are so advanced and often look or sound extremely realistic. 

Key Man Insurance

As with any business, there are likely senior members of your team who are integral to what you do. However, with smaller businesses, often the financial impact that would come as a result of one of those people no longer working is far more noticeable and significant. That’s where key man insurance comes in. In the case that someone essential to your business can’t work, whether for critical illness or as a result of death, the insurance will help to take away the financial pressure. The loss of a significant member of a small team will have more than just a financial impact, however this helps to relieve one element of the difficulty that comes with a situation like this. This is a small investment for how much of a difference it could make should the worst happen. 

Professional Indemnity Insurance

Another type of insurance you need for your small business is professional indemnity insurance, which protects your business financially against claims of loss or damage as a result of negligent services or advice, or errors that have been made. Even companies who have been running for a long time and have perfected their processes make mistakes, whether it was an accident or a disgruntled employee who purposefully was negligent. So, as a small business or a new business, perhaps without the same funds to streamline everything, unfortunately mistakes happen. You could have all the trust in the world for your team, but some problems just can’t be avoided and people can’t get everything right all the time. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst, which you can do with professional indemnity insurance. 

Choose A Well Recommended Accountant

Something else that is key for a small business is to get the right accountant. The right accountant can make or break a business, as you need to be able to maintain precise financial records, get your tax returns spot on and provide advice on the future of your business with financial planning. If an accountant isn’t switched on, then it can result in various issues for your business, as well as the problem of the full financial potential not being reached. So, do your research to find the right accountant for you to help protect your business as well as to support its progress. 

Ensure Trademarks Are In Place 

Lastly, you need to ensure trademarks are in place. Unfortunately, now more than ever, large companies are ripping off the ideas of smaller businesses, from clothing styles to art designs and business ideas, and so without legal protection in place which you get through a trademark, then there is nothing you can do about it. Whilst the quality of the work or product may not be what you offer, often people don’t care as a result of streamlined supply chains driving down costs, which is then passed onto the customer in the form of a cheaper product. Also, entering a litigation battle with these huge companies is only going to end badly without trademarks in place. So, get your trademarks in place to protect your hard work as a small business.