When you run a small business, you must take your privacy and security seriously. There are many ways that you can choose to protect your small business. Some are smaller, and others will cost some time and a bit of cash. All of them, in the long run, will keep your business, clients safe.
Digital Copies
While it is prudent to make sure that you are keeping paper copies safe and secure using a lockable filing cabinet, you should consider digital copies too. This will give you peace of mind if anything happens to your office. Not only that, but you will be able to access the files quicker when they are also made digital. Scanning all of the crucial documents and uploading them to secure cloud storage like Dropbox, iCloud or JustCloud is ideal.
You will have complete control over when and who your files are shared with. As well as the ability to access them from your mobile phone when you are travelling.
Intellectual Property
When you have a piece of machinery, a formula or a technique that gives you an economical, competitive edge, you should take steps to protect it. Not only that, but you should make sure that you copyright everything important. The chances are you might need a refresher on how is a copyright different from a trademark, so follow that link to make sure you know what applies to you and how it protects you.
Password
0000, your last name, your dog’s name, your birthday… none of those are going to keep you protected for very long. If you are storing all of your documents on a laptop, they are easily stolen or lost. Even if you think you are very vigilant, it can still happen. If you don’t have a password on your laptop, then that is the starting point for you.
From that, you can password and encrypt important files so that if your computer does happen to go missing, your data will be safe. There is a password protection feature in Excel, Microsoft Word and many other programs offer the same. Make the most of that valuable level of protection.
Updates
If you are a little lacking on updating your computer and mobile phone, then you could be missing valuable protection. It is often the case that updates will include a range of bug fixes and security upgrades. So please make sure you clear time in your weekly schedule to keep on top of it. This goes for any software that you use too. This is one of the cheapest things you can do to keep on top of your security.
And finally, you should take it seriously. When you are taking personal details for clients like name, address and payment details, you need to know you are doing the best possible job in keeping them protected. You might think that your business is too small to be of value, but every piece of data you have is valuable in the wrong hands.
