2020 was an extremely difficult year for businesses. 2021 so far has been equally as tough. The pandemic means that even the most seemingly secure companies are experiencing sudden troubles and ruin as a result. Now, more than ever, keeping businesses above water and generating profits is at the forefront of almost all business owners’ minds. But what can you do to reduce risk and secure your own business? Here are some suggestions to get the ball rolling in the right direction!
Avoid Being Dependent on Anyone
When you first set up your business, you’re likely to take on all of the work yourself. But as demand grows and you start generating profits, you’re likely to have to accept helping hands in the form of staff, suppliers and more. It’s important to have good relationships with these groups, but you also need to make sure you’re not entirely dependent on any one individual or supplier. This is particularly important when it comes to your supply chain. You need to make sure that you have a number of different options who can create your products for you to the standard that you desire. This way, you can stop using suppliers who aren’t living up to standard. You can learn more about how to diversify your supply chain here.
Focus on Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity has always been important for businesses. But now, during this pandemic, cybersecurity has become more important than ever. Why? Well, more and more businesses are operating on a remote basis. This means more staff working from home and more people open to criminal attack. Cybercriminals are aware that many small businesses aren’t set up to be able to avoid or counteract their attacks and they are targeting companies that they feel may be vulnerable. So, it’s essential that you invest in cybersecurity, otherwise you could risk losing data, breaking data protection laws and risking your company’s reputation. Follow the steps below to give your business the best security possible:
- Train Your Staff in Cybersecurity – as long as your staff understand how cyber criminals operate and what cyber attacks look like, you are less prone to them falling for things like phishing emails. So, make sure to train them regularly. Ensure that they know to look out for things like bad spelling and grammar, generic greetings (rather than use of their name), direct requests to click links or direct requests for personal or company information. They should also check email addresses for obscure or misspelled email addresses (such as help@amazun.com).
- Use a VPN – your staff should be singing into a VPN, which stands for “virtual private network”. This will prevent them from using public connections, which can be a lot less secure and more prone to attack.
These, of course, are just a few suggestions. At the end of the day, what will help your business the most will depend entirely on your business and its individual circumstances. But hopefully, some of the above information will get you off to a good start!
