Your business is going to be like your most precious possession. You’ll look after it at all costs. But the question you need to ask yourself is this, are you actually looking after it at all costs. As the years go on we’re noticing more and more businesses fail. Take the huge crash of Monarch Airlines not so long ago. It just goes to show that however much money a business has, or however well they think they’re doing, there’s always going to be something round the corner that could come along and ruin everything. When you’ve built your business from the ground up, this possibility just isn’t on the cards. You need to make sure you’re putting systems in place that’ll ensure your business, as well as your staff are protected at all costs. When you’re just starting out however, it can be pretty hard to know what to do. You’re so hyperfocused on becoming as successful as possible, that you completely forget what you need to do to protect yourself. But don’t worry, this article is here to give your a few hints and tips on how to protect your business as a whole.
Your Staff
Your staff are your best asset when it comes to your business. They do all the hard work that you just wouldn’t be able to do on your own. Yet it is common for them to feel less protected than they ever have in their life. Through childhood and school etc. they’ve always had someone to fall back on and to help them through difficult situations. The real world doesn’t offer this, and nor do a lot of businesses. But if a business goes bust, these people are going to be left jobless. When you have a family, you know how worrying this prospect is. So there’s a few things you can do that are going to protect their livelihood all the while. The first is maternity leave for the women. A lot of companies offer the worst pay, this causes so much unnecessary stress for the mom. If you’re making a really decent profit, the least you can do is pay a full pay for 6 months of the maternity leave. It’ll make those first 6 months stress free and magical. After that, rather than reducing it by half, reduce it by just a quarter to make sure they aren’t feeling the pinch until the come back to work.
You also need to be thinking about what you can do in the office or warehouse to make a difference to people’s working day. There’s a lot of safety issues in factories and offices that people don’t tend to talk about. But in the long run it can have a really damaging effect on the people that work for you, as well as your business. There’s a statistic that over 100 people injure themselves at work a day. From just the minor cuts and bruises, to the major hospitalisation. As the saying goes, where there’s a claim there’s a blame. If you aren’t putting the right safety procedures in place, you’re looking at receiving such a massive fine for not protecting your staff as your should be. So, if you run a company that involves a lot of manual handling, make sure all the proper training is given, and all the right safety gear is provided at the start of the day. Factory work often requires a lot of loading and unloading, in this case you can use loading dock safety equipment to prevent any injuries. It is one of the most common sites for people to injure themselves. Even if your company doesn’t operate from a factory, offices have just as many hazards. The main being a trip one. They’re the worst for having many different wires hanging down or lying around. One simple trip and a bang of the head and you’re just asking to have a lawsuit on your hand. Not only does it cause trip hazards, it also causes nasty fire ones. Not only will this harm your employees, it’ll also harm your business finances massively with the cost of replacing everything. A simple check of the office to make sure everything is tucked away could save you thousands.
Your Business
Your business as a whole has many ways in which it needs protecting. The first thing you definitely need to do is have some money to fall back on. If any of the above happens, and you’re just getting by with money, it’ll likely see your business crash and burn. Money is everything to your business, from the very start you should be looking for ways to make sure you always have something spare. Having some sort of business insurance is also going to help you along the way, even if it’s just contents insurance if you have your own self managed office or warehouse. Breakins can cause absolute havoc if you don’t have contents insurance. It may cost a little more a month than your average house contents insurance, but it’ll definitely pay off in the long run.
Something a lot of people don’t think to do, especially in the beginning, is trademarking their idea. The business world is unfortunately full of thieves, the last thing you want is your idea being stolen from someone who has the money to make it bigger, quicker. Then you’ll have no hope of getting anywhere with your idea. Trademarking isn’t hard to do, and it’ll definitely pay off in the long run. Plus it does give your business that little extra edge of professionalism that it needs. Just like with your actual brand, people can also steal ideas from your processes, this is why it’s important to always try to keep evolving your business. The new and quicker the processes, the more chances you’re going to have of staying ahead of your competition.
Protecting your staff and business isn’t hard, you just need to make sure you’re doing it from the very beginning if you want to be successful.
