small business owner talking to a customer

How to Improve Your Small Business Security

By Ring on August 24, 2023

As a small business owner, your company is everything to you — it’s your livelihood and passion, and (not to mention) a big investment. But unfortunately, every dollar of merchandise that’s taken is a dollar directly out of your pocket. That’s why protecting your business from theft is essential for future success and your peace of mind.

What Is Business Security?

Business security is all the strategies or measures you employ to protect your property, people, and even your digital assets. It may seem like a simple concept, but there’s a lot that goes into safeguarding your business, from installing security cameras to educating your employees about safety protocols.

As a small operation, it’s easy to overlook security while you focus on growing your business — but security is a vital element of protecting the future you’re working to build. When you take steps to protect your business, you can help prevent unexpected security setbacks that take focus away from core operations.

Benefits of Improving Small Business Security

Business security is an investment that pays dividends well into the future. Here are some of the many benefits of upgrading security:

It helps keep your employees safe and provides peace of mind while they work.

It helps prevent downtime from time-consuming repairs, inventory replacements, or other roadblocks that occur after a security event.

It can help lower your commercial insurance premium. Some insurers offer discounts for businesses with security cameras and alarm systems.

It can help customers feel more secure when they visit your building or store.

Help Thwart Theft With These Small Business Security Tips

Get peace of mind that your small business’s future is bright with these tips for improving small business security measures.

Lock-Up Right

When it comes to improving your business’s security, first things first — lock up. Whether you just changed locations or you’ve been operating in the same space for several years, investing in reliable locks for all of your business’s entry points, such as front door entrances, back door exits, and even first and second-floor windows, can help prevent a break-in.

Many burglars are opportunists, so using deadbolts and padlocks on all your doors can help stop them from marking your business as an easy target for theft. When they realize that getting inside may require more than basic tools, a sturdy lock can serve as a deterrent. If you just moved into a new establishment, it’s also a good idea to update your locks since you never know how many keys might be floating around out there, and only give copies to employees who need them.

If you suspect that your locks have been compromised, change them immediately. You can also consider smart lock options, like level bolts that make your existing deadbolts “smart,” or purchasing a new smart deadbolt for an extra layer of security.

Protect Your Glass Entry Points

Along with ensuring that your windows have secure locks, reinforced glass can add an extra layer of protection to help prevent unwanted entry through your business’s first- and second-story windows. Standard glass allows a crook to easily shatter it, reach in, and unlock your windows or doors. Reinforced glass can be much more difficult to break.

If you have a Ring Alarm, add a Glass Break Sensor, sold separately, to your security system to monitor glass windows and doors for break-in attempts. With a Ring Protect subscription, sold separately, you’ll receive a notification on your Ring App immediately after the sensor gets triggered.¹ When you enroll in 24/7 Alarm Professional Monitoring, a trained agent will see the alert, call you, and request to dispatch authorities if you ask for help or can’t answer.² That means you can put your phone on silent and get a good night’s sleep after a long day of work.

Invest in Security Cameras and Save Footage

Security cameras allow you to see what’s happening in and around your business and save the footage for later so you can share it with insurance adjusters or authorities. If something happens while you’re not around, you can look back to see exactly what happened and use that information to fortify your security strategies.

Ring security cameras send Motion Alerts if activity is detected, so you know when to check Live View on your Ring App.¹ You can also use Two-Way Talk to speak with anyone you see, even from across the country on a business trip. And with a Ring Protect subscription, sold separately, you get 180 days of stored footage to download and share.³

With Indoor Cams, you can monitor activity inside your business to get crisp footage of the most important areas, including cash registers, stock rooms, and finance offices. In addition to capturing important moments, even the presence of security cameras help deter theft during working hours. Video doorbells allow you to see who’s at the door — whether it’s a delivery driver or potential client — without leaving your desk. Outdoor cameras give you visibility over parking lots, back entrances, loading docks, patios, and other areas where incidents may occur. You can even link your Ring cameras with Ring Alarm to help capture footage after a sensor gets triggered with a Ring Protect subscription, sold separately.¹ Your clip of a fender bender or severe storm could aid in an insurance claim or even help other people in your community when posted on the Neighbors App.³

Secure Your Exterior

Choosing the right locks and adding security cameras is only one way to help prevent thieves from targeting your small business. Taking a closer look at your building’s exterior and addressing areas needing improvement, like poor lighting and overgrown shrubs, can also make an unwanted visitor look the other way when searching for their next easy mark.

Smart lighting devices, like battery-powered floodlights, don't increase your energy usage and only turn on when motion is detected. Add some floodlights or smart lighting with motion sensors to your exterior, placing them above your business’s front and back entrances and in the parking lot. That way, if a crook slithers onto your property, feeling confident and safe in the dark, you can catch them off guard and potentially scare them away. You can also combine the protection of lighting with a security camera by installing Ring Floodlight Cam, which shines a bright light and begins recording when motion is detected.⁴ Plus, with a Ring Bridge and a Ring Protect subscription, both sold separately, you can link your smart lights with Ring cameras and set them to automatically record when your lights detect motion.¹ It’s also a good idea to leave a few interior lights on at night to give the impression that someone may still be working.

Install a Safe and Empty Your Register

Securing your business’s entry points and exterior can help prevent unwanted access to assets inside, like your hard-earned cash, valuables, and sensitive records. But if an intruder manages to find a way into your building, investing in a safe and emptying your register each night can help secure the future of your business by providing you with a safer place to store cash and other valuables.

Consider the following precautions to safeguard your business assets:

Invest in a fire-proof, securely anchored safe to store cash, valuables, and important records.

Make sure to keep your safe’s combination private and only provide it to personnel when necessary.

Even if you decide to get a safe, it’s important to make bank deposits regularly and avoid keeping cash on hand.

If you can’t make it to the bank every day, place cash from your register in the safe at the end of each business day, leaving the drawer open to reveal to potential crooks that there’s nothing to steal.

Invest in a Small Business Security System

Cameras, lights, locks, and safes provide a strong layer of security across your entire business — but your security strategy isn’t quite complete without a security system. With contact sensors on your entry points and motion detectors around the interior of your building, you can catch suspicious activity immediately and let an intruder know they didn’t make it in undetected.

Self-installed security systems from Ring offer high-level protection without taking a large chunk out of your budget. Depending on how much you’re willing to spend, you can purchase a kit with just the essentials and install it yourself or add optional accessories and opt for a professional’s help. Additionally, you can enroll in 24/7 Alarm Professional Monitoring with your Ring Protect Pro subscription, sold separately, to ensure nothing gets missed while you’re presenting a proposal or attending a conference.⁵

Ring Alarm comes with the following components to protect your small business:

Contact Sensors that trigger your armed Alarm when a door or window is opened.

Motion Detectors that detect motion inside hallways, rooms, or other areas you want to monitor.

A Base Station that sounds a loud siren when the Alarm gets triggered and keeps your system online.

A Keypad that you and your employees can use to quickly arm and disarm the system when you enter or exit the building.

Our optional accessories, sold separately, include:

Smoke and CO Listeners

Flood & Freeze Sensors that detect running water and temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit

Glass Break Sensors

You can add or remove sensors as your business grows or moves, allowing Ring Alarm to scale with your operation.

Simplify Small Business Security With Ring for Business

At Ring, we know that improving security can feel like a feat, especially when you’re busy dealing with the everyday challenges of running a business. That’s why we created Ring for Business, with easy-to-use products that help protect your business inside and out — and work with any budget. When you protect your business with Ring, you can:

Connect select security devices to see what’s happening in and outside your business and monitor everything from Ring App with a Ring Protect subscription, sold separately.¹

Easily install your devices yourself or enlist a professional’s help.

Watch over important areas, such as the safe or the register, with an Indoor Cam.

Secure each entry point into your business and get alerts when they open with Contact Sensors.¹

Maximize your exterior security with outdoor Floodlight Cams and Spotlight Cams that alert you when motion is detected and illuminate blind spots.¹

Greet, monitor, and communicate with visitors at your property anytime (and anywhere) with video doorbells.

Take your entire system with you when you move locations instead of starting from scratch.

Request emergency services in real-time with the press of a Panic Button, sold separately, if you’re enrolled in 24/7 Alarm Professional Monitoring with a Ring Protect subscription.⁵

Not sure where to start? Browse our security bundles to explore your options or call a Ring specialist today to find the best setup for your small business.

¹ Ring Alarm and all Ring Alarm accessories require a subscription for in-app features and digital notifications, including digital arming / disarming and integration with other Ring, Echo, Alexa, and third party products. Subscription sold separately. View ring.com/protect-plans for pricing and details.

² A compatible Ring Protect subscription is required to enroll in the Ring Alarm professional monitoring service. Professional monitoring service is available only within the U.S. (all 50 states, but not U.S. territories) and in Canada (excluding Quebec). Ring does not own its own professional monitoring center. Smoke and carbon monoxide monitoring is not available for a business or commercially zoned address. See Ring alarm licenses at: ring.com/licenses. Additional permit or false alarm fees may apply depending on your local jurisdiction. Additional charges may apply in areas that require permits or guard response service for alarm verification.

³ Your Ring videos in the cloud are stored temporarily, up to 180 days. Changing your video storage time will only affect videos that are recorded after you adjust your storage time setting. Check Ring Protect Subscription Plans for more information.

⁴ Requires the Ring Alarm Security Kit.

⁵ A compatible Ring Protect subscription is required to enroll in the Ring Alarm professional monitoring service. Professional monitoring service is available only within the U.S. (all 50 states, but not U.S. territories) and in Canada (excluding Quebec). Ring does not own its own professional monitoring center. Smoke and carbon monoxide monitoring is not available for a business or commercially zoned address. See Ring alarm licenses at: ring.com/licenses. Additional permit or false alarm fees may apply depending on your local jurisdiction. Additional charges may apply in areas that require permits or guard response service for alarm verification.