Business Fraud Protection
Earlier this week I was at a job helping a client recover from business fraud. At this point he has been in business for over 30 years building forensic equipment. He was an unfortunate victim to business fraud. The hardest part of the story for me was it was the business owners brother. His own family had betrayed him and embezzled a large amount of funds from the business. Ultimately, this forced him to shut down the company and restructure. He was able to survive these tragic events, but it was an event that almost completely wiped him off the map.
After seeing this I definitely took the time to look over my business and focused on safety and security and protecting my business from fraud. Fraud can happen from the most unsuspecting of characters. Also, someone who is stealing from your business is unlikely to raise any other alarms or red flags. The repercussions from fraud are severe and the trick for the thief is to look squeaky clean. If someones own brother can steal from them, then imagine what a complete stranger can do with no attachment or concern for your well being. This case opened my eyes. I took security of my business very seriously, but I always thought of it as something that happens to someone else. Before meeting this person I never had met anyone who has been a personal victim to identity or business fraud. However, it’s real and it happens and if you do not take the proper precautions to prevent it then it could take your business or you down. The worst part is by the time your realize you have been a victim it’s usually to late.
So how can you protect against business fraud? There are a few things you can do as a small business to help protect your business.
Access To Money And Check Writing
Don’t give anyone else the ability to write checks on behalf of your business. In the case I spoke about before the brother was the accountant for the business and he had the ability to cash and write checks on behalf of the company. If you cut off the many different vulnerabilities your business has to fraud you can better protect your investment. One of the easiest ways to steal from someone is if they have given you access to their bank account. Prevent the possibility that someone other than you and your partners can access your bank account and write checks and make withdrawals on your behalf.
Sure Up Your Network Security
Your network is the next vulnerable aspect to your business and that little code your router comes with is not a big enough fence to deter against fraud. Take the proper steps to prevent outside access (or even worse inside access to your network gone awry). Some businesses don’t take the time to make their computers private. If someone has access to your network they can then peek on to every device on that network. Take the time to put in place to proper security measures on each device that will be accessing your network. Especially, the devices that are involved with your financing. Your main computer and cell phone are the perfect places to start. The first step to making them more secure is to turn of the share information with the network feature. On most devices this feature is set to allow other devices on the network to access your devices. If you are operating Windows simply visit your control panel and turn off the ability for other devices on your network to access your computer
Passwords
If you use the same password or group of passwords for everything then you are making it really easy for someone to crack your passwords. If they know one they know them all. These days we have close to a hundred accounts that we have to remember passwords for and it is next to impossible to remember unique and strong passwords for each account. It’s time to turn to outside help to give you an extra buffer in password security. Programs such as LastPass and KeyPass are designed to make random passwords for each of your accounts and store them so you can conveniently log into any account without having to remember all your passwords. The best part is the passwords these programs generate are so random and obscure that no one would be able to guess them based on any clues or hints they may have access to.
Firewalls
If you don’t already have one you should look into a firewall to protect your network from outside intrusion. Firewalls are designed to protect your network from security threats. First off they limit and restrict the ability of people on your network to visit harmful sites or download harmful files. They also protect your network from the outside in by limiting the ability from outsiders to intrude upon your network. A firewall will help keep your network safe and prevent you from becoming a victim of business fraud.
If your thinking about starting your own business chances are you already have a full time job that you need to pay the bills. Starting your own business while working a full time job is demanding on your schedule, brain power, and motivation. When things aren’t going great for your business your other jobs performance will likely be effected as well. I have personally went through this experience and I can be the first person to tell you how taxing it is. While working nearly 20 hour days 7 days a week, not getting enough sleep, demanding deadlines at both jobs can definitely catch up to you. At a certain point it’s hard to tell where one job ends and the other begins. Due to lack of sleep and over work you can confuse schedules and tasks. It is important to be extremely organized, have a game plan and keep your eye on the prize. 
Sleep is the most important aspect to keeping your mind energized and sharp. When you get a chance sleep. Don’t work that extra hour if your sacrifice a safe level of sleep. The first thing to go when you haven’t slept enough is your decision making capabilities. You need to have a razor sharp mind to make the best decisions for your business. This makes getting enough sleep number 1 on your to do list. Some people can get four hours while others need closer to 8. You know your own body well. Get the sleep you need to perform the next day. 
The last piece of advice I have is to prioritize your responsibilities. Since your full time job is putting food on the table for you and your family. This is the most important job you currently have. Make sure you don’t fall behind the 8 ball at work and keep up with your responsibilities there. After you have your full time job squared away you can start working on your own business. Make sure to spend the most time doing the most important tasks for your success. If it isn’t absolutely vital then it doesn’t need much time. You can focus on the small things when you are up and running. For now spend the most time getting your supply costs as low as possible, building your brand, building your advertising plan and how you can market to your target customers. Spend some time with your finances and how much money you need to break even, then turn a profit. Don’t focus on things that are not crucial to your success until you have left your full-time job and have time to fine tune your business from the bottom up.
Starting back in 2007 (and even earlier) when the economy collapsed there has been a major shift in how people are doing business. At first it was masked, because people could blame slow seasons on the recession. Even though it may feel like the economy is still slow the stock market has completely rebounded. However, what hasn’t gone down is the unemployment rates. People are still getting fired and laid off. While some were fortunate to see it right away others have been left in the dark.
The next plumber comes to my house and we pretty much have the same conversation. It’s going to cost $700.00, and I need to buy the parts through them. I repeat this scenario 3 more times before I finally found a plumber who is willing to come to my house and install the part for me for $75.00.
As a new business one of the toughest hurdles to overcome is building a trustworthy brand that customers can trust. Even if you are one of the most talented in your industry, without building your brand target customers don’t know if they can trust your brand. New business owners are constantly focuses on how they can get customers into their business when the doors open. Without building trust with your consumer base this could lead to an embarrassing failure. 
Branding is an essential business skill for small to medium business owners. The problem is very few actually know how to do it. I talked to 10 small business owners this past week and only 1 out of 10 actually knew the importance of PR and building their brand. (As a side note I would have to say this one business owner was an outlier. She managed the marketing of an extremely successful product at a major international pharmaceutical company, and has recently ventured out on her own). For the rest of the business owners I spoke with it was common that they were experts in their craft, but their business skills were far from exceptional. Running a small business is tough you have to become a master at so many different things, including what you actually went into business for. 
The key to building brand awareness is to spread useful knowledge about your product or service without making it a sales pitch every time. Sometimes it’s best not to ram it down the consumers throat. If you are advertising correctly they will see and recognize your brand and begin to trust you. There is a weird side effect from branding. Even if someone has never personally seen or been to your business they will start to trust you if they see your name keep popping up. Huge corporations thrive off this principal.
As a marketer you main job is to point out massive flaws in your competition, while highlighting your own strengths. You can spend much more time developing your brand in your local market then your corporate competition can (they have to many other places to worry about). Other local business owners run occasional mailers, newspaper ads, and radio commercials. And as I noted previously, not many small business owners invest enough time in branding. You can dominate your local market by budgeting wisely and using your network and resources to hammer your name into the customers head and gain their trust through building your brand. 
No one goes into business to be the same as everyone else (if you are you may want to rethink opening a business). Creating a business model before you begin operations can help you set early goals for your business. This will also help you establish your value proposition and keep your business heading in the right direction. Early on new business owners are often overwhelmed with work. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day. With all the commotion it is possible you can get off track and focus on things that aren’t absolutely vital to your success. By generating a business model you can keep yourself on track, define goals, craft strategies, and differentiate your business from your competitors.
Your businesses value proposition is what makes you different from your competition. Your value proposition will state what you will be doing differently then the competitors and how this business can serve your target customers better then the current competitors do. For your value proposition you need to first figure out if you will be competing based on quality or price. After you decide the core principals of your business you can then begin to define what else makes your business different. In this step you want to develop your key differentiation such as having excellent customer service, a faster turnaround time, or a new solution to an industry wide problem. 
This step will help you decide what customers you are trying to serve. Every business needs to pick a particular target customer they want to satisfy. It is impossible to satisfy everyone, because everyone does not have the same needs and desires. In your business model clearly define who your optimal customer is going to be. This will help guide everything else about your business. The target customer will help you decide how you can best serve this customer and what you are going to need to get them interested. Your customer segment defines who your most important customer is and who you are creating value for.
structure will help you develop your core services around the most profitable operations for your business. Based on the relationships you developed you may be getting a better price on a certain part or piece used in your operations that leads to a more profitable product. After deciding your most profitable products or services you can better understand who your target customers will be and how you can reach them.
