By Henry Brown

As a small business, every impact, whether positive or negative, is felt. So it’s important that you are taking the steps to protect your business from harm, both from a financial perspective but in general.

Keep tabs on your spending

Money is important for all businesses but particularly to a small business. Any financial impacts could be the difference between staying afloat or going under. So it’s important to keep tabs on your spending across the company. Having regular budget meetings is essential to check what’s going in and what’s going out.

Be strict and cut down on spending that seems unnecessary. If you’re questioning an expenditure, then that’s probably your answer to how important it is. This extra money can then either be saved or put towards another area of the business that needs it.

Build up a reserve fund

A reserve fund is like an emergency fund that you hopefully would have in your personal life. It’s money that you use in a financial situation that’s unexpected. We can’t predict the future; the best we can do is forecast it. Therefore, it’s useful for any business to build up a reserve fund and this is something a small business should be doing from day one. That way, if anything does happen, there’s at least some reserve that can hopefully keep the business afloat or at least pay your employees for their work. This should always be topped up, and there’s really no limit in how much you should have.

Have legal help at hand

There are always legal problems that are likely to crop up when running a business. As the business owner, you have a responsibility for the company and all those who work for it. So, as well as all the relevant insurances, you would also benefit having a law firm like Tully Rinckey on hand should you need assistance. Having legal aid might not be something you require access to all the time, but it’s worth having a contact available, should you need it.

Prevent cyber attacks

Cyber attacks on businesses are becoming more frequent and represent a real threat to even small businesses. The skills of those who attack businesses through phishing emails and cyber attacks are also improving, so it’s important to keep your own business protected.

Make sure your servers are guarded by the right security systems and that you encrypt and password protect files that store confidential information. You should also be training your staff in how to browse the internet safely as well as looking out for suspicious emails that may contain viruses. Covering all these bases will hopefully reduce your chances of falling victim to one of these attacks. It’s very much become a serious issue for many businesses who’ve been targeted and have experienced very damaging fallout because of it.

Always make the protection of your business a priority, especially as you build and grow the company.

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Henry Brown is an online marketing executive. When he isn’t talking shop, he’s roaming the streets of London, uncovering the extra-ordinary in the ordinary.