Security spending has a habit of being reactive — nothing, and then everything at once after an incident. The businesses that spend well work out what they are actually protecting first, and buy against that.
Start with what a thief would take
Walk the premises and ask what is worth stealing, how somebody would get to it, and how long they would need. The answer is usually a short list: stock, tools, laptops, vehicles, copper and cable.
Then note what the loss would actually cost. For many businesses the expensive part is not the item but the interruption — a stolen laptop is a few thousand rand and a week of disruption, and the second number is the one worth insuring and backing up against.
Layers, in order of value for money
- Make it visible. Lighting, clear sightlines, cut back the planting that hides a back window. Cheap, and it deters the opportunist who is most of the risk.
- Make it slow. Good locks, gates, burglar bars, laminated glass where it matters. Most break-ins are abandoned if they take too long.
- Make it noticed. An alarm with armed response, and signage saying so. The signage does real work on its own.
- Make it recorded. Cameras that actually record, with footage retained somewhere it cannot be taken along with the recorder — offsite or cloud. A great many businesses discover after an incident that the camera worked and the recording did not.
- Control access. Who has keys, who has codes, and what happens when somebody leaves.
The one nobody does
Change the codes and collect the keys when somebody leaves. Not eventually — that week.
A meaningful share of business break-ins involve somebody who knew the premises, the routine or the code. This costs nothing and almost nobody does it consistently.
Cameras: get the boring parts right
Position them where a face is visible at a height a person passes, not looking down from a corner at the tops of heads. Check the footage quality at night rather than assuming. And confirm the retention period is long enough that a Monday discovery still has Friday's recording.
Cameras also record your staff, which brings obligations about notice and about what the footage is used for. Tell people it is there and why.
Write down what happens after an incident
Who is called first, in what order, who opens up, who contacts insurers, who tells customers. Half a page.
The value is that decisions get made in advance rather than at six in the morning by whoever happens to answer the phone. It is also the first thing an insurer asks about when they are assessing whether reasonable precautions were in place.
General guidance on commercial practice, not security or legal advice. Surveillance of staff and customers carries obligations under privacy law; confirm what applies to you.