Closing up Shop – Steps to Take To Protect Your Business

Closing up Shop for the Day – Steps to Take To Protect Your Business

As we know, doing all that you can to avoid an insurance claim is key to keeping your business insurance costs as low as possible.

So you take the steps to safeguard your business, such as installing an alarm system and securing your computers and technology assets. In this post, let’s going some of the steps that you or your team can take at the end of the day as you are preparing to close up your premises for the day.

End of day checklist for your business

Follow these tips before closing up shop to protect your business…

~ Do a walk through of all areas of your business premises to double check that all has been buttoned up. Things like checking that all machines and appliances turned off (like the coffee maker!), putting away files and paperwork (especially anything with sensitive information), and locking up and properly storing valuables and cash etc…

~ Be sure that no one is left behind as you’re doing your walk through. Don’t forget to check the bathrooms, the stock room, change rooms and any other back rooms where someone could be.

~ Depending on your business operations, you might have specific things to check on related to fire, apart from just ensuring that things like portable heaters, fans and other plugged in appliances are off. If flammables are part of your business day to day, check that these combustible materials have been properly stored and stowed away away from sources of heat.

~ Make sure that you have the lights for overnight security on. As we talked about in this post it’s important to ensure that your business is well lit inside and out as a deterrent against criminal activities after hours.

~ Ensure that your business is properly locked up including windows and all doors (not just the door you leave out of at the end of the day!).

~ And as a final step, don’t forget to turn on your alarm system!

~ Another tip for your closing up routine is to make it just that – a routine. As you’re doing your rounds and going through your list, follow the same route and do your tasks in the same order. This helps to ensure that you have covered all your bases and makes it easier to remember everything.

While some of these tips might seem obvious or things that you do on automatic pilot, it’s a good idea to have a checklist on hand. We can all get distracted, and going through the list ensures that nothing gets missed or forgotten.

As a business owner, you of course want to do all that you can to protect your enterprise and avoid loss and need to make an insurance claim. Check out some of these posts from the archives with further tips for safeguarding your business or commercial operations.

Have questions about commercial insurance coverage for your business in Ontario? Get in touch with one of the insurance specialists on our team to learn more!