When you own a business, you have to be vigilant against theft. Unfortunately, many businesses have blind spots that put them at greater risk of being victimised. Here's a look at some of the blind spots that frequently pop up in restaurants and a few tips on how to eliminate those risks:
1. Propped Open Back Doors
In many restaurants, there is a back service door used for deliveries and to take out rubbish. When employees use these doors, they often prop them open. That allows a sneaky thief to get into the back of the restaurant and potentially steal things.
To prevent this from happening, you may want to change the locks on the back door and tell employees not to prop it open. As vendors and employees frequently use this door when their hands are full of boxes or rubbish, you may want to talk with commercial locksmiths about putting in a door that opens automatically with a key card. Then, the individual using the door can wave the keycard, and the door opens and closes behind them.
2. Unsecured Offices
Whether a thief sneaks through a propped open back door or walks into the back through the dining room, he or she may get into your back offices. To keep these areas safe, you may want to put individual locks on each of the doors. Only give the keys to those locks to a small group of managers or trusted employees.
3. Lost Keys
Turnover is relatively high in the world of restaurants. As a result, employees may leave the company but fail to return your keys. That also compromises the safety of your restaurant. To avoid the risk of lost keys, have a commercial locksmith change as many of your locks to coded locks as possible. Then, change the codes as needed.
4. Vulnerable Cash
One of the reasons that restaurants are targeted by thieves is that dining tends to be a cash-based industry. Although some clients pay with cards, lots of people still use cash, especially at bars.
To minimise that risk, you need a safe that employees can drop cash into. Then, you never have to worry about your cash drawer being compromised.
5. Employee Theft
Finally, it's not just outsiders that you have to safeguard against. A lot of restaurants suffer from employee theft. To prevent this, reduce the number of employees who have codes or keys for the safe. Set up software that allows you to track the actions of each employee on the point-of-sale system, and give employee unique codes for disarming the security system.
Also consider raising their wages. One study suggests that for every dollar pay increase, employers lose 40 cents less in internal theft.
