Running a small business involves looking after quite a few areas. Data security and protection is one of the more notable of these. As part of this, you could look into small business shredding services to help keep your documents safe.
At Britannia Lanes, we know how important cost-effective shredding and document destruction can be. Let’s go through why you should invest in this, the risks of not getting it taken care of, and everything else you’ll need to know moving forward.
Why Small Businesses Are Especially Vulnerable
It’s natural to think that large companies and corporations are the ones that need to invest in data security and document destruction. They’re the ones that make headlines when they have a data breach, after all. But, that doesn’t mean they’re the only ones who need to worry.
Instead, small businesses can be especially vulnerable. They have limited resources and fewer internal controls, as well as fewer security investments. This makes them a relatively easier target for potential criminals.
At least, they’re much more of a target compared to large corporations that can invest heavily in their security and data protection measures. Criminals could potentially target:
- Customer records
- Employee information
- Financial documents
- Supplier contracts
- Confidential business strategies
These all contain information that can be exploited if they’re not properly destroyed. Even a single misplaced document could expose a small business to various risks.
A competitor could gain access to your confidential information, for example. Or, a bad actor could get sensitive information about your customers or employees, and then use this to commit identity theft or a similar crime. These are always worth protecting against.
Why Regular Shredding Is Essential
With how vulnerable small businesses can be, it’s easy to see why data security and document destruction is essential. But, that still begs the question as to why small business shredding itself can be important.
It involves more than just freeing up a little space around the office and protecting against data breaches. Regular shredding offers much more than that, like:
- Prevents Identity Theft – Third parties could misuse sensitive data from payslips and other documents and can even use it for identity theft. If these third parties can’t get this data, because documents were shredded, this isn’t a risk.
- Safeguards Financial Information – Bank statements, invoices, and tax documents have to be kept safe, at least during their retention periods. After this, shredding is often the best way to safely dispose of them.
- Protects Client Confidentiality – Client and customer data must be protected, with this being mandated by law. By regularly shredding documents that aren’t needed anymore, you make sure you can protect their confidentiality.
- Reduce Clutter & Storage Costs – Documents take up a decent bit of space to store, and this can often come with a few storage costs. With regular shredding, you avoid all of the clutter and expense that comes with keeping them stored for years.
These can make regular document destruction by shredding more and more important. But, there can be much more to it than that. It’s worth digging a little deeper into why your small business could need to invest in small business shredding services.
The Risks of Neglecting Shredding Protocols
Failing to engage in document destruction or shredding poses more than a few risks. Some of these will be relatively obvious, while others aren’t obvious at all. Despite that, they can all lead to serious consequences for your small business.
There can even be issues for third-parties, depending on the kind of documents taken. These can all be split across three areas.
1. Legal Risks
Every country has data protection laws, like the UK General Data Protection Regulation, that businesses have to follow. You’re legally mandated to handle personal data as safely and securely as possible going forward. There are multiple legal risks if you don’t.
If you’re thought not to be following these laws and handling documents securely, you risk an extensive investigation. Depending on the result of this, you could face significant fines and similar penalties. These get higher with repeat violations, as well as for more severe cases.
2. Financial Risks
Recovering from a data breach doesn’t just risk fines. It affects your finances in more than a few other ways. You’ll need to consider legal costs, compensation claims, loss of productivity, and even the cost of investigating the breach.
While these can seem relatively small at first glance, they add up quite a bit. You could end up shelling out a whole lot more than you might’ve thought. For some small businesses, this could be a business-threatening cost, making it more than worth avoiding.
3. Reputational Risks
Trust is one of the most valuable areas for a small business to focus on. It’s what gets clients and customers to do business with you, and what gets them to stick around. Having confidential documents stolen breaks this trust and affects your reputation.
Customers and clients aren’t going to trust you as much and they’re not going to remain as loyal as they used to be. Overcoming this reputational risk takes quite a few resources, as well as a significant amount of time and hard work.
Cost-Effective Shredding Options for Small Businesses
Some small business owners might believe that professional shredding services for their old, sensitive documents might be too expensive. When budgets are especially tight, it’s easy to see why that’s the case. But, there are plenty of cost-effective shredding options out there.
These could be more than worth investing in, with some of the more notable being:
- Scheduled Shredding Services – Scheduled collections and shredding can be a great option for businesses that regularly generate sensitive documents. With this, secure containers are placed in your premises. Then, a professional team collects and shreds your documents on a routine, affordable basis.
- One-Off Clear-Outs – If your business only generates a large number of sensitive documents occasionally, then once-off clear-outs can be a great approach. It’s perfect for year-end filing, office moves, and similar situations. A professional provider will securely pick up the documents when needed and shred them.
- Tailored Solutions – Not all businesses are the same, so they shouldn’t all get the exact same service. A boutique accountancy firm will have a different amount of sensitive documents to shred than a local retailer, for example. With a tailored approach, your business takes a cost-effective approach going forward.
These can all be cost-effective shredding solutions for your business, and there’s no reason why the right approach shouldn’t fit your budget. There’s no reason why document destruction should be a prohibitively expensive process.
Practical Document Destruction Tips for Small Business Owners
While professional small business shredding services handle the physical document destruction, owners should have internal practices to help with this. They keep documents as secure as possible before they’re shredded.
It helps with data security quite a bit. More than a few best practices and tips help with this moving forward.
Set Clear Policies
Have clear policies in place for how you deal with sensitive documents and data. You should decide on how long you keep this information for, especially when it comes to physical documents, as well as how they’re dealt with. Make sure everyone’s clear on what these policies are moving forward.
Train Staff
Employees can often be your first line of defense when it comes to protecting sensitive data. Make sure they’re properly trained to deal with this information, as well as any physical documents. Once you’ve set the policies mentioned above, train your staff to follow them as well as possible. It’ll prevent any hiccups later on.
Separate Sensitive Waste
Avoiding mixing any sensitive waste with more traditional waste, like wrapping paper. This helps to make sure no sensitive data slips through the cracks and isn’t destroyed. Have a separate container for any sensitive documents and similar waste. Ideally, a shredding services supplier will provide this secure container for you.
Monitor Compliance
Conduct regular checks to make sure policies are being followed by your staff and any other relevant parties. This doesn’t just prevent mistakes. It also helps to make sure you’re legally compliant while also avoiding more than a few hiccups as time goes on. It’ll keep your business – and its customers – happy knowing confidential data is safe.
Work With Trusted Providers
Picking the right small business shredding services provider for your needs is essential. It makes sure your documents are properly destroyed while adhering to all document and data security best practices. They should also provide evidence that documents were destroyed properly.
Why Britannia Lanes Is the Right Choice for Small Business Shredding
When it comes to keeping your business safe, you’ll need more than just a standard small business shredding service. You’ll need a partner you can trust, and Britannia Lanes is here to help. We offer secure and cost-effective shredding tailored to small businesses.
By working with us, you keep your business and client data safe while making sure that confidential documents are handled with the care they need.
