If you own a business, and in particular a retail business of any kind, one of your biggest challenges is how to keep employees from stealing from you. Employees can steal many things and not just tangible items. Even if you don't have goods that can be taken from you, people can steal other things like time from you. All an employee has to do is to lie as to how much time it took him to complete a job on an hourly project and he ends up getting paid more than he deserves. Employee theft is one of the biggest reasons that many businesses fail and you see it all of the time. Think about all of the restaurants that you have seen in your town that appear to always be busy and yet they end up shutting their doors. How does a store that is always busy end up closing? Employee theft. The owners have left themselves open to losses due to stealing. Here are a few tips to help you not become a casualty on unscrupulous employees.
Don't be an absentee owner. Just because you have a competent manager and staff doesn't mean you shouldn't show up every once in a while. Even if you are not actively involved in day to day operations, make an appearance at random times just to see how things are going.
Install anti theft devises at your place of business. These include cameras, tag sensors and locks on unneeded doors. Even though you won't be able to watch every minute of film from the cameras, just having them present will keep more people on their toes.
If you deal with inventory, take a weekly or daily inventory and compare it to sales. Check to see if everything is getting rung up as it leaves the store. If you can't or don't want to do inventory yourself, hire a neutral third party to do it for you. You will usually make up whatever fee you have to pay by not losing so much money in inventory shrinkage.
First, never trust anyone. Many owners fall into the trap of not paying close attention to an employee because he is a nice guy or because they are friends. Believe me; even family members have been known to embezzle from each other. It is fine to be friendly with your staff, but don't let them lull you to sleep.
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