If you keep large amounts of cash in your place of business, you’ve made yourself a potential target for would-be criminals. Here are several proven cash control tips that can make your business less likely to be robbed.
Storing cash in your place of business and/or your home is not advisable, even if you have a safe and an alarm system. One case that illustrates this point involves the home invasion and armed robbery of a man who owns a small business in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia.
Three individuals followed the owner of K & C Beverage from his store to his home in Havertown, Pennsylvania, where he kept the proceeds of his business.
According to the court records, around 2:30 a.m. on August 8, 2010, the three people broke into the owner’s home through a window that led to the kitchen. Armed with guns and wearing masks and bandanas to hide their faces, the individuals forced the business owner at gunpoint to show them where his money was located.
The armed robbers took approximately $60,000 in cash from a safe located in the business owner’s bedroom closet and escaped. Thankfully, the owner and his family were not hurt in the home invasion.
Law enforcement and security professionals say that one of the best deterrents to armed robbery is to have a good cash control policy. Small business owners can prevent home invasions, armed robberies and theft by instituting good cash control procedures like these:
- Don’t keep unnecessary amounts of cash in the cash register. Install an anchored drop-vault for employees but keep the keys to yourself.
- Post a sign that you have a drop-vault that can’t be accessed by employees and that no more than a certain amount is kept in the cash register at any one time.
- Post a sign on the outside of your business that states you have limited cash on hand.
- Only allow trusted employees to know how you handle your cash.
- Keep your cash in a bank, not in your home.
- Make frequent and varied trips to the bank. Carry the cash in a disguised money bag and have someone accompany you. There is safety in numbers. Don’t use the same route to the bank or leave at the same time each day.
- Drive or walk to the nearest open business or police or fire station if you feel you are being followed while you are taking your money to the bank.
- While operating your business at night, ensure that all exterior lights are working and if possible, lock all doors except the front door.
- Install a signaling system on your front door that buzzes or rings to alert your employees when a customer comes in or leaves.
By having a cash control policy of keeping the lowest amount of cash on hand, and advertising the policy, your business can become a less desirable target for criminals.
