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Protect Your Business Against Internal Crime with a Background Check

Being a small business owner can mean a lot of worries.  Not only are you dealing with all the normal business challenges like competition, pricing, location and customer service… but now security is also increasingly important.  As a business owner you face the threat of theft, fraud, embezzlement, scams… the list can seem almost endless.

Most Small Business Owners rarely consider these Background Check techniques for protecting their investment… which could prove to be a costly oversight.

It’s very possible for businesses to loose more to employee theft than to shoplifting, burglary, and robbery combined.  One study revealed that small businesses lost a far greater percentage of their earning to internal crime that any other business size category.

You may entrust your employees with company funds or confidential trade secrets that can be stolen. Other employees may be involved with negotiations or purchasing that can be abused. Your risk doesn’t end there; your vulnerability extends to vendors, customers, contracted services and business partnerships.

When running a small business, you and only you can look out for your company.  That’s why it’s becoming more common than ever for businesses to utilize the simple Background Check as a preventative solution.

What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

Most business owners think of their business as an extension of their family.  You certainly don’t want to think badly of the people that you hired.  The truth is most employees are trustworthy with a need for a good job and fair pay.

What you’re dealing with are a few criminals who are cleverly deceptive and often quite persuasive.  As with most honest business owners, you give your trust to people until they prove otherwise. However, this admirable and honorable characteristic makes you vulnerable to the covert con man.

Although it may go against your nature, you do have a simple, fast legal way of knowing just whom you are dealing with.  All it takes is a simple background check that may expose a person with a very sordid past and eliminate them as a candidate for hire.  What it may also reveal is that the person is simply not who they say they are, obviously a huge red flag.

All of the information you need falls under the category of public records which are legally available for anyone to evaluate.  You may have already considered this option but decided it will be too time consuming or just too expensive… well, not so think again…

Online Background Search Services are Economical and Fast

Gone are the days when you hired a detective to dig up the information you needed. Today there are online services that compile comprehensive databases that are easily and privately accessed online.

The higher quality services that offer the more in-depth background checking usually charge a small fee for access to over a billion records.  These services are typically updated far more regularly and are generally easier to use.  A year of service is often less than what you’d pay when buying lunch for a staff meeting.

Avoid services that are offered as a one time charge. This can become quite costly for multiple searches and most businesses will need the service several times during the year.  It’s not uncommon to conduct several searches for the same candidate, particularly when their names have changed due to marriage.

Look for services that are endorsed by those in the know, professionals who know what works because their income depends on it!  We recommend Net Detective which is endorsed by the National Association of Private Investigators (NAIPI).

These are some of the things you can and should be considering for the protection of your business…

Conduct Criminal Background Checks Regularly

The investment that you have in your business is more than just money… it’s time, emotional attachment and reputation, all irreplaceable.  Let’s face it; almost everyone you come in contact with in your business is a stranger.

In business you replace good faith with facts and knowledge.  Protect yourself by running a quick background check for any history of criminal activity.  Look for:

• Criminal Records
• FBI Records
• Prison Records
• Sex Offender Status

You have access to their entire criminal history if one exists.

Background Check for Employment (Pre-Employment Screening)

If you’re a small business owner, it’s crucial to your business to pre-screen each person you consider hiring.  No matter how professional, or how harmless, they may appear they could be deadly for your business.

A small print shop owner in Florida needed a bookkeeper after the business grew and he could no longer handle it himself.  He hired an especially friendly fellow who didn’t offer much in the way of references but he sounded like he was experienced and capable and… he agreed to work cheap.

The owner assumed he could save some money hiring the guy.  He assumed wrong.

His new economical bookkeeper embezzled more than a hundred thousand dollars from his company before he got caught.   It came as no surprise that he’d been previously charged with embezzlement.  A fast that a simple criminal background check would have quickly revealed.

Every Business should make a Background Check for Employment mandatory.

Background Check Existing Employees – Make this a Conditional for Employment

People can change, develop bad habits and become involved in activities that you may not expect or suspect.  A regular check on existing employees is just smart business.

Note: be sure to get legal advice for ways to make this a condition of employment.  It will likely be necessary inform your employees of this policy in writing, with assurance that it’s not invading their privacy.

Background Check Each Company or Individual You Do Business With

Know who you do business with and what their intentions might be. If they have a questionable or even criminal history, it could repeat itself.  Check on their credit; conduct a background check on the owners, managers, and the company itself.

You should also check your credit customers if your dealings with them permit it.  It’s quite common for non-retail businesses to look at their customer’s credit backgrounds for any warning signs but also consider the criminal background as well.  This is the best way to avoid non-payment for your products or services.

Check Charity and Other Community Support Organizations

If you are in businesses you’ll frequently get called on to support your community. Many charitable organizations will solicit donations, often in sizable amounts.  Never give money freely to anyone until you’re certain that they’re legitimate by running a background check on their organization and the principals involved.  The help you think that you’re providing could actually hurt your business.

The Final Word

Running your small business today is more of a challenge than ever before.  By utilizing online database Background Check search services you protect your business and keep you, your business, your customers and your employees more secure…. also it’s good for the bottom line.

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