Protecting and planning for small business

Keep your money safe

For many small business owners, online banking can be a convenient and secure way to manage the company’s finances. However, if you sign up for online banking, you may want to take a few extra precautions to make sure your account remains private and secure.

Opt-in for two-factor authentication

If your bank offers it, sign up for two-factor authentication, which will require you to take an extra step to sign in to your account from an unfamiliar device. For example, you might have to copy a security code that’s sent to your phone or email.

Be cautious when checking emails. You may receive an email that looks like it’s from your bank or another trusted company, but is actually a trick. These phishing emails may ask you to sign in to your account (they could even direct you to a website that looks just like the bank’s website) or email back personal information, and then use that to log in to your account and steal your money. Ignore suspicious emails, or you can call your bank if you’re unsure about an email you receive. Always use the phone number on the back of your debit or credit card or on the bank’s official website and don’t rely on information from an incoming email.

Keep antivirus software updated. Make sure your computer has antivirus software, regularly check for software updates and scan your computer for infections. Change your banking password — and other online account passwords — if you find a virus.

Manage risk and fraud

Running a business carries inherent risks. Identifying and mitigating these risks will enable your small business to continue thriving. Fraudsters are constantly evolving new attacks and schemes, some of which target small businesses.

Preventing payment fraud

When setting up payment acceptance, several platforms (including our partners) offer fraud mitigation modules. Ensure these are enabled and configured. Example features to look for include limiting transaction amounts, number of transactions within a timeframe, enabling CVV checks (the 3 or 4 digit numbers on the back of cards), AVS checks (address verification services), and transaction risk scoring. Accept tokenized payments such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. Tokenized transactions are proven to reduce fraud by replacing card numbers with unique tokens representing card numbers. Consider customer identification verification platforms. While some are features are embedded in payment platforms, other services that analyze consumer information such as email account age and IP address tracking may help to flag additional fraudulent transactions. 

Risks and fraud attacks beyond payments

Beyond financial and payment risks, businesses should be prepared to address a variety of risks both internal and external. Internal risks are typically weaknesses that may be overlooked internally to your business such as equipment malfunctions, employee-related issues like theft, and even cash flow issues. External risks are typically out of your control and difficult to prepare for such as cyber security threats, shifting competitive landscapes, and litigation suits. While there is no one size fits all solution, do research common risks and approach them with a calculated methodology. Depending on your risk tolerance, you may decide to invest time in mitigation tactics, additional systems, and different types of business insurance.

Although you can’t stop a natural disaster from happening, you can put a plan in place outlining what to do before, during and after such an event to minimize the impact it will have on the day-to-day operations of your business. About 40 to 60 percent of small businesses close permanently after large-scale disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, extreme winter weather, earthquakes, tornadoes and wildfires, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). After a natural disaster, 96 percent of small businesses see revenue losses, with 35 percent experiencing losses greater than $25,000, according to the Small Business Credit Survey 2017, Report on Disaster Affected Firms by the Federal Reserve. In the first two months of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 3.5 million U.S. small businesses will close permanently, and 7.5 million predicted they would be forced out of business over the next five months, according to an April 2020 Main Street America survey.

Make sure you have the following covered prior to an emergency

Secure insurance to cover any losses to your business and read your insurance policy from cover to cover, so you are familiar with it when you need it.

Keep your financial documents up-to-date so that you can apply for loans immediately following a disaster in order to keep your business running.

Maintain a detailed inventory list of all of your equipment and products to have ready when filing insurance claims. 

Create emergency response and crisis communication plans prior to a disaster. 

Store employee and vendor contact information on the cloud so you know where to reach staff if needed. 

Take specific steps before, during and after a potential disaster in order to protect yourself and your business. Before a disaster happens, create a financial “survival kit” that includes essential documents to store on a cloud-based system. During the disaster, activate an emergency response plan to evacuate employees. After the disaster, make a detailed assessment of the damage done to your business and determine if you will need loans to help finance repairing and rebuilding. 

Create an emergency response plan

Before you are ever faced with a disaster, you should develop a plan for keeping your employees safe, and your business and equipment secure. This plan should include: 

How to alert your employees of an emergency, including easily accessible contact information. 

Business evacuation plan outlining a meetup location that’s a safe distance away from your business, in case of a fire or similar disaster. 

Emergency plan training for new and existing employees, so they can protect themselves from hazardous materials per the guidelines in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Insurance company contacts for coverage and claims, as well as policy numbers and phone numbers to make calling about claims easier.

Vendor lists so you can purchase any equipment and materials you need to rebuild.

Vendor and customer lists

Keep an up-to-date list of all of your employees, vendors and customers prior to a disaster so you can contact them after a disaster occurs. The vendor list should include the name of the company, type of service they provide, contact name, address, phone number, email and website, if available. This should also include potential vendors from whom you can purchase materials like side panels, windows or sheetrock for rebuilding your business, or the furniture and equipment you need to run your business. When you set your emergency response plan into action, you will have the contact information you need to get your business repaired and to announce that it has reopened. 

Get back to business with Visa

Register for Visa’s Back to Business program to be added to our searchable database of small businesses around the country.