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Running a small business from your house is not unusual, and indeed it has become even more common in recent years due to changing trends and societal shifts.

Safety, security and maintenance concerns are all relevant for any homeowner, yet the risks are amplified if you also rely on the premises to earn a living.

Here are some tips to address all of these areas which are well worth following if you’re a home business owner.

Get insured

There are lots of benefits of getting business insurance, the chief one being that if disaster strikes, you aren’t liable for the full cost of coping with the aftermath.

You will need policies to protect your premises from damage, theft and other dilemmas, as well as liability cover to keep you out of hot water in the case that customers and other employees also set foot on-site.

Implement surveillance

Each year businesses lose billions to workplace crime, and so having deterrents in place is a sensible step to dissuade would-be thieves and interlopers from striking in the first place.

A modern security camera system is useful in this context, both for business security and general home surveillance.

Keep valuable assets secure

Don’t just leave expensive equipment and materials lying around in the open, or left exposed in less secure areas of the property overnight.

Invest in additional layers of security for the most important resources so that they are trickier for criminals to get at.

Replace worn parts promptly, e.g. for your LiftMaster garage door

Many of the biggest businesses on the planet got started in garages and basements, so protecting points of entry is wise.

For example, getting a replacement LiftMaster garage door opener as soon as you detect wear and tear impacting the performance of the original unit will avoid this becoming a point of vulnerability.

Embrace preventative maintenance

Following on from the concept of dealing with general wear and tear as a priority, rather than putting it off, it’s worth discussing the advantages of preventative maintenance more generally.

This is a strategy used in all sorts of businesses and all manner of contexts, and can apply to everything from clearing gutters to avoid water ingress, to fixing blown window panes to avoid wasting energy.

Carrying out maintenance work on a regular schedule, rather than waiting for something to go wrong before you fix it, will keep your home business safe and secure. This is particularly relevant if you operate heavy machinery on-site, because neglecting to maintain it will lead to breakdowns and dangerous working scenarios.

Advise others on best practices for safety and security

It’s likely that you share your home with other people, whether that’s roommates or members of your family. In either case, you need to make sure that they are all on the same page when it comes to safety and security regarding the portion of the property that’s dedicated to your business.

In fact you should aim to put together documentation outlining the dos and don’ts that you expect them to adhere to, so that there’s no room for ambiguity.

It might sound a bit draconian, but it’s better to lay down the law up front, rather than having to deal with accidents or breaches caused by other members of the household.

Final thoughts

If you want to run a business from your home that is safe and secure, this will involve planning and hard work from time to time. However, this effort will pay dividends in keeping your fledgling enterprise out of harm’s way.