Home Based Businesses: Keep Your Office Safe This Summer

If you work out of your home, you know how disastrous it would be to suffer theft during these up and coming summer vacation months. It is devastating enough when your personal property is violated, but add to that the confidential and valuable items you have within the walls of your at-home office, and it could be a monumental loss.

The summer vacation months are temptations for thieves and break-ins. In fact, summer is second only to Christmas as the most popular season for break-ins. After all, it’s an obvious time to find homes that are vacated for weeks at a time. Thankfully, there are steps you can take now in order to enjoy your upcoming holiday, and ward off potential criminals. Here are some safety tips to help your office remain safe and secure:

• If you don’t already have a monitoring system, consider one featuring motion detectors that “talk to” a monitoring center, which could be hundreds of miles away. Contact a security professional with experience in home-based businesses to guide you in the right direction.
• Ask trusted neighbors to park in your driveway when you’re gone in order to make it look like residents are coming and going at different times.
• Do not leave your garage-door opener in the car when it’s parked. This idea especially applies when the vehicle will not be moved for several days. Take the opener with you, or leave it in a safe and secure place, away from the car.
• Ask a trusted neighbor to place some of their garbage out in front of your house on collection days. This is another way of making it look like someone is at home.
• Instead of having your mail or newspaper stopped while you’re away, have a friend or neighbor pick it up for you. Again, the trick is to make it look like there is activity going on at your residence.
• Consider installing a special deadbolt in either a single-cylinder or double-cylinder model. A single-cylinder deadbolt has a keyed cylinder on the outside of the home and a thumb-turn on the inside. A double-cylinder deadbolt has a keyed cylinder on both the outside and inside of the home. Consult your local hardware store for a model that fits your needs.

There are dozens of ways to make your home more secure for the summer vacation season. Security professionals and other home-based business professionals can serve as excellent resources to help you take steps now for a safe and secure summer.