Recently my wife and I suffered a ‘high trauma crime’: we were burgled. It happened at 1.15 am and we were awoken by our alarms going off as we live above our shop. We got out of bed, went down stairs and unlocked the shop.
We were not really prepared for what confronted us – three intruders emptying our tobacco gantry. One of them came out from behind our shop counter and confronted us. As he got within 6 feet I grabbed the nearest thing to hand, a card spinner, and threw it at him. He threw several bottles of wine at us and we made a hasty retreat back into our home, closed the door and phoned the police.
Not really very clever, but we got out safely, if somewhat shaken up by the experience. There is always a great deal to do following this sort of assault on one’s business, so here are some of the lessons I learnt:
1. Let the alarm do what it is designed to do and don’t interfere.
2. Put a process in place to protect one’s personal safety.
3. Put a list together of contact names and phone numbers – staff, key suppliers (particularly companies that deliver daily), your insurance company including your policy number and schedule, and trade associations to which you belong.
4. Tell your customers why you are closed.
5. Take a look at your shop and personal/family security regularly.
Anna Wallace
04/11/2009
Hi Steve, I’m really sorry to hear about this and I hope you and Mrs Denham are doing ok. Anna
nick shanagher
05/11/2009
Yesterday I took a call from Ravi Raveendran, who has a small outlet next to a station in London. He was shocked to be robbed overnight and says that he had felt secure because the station was manned 24 hours a day and there were CCTV cameras outside his store. Today, he says he feels that he was complacent and he fears other retailers are not prepared. His advice mirrors that of Steve – assume it will happen and have a disaster recovery strategy in place, even if it is just a list of key numbers to phone.
Kreg K3MS K3
17/07/2011
It’s actually very good written and I totally agree with You on most important concern, btw. I ought to say that I truly enjoyed reading all of one’s posts.