As you get along well in your years, you would start wondering about the things that you want to do. There are a lot of options available. But one that is plagued with high risks, as well as high rewards, is starting a business.
Starting a business is one of the best achievements that you can have. The feeling of being the boss – the one who calls the shots, the one who manages it all – can be quite an experience. After the grueling preparation, the feeling of witnessing it firsthand is quite astonishing.
You would see people enter your business, explore and check out your products, eventually picking a product that they really want and then paying for it. Regardless of a physical or online setup, having to witness those is truly an amazing experience.
When You’re Just Starting Out
Starting a business in and of itself can be rewarding. This reward can be seeing the venture itself grow and be successful. It can also be the feeling of conquering the unknown and having to manage things on your own. Whichever way you define rewarding, starting a business is truly remarkable.
When you have your own business, you are your own boss. It means you control and manage yourself as well as others. Your destiny is in the palm of your hands.
If you are looking for a new source of income, look no more. Seeing way past other factors, having your own business will generate additional income.
Aside from being your own boss, having a business allows you to have more flexible time. Yes, a business entails long hours of hard work, but you are still able to manage your own time at your own pace.
There are a lot of benefits when you start your own business. But that is not all there is to it. Aside from looking forward to the reward, there are also risks involved in starting a new business.
As the owner of a new business, you will most likely have few employees. This will mean that you, as the boss, will have more than your fair share of duties and responsibilities. From getting resources from your suppliers to running deliveries to your customers, owners of new businesses will sometimes have to work more than eight hours in a given day.
Adding to the major time commitment, you also have to deal with risks. Even if the business is planned to minimize risk and liability to the owner, there are still some uncontrollable risks. This may include product liability, customer-employee disagreements, as well as regulatory requirements.
Uncertainties can also be a major thing that you have to consider. The market and the economy are always changing. One moment, your product is selling, the next, it’s failing. Potential changes in the business environment are difficult to anticipate even for seasoned entrepreneurs.
We also have the matter of financial commitment. Starting even a small venture can require a huge amount of capital. Regardless of the source of your money for the business, committing a huge amount to a business is a big step to take.
And then we have what we call cyber threats. You may think that cyber threats only focus on bigger and more established companies, but that’s where you’re wrong. That mistake can sometimes mean the end for your business.
Cyber threats are information security matters that involve cyberspace – a space that existed behind the electronic activities of computing devices. With the development of technology and the internet, cyber threats have also evolved.
As such, you would want your business to be protected from such threats. No one starts a business wanting it to die in the first year. As the owner, you have to be wary of these threats because even something as simple as a click on a website can be troublesome for your business.
As a response to these cyber threats, cybersecurity has been improving as well over the years.
The presence of useful tools such as proxies for web scraping has been getting more and more popular. These tools provide an extra layer of security and privacy for protecting important information that you use to improve business strategies. You’ll get to scrape the internet for the information you need while keeping your real IP address, all thanks to your proxy.
The need for such measures is evident more than ever.
When You’re Being Targeted
Whether you’re just starting in the business industry or you’re a seasoned veteran, being a target of attacks from cyber threats can be a dreadful experience. It can really destroy everything that you have worked on. That’s why being informed about these attacks is very important.
There are a number of ways your business can experience or encounter cyber threats.
- Phishing Attacks
This is the biggest, most widespread, and most damaging cyber threat that new businesses might encounter. Imagine someone pretending to be a trusted contact and influencing a user to click on malicious links, download an untrusted file, or give them access to information that is sensitive and confidential. That is how phishing attacks work.
Over the years, phishing attacks have become more sophisticated. Attackers have become more convincing and are pretending to be legitimate business contacts. With enough credentials, they can even pose as high-level executives leading the business to its downfall.
The problem with phishing attacks is that they are difficult to handle. What they attack are the people behind the technology rather than the technology itself.
- Malware Attacks
Malware attacks are a variety of cyber threats such as trojans and viruses. These usually come from website downloads and emails that are malicious in nature. They can also come from connecting to other infected devices.
By using malware, they can gain access to networks, steal information, or even destroy data in affected devices. For new businesses, this can be a big problem as repairs and replacements can be quite expensive.
If you think you’re saving up finances by having your employees bring and use their own devices to work, think again. Personal devices are more prone to malware attacks due to malicious downloads.
- Ransomware
Ransomware is one of the most lucrative forms of cyber threats. As it is, this is also one of the most common, hitting lots of businesses every year.
Ransomware involves encrypting company information, whether important or not so that it cannot be used or accessed. They will then require you to pay a sum of money for the information to be unlocked. This usually brings a dilemma to businesses – either to pay the ransom and lose huge amounts of money or hinder their services with the data loss.
Recently started businesses, as well as those that are considered small businesses, have been the targets of ransomware attacks. The attackers know that considering their situation, owners of these kinds of businesses would rather pay the ransom than lose the important information that was locked.
- Weak Passwords
Yes, you read that right. Weak and easily guessed passwords used by employees can be a problem for new businesses as well. Sensitive data and financial information can be at risk when they are protected by these kinds of passwords.
This problem usually stems from the lack of understanding of what the effects are of using weak and easily guessed passwords. Using similar passwords for multiple accounts can also be a problem.
There are a lot more where those came from. With the advancement in technology comes the improvement (on the negative end) in cybercrimes. And if your business is hit, it can be quite a problem to deal with.
When You’re Being Attacked
A successful cyber attack can be a major problem for your business. It’s not just the financial aspect that you have to worry about, there’s also your legal standing and the trust of your customers. Your business may encounter a number of problems when it comes to cyber threats.
Substantial financial losses can arise from the theft of corporate and financial information. Added to these are the actual theft of money as well as disruption to operations. Loss of business and/or contract can also be due to interference from the attackers. You also have to worry about repairs to affected devices, systems, and networks.
Cyber attacks can also damage your business’s reputation. Trust is an essential element between the business and the customers. And tainted trust can potentially lead to loss of customers which will lead to loss of sales. Aside from customers, this can also affect your relationship with suppliers, partners, investors, and third parties invested in your business.
These kinds of attacks also have legal consequences. Data protection and privacy laws require a business to manage and secure all personal information.
Regardless if it’s yours, your employees’ or your customers’, you have to protect it. If this information is leaked or compromised whether accidentally or deliberately, and you are proven to have failed to set up security measures, fines and sanctions await you.
When You Want to be Protected
Image is from Pexels.com
At the moment, there is a wide range of threats that new businesses are facing. The best way for a business to deal with these kinds of threats is to have a comprehensive set of security tools in place. There are a number of things that you can do to protect your business.
You can train your employees about cyber attacks so that they can be aware of such threats. You can also deploy antivirus software as well as keep your software updated. Make sure to back up your files regularly and avoid cheap options.
As a new business, you might feel helpless against the threats of cyber attacks, but fortunately, there are steps you can take to protect your company.
About the Author:
Daniel Martin has hands-on experience in digital marketing since 2007. He has been building teams and coaching others to foster innovation and solve real-time problems. Dan also enjoys photography and traveling.
