Security probably would not be too interesting to you at all if you were a liquor store, restaurant, or work in similar sectors of the economy. However, security should definitely be a front-row concept if you are a start-up in the technology space or a business that depends on technology for success.

Generally, suppose you are running a B2B (Business to Business) organization or a B2C (Business to Consumer) where you have to interact with electronic data from customers or end-users. In that case, security is the area that should never be relegated to the background. This is because there is a need to constantly share information back and forth between your budding enterprise and its customers, partners, vendors, and other third parties.

Why is security taking centre stage in today’s Start-Ups?

These days the need for security has become somewhat of an emotional response to the fear of possible security issues. This is, in fact, a well-founded fear and news of cyberattacks in the past years have helped create this awareness. So patrons need the reassurance that their data is well-protected. No one wants to have their information leaked, as this could lead to negative repercussions, financially and otherwise.

For this reason, security in technology start-ups is, at least initially, usually sales-driven. If your budding firm does not have adequate security in place, that significantly slows down the potential for making profits, as customers might be more hesitant to engage with you.

Have a Start-Up business in the mix? Identify your security needs

The saying “Rome was not built in a day” is a perfect analogy to describe the world of business security.

It’s not uncommon for start-ups to get security protocols wrong the first time. And often, a major exposure can manifest due to a small error. For businesses just starting out, getting on the security train is going to be a long ride. The good news is that it is doable.

Firstly, you will need to identify what your security alternatives are. Here, it is also essential to set a goal for the business, maybe create milestones. Whether they’re achievable or not, it is a step in the right direction regardless.

Getting a security team

Once you have identified the deficient security areas, it’s time to seek out a solution, pronto. But hiring good security is not as easy as it seems. The security market is suffering from a scarcity of talent, and those that are available might have enormous financial demands. While they could get the job done without any hassles, your start-up might not be able to afford these seasoned tech professionals.

What becomes the alternative when you can not hire a decent security team? One option is Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Calculating ROI with security programs

To continue your pursuit of security, the company you’ve just founded needs to make positive returns on investments. One way to do this conveniently is to seek out extras that you can deduct to cut costs.

Such cost-cutting decisions need to be strategic as you want to ensure that the deductions you make are not instrumental in the development and growth of your enterprise.

For instance, you may need to reduce the number of people working in your firm, but you are finding it difficult to make the right call. One good idea is to craft job descriptions that are time-specific. With this, some experts in your employ can work for a few hours instead of the regular working timelines. That way, you can save costs while maintaining quality service delivery across the board.

It is important to note that calculating the ROI on a security product can get complicated, especially for a small start-up. Rather than thinking about it in the technological sphere, you can judge the profitability of the security program from a business perspective.

The main question here is, does it promote company sales? If the product is able to fulfill your clients’ security needs and get them on board with you, then that is a good way to measure the ROI. If it has value for your clients, it has value for your sales.

What’s more?

In addition to security experts, individuals in your employ should have an idea of how serious threats are and how detrimental they can be to work processes. Imparting this knowledge into your employees should be a recurring security culture.

Apart from highlighting the negatives, employees also need a foundation on basic actions to take when breaches occur. Since security has become a recurring factor for any B2B or tech-inclined start-up, it is indispensable for continuous growth.