Landscaping companies face significant challenges, including expensive equipment, tight schedules, and a team that’s always on the move. When everything goes according to plan, you run a profitable enterprise. But a single incident of theft or damage can cause downtime, cash flow crises, and lost business. The good news is that most theft is preventable, provided you avoid the most common landscaping security mistakes. This guide explains the top five security mistakes landscaping companies make, along with actionable solutions to protect your people, profits, assets, and reputation.
1. Ignoring Local Trends and Risks
Keeping up with crime trends in your industry and operating locations can help your business be prepared. Relevant trends to monitor include high-crime areas, target items, and new or rising methods of theft. You can find crime statistics relevant to your industry and location by checking the following online resources:
- The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer website
- The National Insurance Crime Bureau database
- The National Equipment Register database for heavy equipment
You may also want to check in with your local law enforcement agency and ask about signing up for local crime alerts if available.
2. Underestimating the Costs of Crime
The cost of even a single incident of crime can be devastating for landscaping contractors, tree and plant wholesalers, and nursery owners. The financial and operational effects of theft include:
- Loss of expensive equipment: For a landscaping company, losing a truck to theft can cost up to $4,000 daily in lost revenue. Equipment like tractors, mowers, and weed trimmers is also expensive and costly to replace if stolen. Landscaping tools are in high demand because they are easy to place on the resale market for a quick profit.
- Inability to recover stolen assets: In most cases, it’s incredibly challenging to restore equipment, materials, and other assets once they are gone. In fact, 40% of stolen landscaping equipment is never recovered. In the rare case that a stolen item is restored, restitution may not be enough to offset how much it costs to recover from an incident.
- Downtime: In the landscaping industry, timelines are everything — and lost time equals lost revenue plus disrupted schedules. Even a minor incident of vandalism, tampering, or stolen parts can put a vehicle or piece of heavy machinery out of operation, stopping your employees from doing the work your business and your customers depend on.
- Higher insurance premiums: One insurance claim can increase your monthly premiums by up to 20%, adding thousands of dollars to your annual operating costs. To compound the problem, commercial property insurance rarely reimburses businesses for the full value of their losses.
- Reputational damage: Downtime can impact your landscaping company’s reputation for the long term. Project delays may cause current customers to terminate their contracts, and prospects may turn to competitors instead.
3. Relying on Inadequate Security Measures
Some landscaping companies rely on outdated or inadequate security measures that make life easier for motivated thieves.
Chain-link fences and padlocks are susceptible to any criminal with bolt cutters. Many businesses install surveillance cameras, but only monitor them during business hours or intermittently. Plus, thieves are rarely deterred by the presence of cameras since they know the footage is often unmonitored.
Companies may rely on hiring 24/7 security guards, but guards come with many drawbacks, including training expenses, high wages, and increased turnover. If your site is expansive, security guards may be spread too thin, and the reality is that they simply cannot watch and monitor every corner of your property at all times.
Landscaping businesses may also fall into the trap of using universal keys for tractors and mowers. Trucks and trailers may even be left unlocked. In these cases, wheel locks and hitch locks are essential for ensuring your valuable equipment cannot be rolled, driven or towed away.
Avoiding these landscaping perimeter security mistakes starts with taking a more proactive, multi-layered approach to physical security.
4. Leaving Your Perimeter Vulnerable
Thieves are on the hunt for landscaping equipment and parts they can sell for scrap. And if they succeed once, they will likely continue to return for more. The best way to stop criminals and trespassers is to keep them off your property with a proactive perimeter security strategy that includes the following layers:
- Electric fencing: Stop theft before it happens with electric perimeter fencing. Would-be intruders receive a safe but memorable shock if they attempt to breach the perimeter. Yellow signage with the symbol for electrification provides another visual deterrent and helps you meet safety standards.
- Video surveillance and remote monitoring: Once your electric fence is in place, video cameras and remote and mobile monitoring provide additional layers of protection. Cameras are strategically positioned to capture compelling video evidence along your perimeter. With remote monitoring, you gain peace of mind that your site is being monitored 24/7 for faster response times.
- Alarm-based lighting: Eliminate hiding spots and deter criminals with alarm-based lighting options that integrate with your electric fencing system. Illuminate vulnerable areas along your perimeter or around your property with confidence.
- Building intrusion detection: If you store landscaping supplies and equipment inside a warehouse or other facility, you need an integrated intrusion detection solution. Safeguard your on-site buildings against unauthorized entry with features like wireless motion detection and door contacts. Get instant alerts for intrusion attempts via a mobile app.
5. Lacking a Theft Prevention Plan
A theft prevention plan is crucial to ensure your team is prepared to mitigate the risk of theft, vandalism, and unauthorized use. A theft prevention plan should cover:
- Roles and responsibilities: Ensure every team member understands their duties, from locking gates to completing inventory logs.
- Inventory and tracking: Mark all tools and equipment and track each item using its serial number or other unique identifier. Have employees sign tools in and out for every job.
- Incident response protocols: Document how employees should report suspicious activity and preserve evidence of security incidents.
- Training and retraining: Train all team members in your security protocols, with follow-up training to keep your team’s security knowledge fresh and prepare new recruits.
Get Started With AMAROK’s Perimeter Security for Landscaping Companies
These seven landscaping equipment security mistakes threaten your business’s bottom line and reputation. But with the right security measures, you can ward off would-be intruders and protect your landscaping business for the long term.
AMAROK is your trusted partner for perimeter security solutions for landscapers and beyond. We’ve worked with hundreds of landscaping businesses to create integrated perimeter security that works to keep thieves out and profits in. In fact, the average customer saves $120,000 annually when they replace 24/7 security guards with our system.
Contact the perimeter security experts at AMAROK to claim your free threat assessment today.
