Every business has valuable assets. These could be physical, intangible, or even digital. Nonetheless, all of these assets must be maintained and secured.
You can’t afford to lose these assets because it would affect your bottom line.
The concept of ‘valuable assets’ may vary from one business to another. Therefore, your company must identify its most valuable assets. Only then will you be able to take additional measures to manage those valuable assets effectively. These assets naturally require more strategic management than other assets because they account for a significant portion of revenue creation. That said, here’s how you can manage valuable company assets.
1. Insure Your Assets
If your assets qualify for insurance, get them insured. The type of insurance you can get may vary depending on the kind of assets you own. Taking out an insurance policy for these assets will protect you from business losses in case of damage or theft.
For example, consider auto insurance. In a minor collision involving one of the company vehicles, insurance may pay for repairs rather than the company footing the bill. The same holds true if your office building is insured. If a fire breaks out on one of the building’s floors, the property insurance provider would be able to help you with repair and restoration expenses.
Insurance aims to protect you from total loss, and prudent managers should always work to reduce risk whenever possible.
2. Tag Your Assets
For businesses with many assets, it would help to practice sound asset management. Mind you, asset management isn’t as easy as you think and could get complicated as assets, such as equipment, computers, and other devices, increase.
This is where electronic tags can be of use. Tags or labels incorporating barcodes and quick response (QR) codes can be used to identify and track your assets’ movement on and off-site. For example, if you have 200 forklifts, affixing an equipment ID tag to each of them will make it much easier to manage and track these valuable assets.
3. Streamline Your Contracts
If you’re in the business of renting or leasing out company assets, you may need to get your contracts and agreements right before engaging in business. You must write your contracts in such a way that they protect your assets if a client acts carelessly.
For example, if you rent out expensive equipment or machinery, you must ensure that you have a solid lease or rental agreement holding clients accountable for mishandling the equipment. Ideally, a business or corporate lawyer should assist you in drafting this. Nonetheless, good contract management is essential for such a business to succeed.
4. Have Data Backup
Data backup is essential for businesses with valuable digital assets due to the rise in cyber security attacks. This ensures you can retrieve valuable information in the event of a data breach.
For instance, if you run an e-commerce business, you don’t want to lose important customer information. That information is valuable to your company. Therefore, you should have external backup storage.
An excellent option is cloud storage because it is safer and has additional security features like encryption, making it difficult for cyber attackers to access. Plus, cloud storage usually has plenty of storage space. Consult with knowledgeable IT or cybersecurity experts if you’re unsure how to create your company’s cyber defence strategy.
5. Educate Employees
If you’re going to manage your valuable assets well, you have to train your employees to use these assets properly. Also, realize that your employees are perhaps one of the most critical assets of your business. If they fail to perform for whatever reason, your business may fail too. Therefore, you need to invest in employee training.
Ideally, managers must prioritize training and coaching their subordinates because they’re the ones who use and interact with your systems, machinery, equipment, and other digital devices daily. In the case of cybersecurity, for example, you may need to instruct them to use strong passwords and how to detect cybersecurity threats, such as phishing emails, malware, and ransomware.
You need to train them because they could fall victim to cyber-attacks. After all, some could be oblivious to the threat of cybercrime. You can prevent intruders from accessing your digital assets by crafting a cybersecurity policy and reminding employees to adhere to the guidelines.
6. Understand Asset Taxes And Deprecation
Investing in an asset can effectively reduce the taxable income for your business. Assets depreciate over time, and depreciation is usually deductible. But you could claim the investment cost on your asset in full at the beginning.
However, you forfeit the benefits of depreciating the asset over time. Therefore, you need to understand your asset’s taxes and depreciation schedule. There’s an opportunity to bank some tax savings when you manage your assets with the long term in mind.
7. Sell Assets
There may come a time when you have to sell your assets because they’re past their useful life. Alternatively, you could be selling them because liquidation procedures are in place.
Whatever the case, if you decide to sell, ensure that you sell your assets correctly. Take into account depreciation to determine the asset’s value, and remember that you should claim the profit from the sale of your assets on your taxes. Don’t forget to make the deduction on your taxes as well.
Conclusion
Every business has valuable assets. The way people manage these assets often determines the success or failure of that business. So, managers must take concerted steps to protect these assets and maximize their potential. Losing a valuable company asset can hurt a business. That’s why cybersecurity and insurance are critical in this day and age.
