To prevent theft in your dispensary, it takes great attention to detail when it comes to three very specific aspects. As a dispensary owner, you have to be prepared for the worst. Unfortunately, that means being ready to face the sad reality that theft can happen from virtually anyone who enters your store.
Whether it’s an employee or a customer, anyone can take advantage of your business. But by taking the necessary precautions, you can help ensure that your dispensary is a safe and secure place for everyone.
In this article, we’ll discuss the three tried and true methods that you can take to prevent theft in your dispensary.
Let’s roll into it.
Safeguard against robberies with the basics
As a dispensary owner, you are fully aware of the importance of preventing theft in your store. After all, you can’t always assume that all customers are innocent, and you can’t always assume that all employees have strictly good intentions. That is the harsh reality of modern-day society; Hence, why dispensaries have to take the proper precautions to avoid theft.
Of course, every dispensary should get to know the basics in order to safeguard from the kind of theft that can come from both inside and outside of your store.
By taking the necessary precautions, you can prevent theft in your dispensary and protect your business:
Proper lighting
The first thing that you should do to make your business safe from theft is provide ample lighting. It’s also important not to place any advertising or anything else that might block off views of the outside area so no one can go unnoticed.
24/7 Surveillance
Having 24/7 video surveillance both inside and outside your store is essential for security. Employees should also be able to see what’s happening outside of their workstation during operating hours so that if they notice something unusual, then you’ll know about it ahead of time.
Proper security
Though hiring armed security guards might be costly, one can still fortify entry points with well-trained staff and weapon detection systems. A zero-tolerance policy on activities that may pose a threat will keep customers feeling welcomed and help maintain your store’s safety.
ID verification
The clerk should verify the ID of all customers entering your dispensary and then either keep it in a secure location or hand it over to one taking care of them until they leave.
Employee training
The employees of a dispensary are the front line against robberies. It is absolutely necessary to train them in safety protocols so that they can protect themselves, and take the proper course of action in getting help.
Professional transportation
You must invest in proper transportation for your cash and cannabis so that you are not vulnerable to any internal or external threats. These days, many security companies even tailor their services toward dispensaries.
Take action and make necessary upgrades
If you’re already taking the basic precautions to prevent theft from happening in your dispensary, perhaps it’s time to take things up a notch and take new action. Part of ensuring that you’re capitalizing on your dispensary’s safety precautions might mean making the necessary upgrades where applicable:
Use a tip-top security system
Although the cost of cannabis security equipment is considerable, you don’t want to cut corners. Because cannabis is cash-based in the United States, it is an easy target for robbery and theft. Even if the local government does not require it, all cannabis retail businesses should use high-quality security monitoring systems.
Arrange store interior strategically
Design the interior of your dispensary so the flow of traffic is never out of sight. This will allow employees to keep an eye on customers as they browse. It also might be wise to keep all products encased, or behind a counter.
Utilize multiple quality safes/vaults
Multiple vaults and/or biometric safes should be used to store all of your goods and any on-hand cash. These should include 24-hour monitoring and alerts so you are immediately notified when a vault or safe is opened. Only your top supervisors should have access. Vaults can be expensive, but they’re well worth the expense if you’ll be storing your company’s livelihood in them.
Internal source theft prevention
Unfortunately, the ones we love and trust the most will always have the probability to become thieves. And yes, those specific ‘ones’ we’re referring to are your very own employees. That is why it would be wise to consider taking the necessary precautions to prevent theft from internal sources:
Maintain loyal and dedicated team members
When a dispensary can pay a decent wage, hire full-time personnel with benefits, and even provide limited profit-sharing agreements, it goes a long way toward generating loyalty. Because of its association with low pay, the cannabis business has a reputation for relying on non-permanent employees to staff retail shops.
It’s also wise to have more than one employee on duty at all times, with a supervisor or manager for each shift. Have a thorough hiring procedure that checks not just the job applicant’s abilities but also their history.
Complete regular inventory checks
With products moving in and out of your cannabis retail business on a frequent basis, regular inventory inspections are critical for avoiding loss. Make sure there’s a clear procedure outlined for how cannabis goods and cash will be handled by employees.
At least twice each day, beginning with the opening of the store and continuing until it closes, employees should count money. These counts should take place after every shift change so you can determine who was on duty at the time of a potential loss.
Invest in a trustworthy POS system
Utilizing a dispensary-specific point-of-sale (POS) could provide your dispensary with an all-in-one tool to track inventory, cash on hand, sales, and data analytics for your store. However, choosing the right system for your dispensary might be tricky, with so many options out there. Read our blog post on “Dispensary POS Systems: The Top 10 in 2022” for a better understanding of tried and true dispensary-specific POS systems.
What to make of all this
The idea of someone coming into your dispensary and being a potential thief is not new. And trust us, no one wants to believe that. But by following these few simple steps, you can help ensure that your dispensary is a safe and secure place for everyone.
Any questions for us? Need some advice?
Get in touch with us here at WeedBoost if you have any questions about how to prevent theft in your dispensary, if you’re in search of a new website, SEO (search engine optimization), social media management, or simply need someone to talk to about this whole “cannabis thing”. We might know a thing or two.
