While recent high-profile cyberattacks like the SolarWinds hack and Colonial Pipeline fiasco might lead you to believe small businesses are generally safe from cyber threats, that could not be further from the truth. Nearly 70% of companies with less than 1,000 employees in the United States have experienced a cyberattack, with 58% of companies experiencing a cyber breach, according to research from the Ponemon Institute. The issue lies in the fact that most small businesses do not have the time to dedicate to cybersecurity and cannot afford professional solutions. 

That is why Sidechain Security is committed to supporting small businesses. SoulKu, a premier e-commerce jewelry and gift brand, is one small business that Sidechain supports by helping unleash the company from the uncertainty of not knowing if it is doing enough to protect itself from cyberattack. Named one of the ten fastest-growing startups in Asheville, North Carolina in 2019, SoulKu has fourteen full-time employees and won the Entrepreneurs of the Year Award from Venture Asheville, the city’s startup ecosystem and accelerator. The following case study details SoulKu’s path to joining Sidechain and explains the powerful benefits small businesses gain from having a cybersecurity partner.

Seeking a Cybersecurity Partner  

In 2020, a consultant to SoulKu urged the company to pay greater attention to cybersecurity. At the time, Elisa Van Arnam, the Chief Creative Officer at SoulKu, was overseeing cybersecurity, among her numerous other “day job” responsibilities. While she took smart steps in ensuring company computers downloaded malware protection solutions, she knew it would not be enough if SoulKu was hit by a cyberattack. 

“You think you’re flying under the radar until it happens to a business that is similar in size to yours. It seems like if someone is going to go attack a business, they’d spend their time going after a $500 million business, but it’s the opposite. If your Chief Creative Officer is in charge of cybersecurity for you, it’s a false sense of safe.”

What would SoulKu have done had the company experienced a cyber breach before partnering with Sidechain? Like most other small businesses nationwide, the answer was not clear. SoulKu would likely have reached out to their local small business network to ask for help, but they “could have easily been exploited by any company in their desperation for a solution amid a breach.”  

As such, SoulKu took the preventative measure of reaching out to Sidechain to safeguard their business against future cyber events.

Partnering with Sidechain Security

You might be thinking, great, in order to protect my business, I have to deal with cybersecurity-tech gurus and brain–aching techno-jargon? While it is true that cybersecurity is technically complex, partnering with Sidechain to secure your business isn’t.  

“Sidechain has worked with every single person in our company and set up their laptop remotely, so there was no figuring things out on our end. Even the McAfee Software we used to use, we’d spend, per person, 45 minutes figuring it out. Sidechain did it remotely–so easy and painless.” There was “no big technical glitch, no going around in circles for two hours on the phone, they just took care of it.”

Securing your business should not be scary and stressful; don’t expect fear-mongering here. We strive to ensure you feel safe and stress-free while operating your business. 

The Benefits of a Small Business Cybersecurity Partner

Paying for preventative security can be a tough pill to swallow for many small businesses. Like insurance, it is not exciting to pay to protect against something that may not happen. We get it. However, attacks against small businesses are becoming more frequent, and more impactful- 43% of all cyberattacks target small businesses and 60% of small businesses that experience a cyberattack go out of business within six months. That is a level of threat to your business that should not go unaccounted for.  

The positive news is, having a cybersecurity partner can not only protect your company from cyberattacks, but it may also bring benefits that you had not yet considered.

Freeing Up Resources

A cybersecurity partner removes the burden of someone in your company having to spend valuable time, energy, and resources trying to educate themselves on cybersecurity while simultaneously trying to implement some of the knowledge they have learned to secure your business. Instead, that individual now has the time to focus on their actual job that supports your company’s growth.

Peace of Mind

If you own and operate your business, having a cybersecurity partner gives you freedom. The added peace of mind of knowing your business is protected “is real freedom to run your business. It takes the fear and concern in your brain and puts it in someone else’s hands,” someone with expertise in preventing disaster to your business. Offloading the fear factor of a cyber breach is a de-stressor almost as good as a beach vacation, or so we’ve heard.

“We knew we could be doing more to protect our business. But, there’s no way to keep up with the constant onslaught of cyber threats and risks that could impact us. Sidechain has given us the peace of mind we needed and the confidence of always having an expert in our corner.”

Protect Your Small Business from Cyber Threats

If you are looking for the peace of mind that comes from protecting your business from cyber threats, check out our free digital security assessment to find out how you can better secure your company. If having a dedicated, nationally recognized cybersecurity team in your corner sounds even better, reach out to us to find out how we will help protect your business from attacks so you can focus on what you do best, growing profits.