Does Your Business Offer Free WiFi?

We’ve all been there before: trapped in a waiting room with no bars on our phone. Or stuck on a plane with an out-of-service wifi router staring endlessly at the back of the headrest in front of us. An article on INCORP mentions a survey conducted by Comcast that “showed free Wifi is now one of the best amenities a small ‘Main Street’ business can offer its customers.” Obviously, Comcast has some skin in the game when it comes to buying Wifi for your business, but the fact remains that having free access to the internet tends to keep customers patiently waiting and in your business longer. And as we all know, staying longer can help encourage customers to spend more.

There are downsides to offering free customer Wifi and not every business would benefit from encouraging patrons to stick around all day (which invariably happens at your local Starbucks). If you do decide that free customer Wifi is right for your business the experts recommend setting up “super-secure” Wifi access for your customers and to create a separate network for your employees to protect your business data.

The Pikes Peak SBDC has a program called Cyber: CYA (Cover Your Assets) that can help you protect you and your business against cyber threats and make you feel a little easier should you decide to offer free wifi to your customers. You can even go on their website and request a business risk assessment.

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