Small Business CCTV Setup: Complete Guide to Protecting Your Business in 2025
Is your small business vulnerable to theft, vandalism, or false liability claims?
You're not alone—Australian small businesses lose an estimated $9 billion annually to theft and security incidents. As a business owner, you've worked too hard building your company to leave it unprotected.
Here's the thing though—I talk to business owners every week who tell me the same story. They knew they needed cameras. They'd been thinking about it for months, sometimes years. But every time they started looking into it, they got overwhelmed by all the technical jargon and conflicting advice online.
A properly configured small business CCTV setup provides 24/7 surveillance, deters criminal activity, protects against false claims, and gives you remote oversight of your operations. But with countless camera types, storage options, and installation approaches available, knowing where to start can feel overwhelming.
This guide walks you through everything you need to establish a professional CCTV system for your small business—from determining coverage requirements and selecting appropriate cameras to understanding legal compliance and ongoing maintenance. Whether you're protecting a retail store, warehouse, office, or multi-location operation, you'll discover the exact steps to implement security infrastructure that safeguards your assets, employees, and peace of mind.
What Equipment Do I Need for a Small Business CCTV System?
A complete small business CCTV setup requires seven core components:
Security cameras: (4-16 cameras depending on business size and layout)
Network Video Recorder: (NVR) or Digital Video Recorder (DVR) for footage storage
Hard drive storage: (minimum 2TB, recommended 4-8TB for 30-day retention)
Power supply: (PoE switch for IP cameras or individual power adapters)
Network infrastructure: (Cat6 cabling for wired systems or reliable WiFi for wireless)
Monitor or display for viewing live footage and playback
Mounting hardware: (brackets, junction boxes, and weatherproof housings for outdoor cameras)
Optional enhancements include backup power (UPS), cloud storage subscriptions, mobile viewing apps, and advanced analytics software.
Understanding Your Small Business CCTV Requirements
Look, before you start shopping for cameras or calling installers, you gotta understand what you're actually trying to protect. I've seen too many business owners waste money on systems that either don't cover the right areas or go way overboard on stuff they don't need.
Assessing Your Security Vulnerabilities
Every business has different weak points. A retail store in Fortitude Valley has completely different concerns than a warehouse in Eagle Farm or a medical practice in Carindale.
The areas that get hit most often:
Entry and exit points - This is where 73% of break-ins happen
Cash handling areas - Registers, safes, anywhere money changes hands
Inventory storage - High-value stock, especially stuff that's easy to resell
Blind spots - Those corners where employees think nobody's watching
Here's what I tell people: Walk through your business like you're planning to rob it. Sounds weird, I know, but it works. Where would you go? What would you take? How would you get in and out without being seen? Those are your vulnerable spots.
Determining Camera Coverage Needs
The formula I use is roughly 1 camera per 500-800 square feet for general coverage. But that's just a starting point.
Strategic placement beats blanket coverage every time.
Here's my rule of thumb for camera counts:
Small retail (under 1,500 sq ft): 4-6 cameras
Medium retail (1,500-4,000 sq ft): 6-10 cameras
Large retail or warehouse (4,000-10,000 sq ft): 10-16 cameras
Office space (per 2,000 sq ft): 3-5 cameras
Multi-location businesses: Minimum 4-6 per location
The biggest mistake? Leaving gaps between camera coverage zones. If someone can walk from your back door to your storage area without being on camera, you've got a problem. There should be some overlap in coverage, especially in high-risk areas.
Essential CCTV Equipment Components
Security Camera Types Explained
There's four main camera types you'll see, and each one has its place.
Bullet cameras: are those long cylindrical ones you see pointed at parking lots. They're highly visible, which is actually the point. They're weatherproof, handle outdoor conditions well, and typically have good night vision range.
I use bullet cameras for perimeter coverage, parking areas, loading docks—anywhere you want that deterrent factor and need to cover distance outdoors.
Dome cameras: are the half-sphere ones you see in shopping centers. They're way more discreet, and here's the clever bit—it's really hard to tell exactly where they're pointing. They come in vandal-resistant housings, which matters if they're within reach of people.
These work brilliantly for indoor coverage, customer areas in retail, reception areas, anywhere you need surveillance without making customers feel like they're being interrogated.
PTZ cameras: (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) are the fancy ones that can move and zoom. For covering large open areas like warehouse floors or parking lots, one PTZ can sometimes replace three or four fixed cameras. The catch? They can only look at one spot at a time.
IP cameras vs. analog—this matters more than you'd think.
Analog cameras: use coax cables and connect to a DVR. They're older technology, but the image quality maxes out around 1080p and they're harder to expand later.
IP cameras use your network (Ethernet cables) and connect to an NVR. Better image quality (up to 4K), easier to add more cameras later, and you can access them remotely more easily. This is what I recommend for pretty much every new installation now.
Resolution and Image Quality Requirements
Resolution minimum: 1080p (2MP). Anything less is pretty much useless for identification purposes. I had a client who tried to use 720p cameras they got cheap online. When someone broke in, the footage was so blurry they couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman, let alone identify them.
For most applications, 4MP (2560x1440) is the sweet spot. Good enough to identify faces clearly at 15-20 feet, license plates at 30 feet, and it doesn't require massive storage like 4K cameras do.
When to go higher resolution:
Cash registers where you need to see transactions clearly
Entry points where facial recognition matters
Areas where you need to read documents or screens
Frame rate matters too. Minimum 15fps, but I recommend 30fps for any area where you might need smooth playback to see exactly what happened.
Night vision is non-negotiable for any outdoor cameras and most indoor applications. Look for infrared (IR) range of at least 20-30 meters.
Camera Placement and Coverage Strategy
This is where I see the most mistakes. People buy great equipment then mount it in completely the wrong spots, wrong angles, wrong heights.
Critical Areas Requiring Surveillance
Every entry and exit point—no exceptions.
Front doors, back doors, side doors, loading docks, emergency exits, even windows that could be accessed from ground level. If someone can get in or out through it, it needs a camera pointed at it.
Your cash handling areas need multiple angles.
One camera on the register from above showing transactions, another showing the employee's face and hands. Why both? Because when cash goes missing, you need to see exactly what happened.
High-value inventory and storage areas need coverage. Whatever's most expensive or most likely to get stolen in your business—that needs cameras.
Employee-only areas deserve attention too, but you can't put cameras in bathrooms, changing rooms, or anywhere employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy. That's not just creepy, it's illegal.
Here's my priority ranking system:
Tier 1 (Must-have): All entry/exit points, cash registers, main inventory areas
Tier 2 (Should-have): Customer areas, employee spaces, parking lots
Tier 3 (Nice-to-have): Perimeter coverage, secondary storage, additional overview angles
Optimal Camera Mounting Heights and Angles
For facial recognition: 5-8 feet mounting height, 15-30 degree downward angle.
This is the sweet spot for getting clear face shots of people as they walk through. Too high and you just see the tops of heads. Too low and hats or hoods block everything.
For general surveillance: 8-12 feet for wider coverage.
Most cameras have a field of view between 80-110 degrees. At 10 feet high, a 90-degree camera covers roughly a 20-foot diameter circle directly below it.
Common positioning mistakes that kill your footage:
Backlighting is the worst. Don't position cameras facing windows or bright lights. During the day, anyone walking in front of that window becomes a dark silhouette—completely useless for identification.
Weatherproofing for outdoor cameras isn't optional. Brisbane weather is brutal on electronics—humidity, storms, intense sun. Look for cameras rated IP66 or IP67 minimum.
Avoiding Blind Spots and Coverage Gaps
Camera overlap in critical areas is your insurance policy.
Any high-risk area—entries, exits, safes, expensive inventory—should be visible from at least two cameras at different angles.
Legal Compliance and Privacy Considerations
Before you install a single camera, you must understand the legal framework governing business surveillance in Australia—non-compliance can result in significant fines and legal liability.
Australian Privacy Laws for Business Surveillance
The Privacy Act 1988 governs how you can use surveillance in your business.
Here's the key principle: You can use CCTV for legitimate business purposes—security, preventing theft, protecting employees and customers. What you can't do is use it to unreasonably invade someone's privacy or collect more information than you need.
Employee notification is required, no exceptions.
You must tell employees they're being monitored. This usually means including CCTV policies in employee handbooks, mentioning it during hiring, and having visible signage.
Some business owners try to hide cameras to catch employee theft. Bad idea. Even if you catch someone stealing, the evidence might not be admissible because you collected it illegally.
Queensland-specific considerations:
If you're operating in Queensland (Brisbane and surrounding areas), workplace surveillance laws require you to notify employees at least 14 days before you start monitoring them in the workplace.
Required Signage and Notifications
Visible signage at all entry points—this isn't optional.
Anyone entering your premises needs to know they may be recorded. The signs need to be clear and visible. I recommend A4 size minimum (about 8x12 inches) with clear text and CCTV camera icons.
What your signage needs to say:
"This area is under 24-hour CCTV surveillance for security purposes. For inquiries contact [Business Name] on [phone number]."
Employee notification goes beyond signage.
Your employee handbook should have a section on workplace surveillance explaining what areas are monitored, why you have surveillance, how footage is stored, and who can access it.
Data Storage and Access Policies
Who can access your footage? This needs clear rules.
Limit access to specific people—typically the business owner, manager, and maybe one or two other designated staff.
How long should you keep recordings?
For most businesses, 30 days is standard. That's long enough to catch and investigate incidents but not so long you're accumulating unnecessary personal information.
Secure storage is your responsibility.
Your NVR should be in a locked room or cabinet that not just anyone can access. For cloud storage, use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication.
Ongoing Maintenance and System Management
Your CCTV system will fail when you need it most if you don't maintain it. Not might fail, will fail.
Regular Maintenance Tasks
Camera lens cleaning—monthly for outdoor, quarterly for indoor.
Outdoor cameras accumulate dirt, dust, pollen, spider webs, water spots from rain. In Brisbane's climate with high humidity and seasonal storms, outdoor cameras need attention.
Storage health monitoring—check this monthly minimum.
Log into your NVR and check storage capacity. How much space is left? How many days of retention do you actually have?
Firmware and software updates—quarterly at minimum.
Camera and NVR manufacturers regularly release firmware updates that fix security vulnerabilities, add features, and improve stability.
System Testing and Performance Monitoring
Monthly test footage review—actually watch what's being recorded.
Pick a different camera each month and review several hours of footage. You're checking image quality, recording continuity, motion detection accuracy, time stamp accuracy, and night vision performance.
Testing catches problems before they cost you.
Your Next Steps to Business Security
You understand small business CCTV setup requirements, equipment options, installation considerations, legal compliance, and how to maximize the value of your investment.
Here's what to do next:
Walk through your business and identify vulnerable areas
Count how many cameras you actually need
Talk to professional installers and get quotes
Follow the guidelines in this article
Maintain your system consistently
Most businesses are protected and operational within 2-3 weeks from initial consultation to system going live.
Your business represents years of hard work and significant investment. Protecting it properly isn't optional—it's common sense business management.
Take action now while you have the knowledge and motivation. Your future self will thank you when your small business CCTV setup catches a thief, prevents a fraudulent claim, or simply lets you sleep soundly knowing your business is properly protected.
