6 Pitfalls of Ignoring Regulatory Compliance

Ignoring regulatory compliance could have dire consequences for your business. There is minimal leeway when it comes to these types of laws, so it’s better to be safe than sorry by getting your data organized and compliant today. Fortunately, our team at Aparavi has cloud-based, secure systems to help you organize your data and keep it completely compliant. Don’t make regulatory compliance mistakes by ignoring the laws.

6 Pitfalls of Ignoring Regulatory Compliance

1. You Can Lose a Lot of Money

Regulatory non-compliance can cost you a lot of money in the long run. Even if your company has insurance, you still could need to pay exorbitant fines for not following regulatory rules. The fines could easily swamp smaller organizations that don’t have deep pockets. Smaller companies also usually don’t have legal teams to help them navigate compliance complaints. If you aren’t compliant, you’re taking a huge gamble.

Sanctions and Fees

One very popular way of punishing non-compliant companies is serving them with large sanctions or fees. Generally, these fees are doled out for each non-compliant activity, so they can add up quickly. Although sometimes you can negotiate terms with the state or government, you will be expected to pay back the sanctions or fees in full.

Customer Compensation

Depending on the level of non-compliance and what areas of your company are affected, you may be liable for customer compensation. If a large number of customers are affected, this type of compensation can easily deal a huge blow to your business. Although customer compensation is not as common of a punishment, it still does happen depending on what regulatory law you violated or ignored and if personal information was disclosed.

2. You Miss Important Legislation


Regulatory legislation can change quickly, especially if there is tremendous political pressure to protect consumers. If you ignore the law, you will miss the changes and could jeopardize your business by incurring additional fines or sanctions. You should also keep your employees abreast of any changes that are happening, as they might need to change the way that they work to be compliant.

Although regulatory legislation can certainly be confusing, it’s in your best interest to stay on top of things. One of the best ways that you can protect yourself is to keep your data organized and secure using a cloud-based platform so that it’s easy to access. This way, you will know exactly what you’re dealing with, and keeping up with compliance will be a breeze.

3. Your Employees Could Be Negatively Affected

Regulatory compliance isn’t just an annoying set of laws that you need to follow; it can actually help your employees be safer and happier at work. Compliance is required for a reason, and the protection generally trickles down. Unregulated markets or products can hurt end consumers, and a lack of proper workplace safety regulations might hurt your employees.

Ultimately, staying compliant will keep you clear of fines and sanctions and allow you to sleep better at night because you know that both your team and customers are protected.

4. Your Company’s Reputation Could Suffer

Non-compliance can negatively impact your company’s reputation, especially if you are in an industry that deals with sensitive data or customer information. Simply put, it can look sloppy and unprofessional when you don’t comply with regulatory laws, and your customers could switch to another competitor that has all of their ducks in a row, especially if a major data breach occurs.

One of the best ways to boost your reputation is to prove that you can be trusted to comply with the law, as well as keep your customer’s data protected. Our team can help you come up with a plan to keep your data in one secure, cloud-based system that eliminates duplication and promotes compliance.

5. You Could Put a Bullseye on Your Company


The ripple effects of non-compliance could last far longer than the initial fines or sanctions. When you don’t comply with regulatory legislation, you risk putting a bullseye on your company for future audits. You could have to hire someone in-house to do your audits on a regular basis, or even have to deal with audits from the state department or IRS.

Instead of risking future headaches, get compliant today. The sooner you start the process, the quicker you will be up to speed on all of the regulatory laws for your particular state, country, or vertical. As a result, you will rest easier and enjoy the positive side effects of accessible, organized, and secure data.

6. You May Face Imprisonment

The consequences could be dire for serious or prolonged cases of non-compliance. Depending on the severity of your violation, and if sensitive customer data was compromised, you could actually face criminal charges or massive fees. Although this is a worst-case scenario, it is something that does happen from time to time. Business owners are almost always the ones who face jail time or huge fines.

Your company could also be shut down, either because it was forced to do so by government officials, or because the fines and sanctions bankrupted your organization. It’s not an exaggeration to say that non-compliance could literally force you to go out of business. Although the vast majority of companies who skirt compliance laws don’t need to close their doors, it’s still a possibility.

If you aren’t up to date with your regulatory compliance, we can help. The Aparavi Platform helps you to comply with regulatory requirements by classifying your unstructured data and automating data retention policies. We remove the risk of human error and allow you to seamlessly find and organize documents across the multiple storage repositories that contain your company’s valuable data, in one secure, cloud-based environment. Complete compliance is well within your reach with our help, and it’s time to get started now. Contact Aparavi today for a pressure-free consultation on how you can better manage your data and serve your customers.