For small businesses, the pressure to get compliant quickly can be immense. You might have come across companies promising lightning-fast results. Claims like “SOC 2 in 2 months!” or “Instant ISO 27001 certification!” can be tempting. But are these promises realistic or are they just feeding on your urgency to achieve compliance?
A potential deal might hinge on having the right certifications, and without them, opportunities can vanish overnight. The urgency to achieve compliance often leads businesses to seek fast solutions, only to fall victim to scams or unrealistic promises. These "quick-fix" approaches frequently result in wasted time, increased costs, and unpreparedness for audits, leaving businesses worse off than before.
This article aims to help you differentiate between what's attainable and what's not when it comes to fast compliance. By understanding the realities of compliance timelines, you can prepare your business for success without falling into traps.
Let’s break down the myths and explore how you can achieve fast, reliable compliance without falling for scams.
When faced with compliance challenges, some small businesses opt to go it alone. While this approach may seem straightforward, it comes with its own set of benefits and drawbacks.
Choosing to manage compliance solo often means navigating unfamiliar territory. While the control and perceived cost savings may appeal, the potential for missteps and delays can outweigh the initial advantages.
For many small businesses, partnering with a Compliance as a Service (CaaS) provider offers a more efficient path. By leveraging expert guidance and tools, businesses can achieve compliance faster and with fewer headaches.
Transitioning from solo efforts to a CaaS provider can feel like a leap of faith, but the right partner can save you significant time and stress. Their expertise ensures that you focus on growing your business while staying compliant.
Getting compliant isn’t something you can accomplish overnight. Much like running a marathon, it requires preparation, training, and execution. Compliance frameworks such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST 800, HIPAA, and CMMC involve processes that ensure your organization’s security, privacy, and operational efficiency.
While it’s possible to streamline the journey and achieve milestones like SOC 2 Type 1 certification in about six months, anything much faster often signals shortcuts that could leave your business exposed to risk.
If you’re looking for the fastest way to get compliant without cutting corners, consider these best practices:
Reality: While you can make significant progress in a few months, proper compliance takes time to implement thoroughly. There’s a difference between being “fast” and being “in a rush.” Rushing can lead to gaps, errors, and audit failures.
Reality: Automation tools can streamline tasks and help track progress, but they don’t interpret regulatory requirements or tailor security controls to your specific business. Expert guidance ensures your compliance strategy is solid and audit-ready.
Reality: Passing an audit means you were compliant at that moment in time. However, achieving compliance is just the beginning. Regulations evolve, security risks change, and audits must be renewed. Maintaining compliance requires ongoing monitoring, updates, and continuous security improvements.
Reality: Many industries require compliance regardless of business size, especially when handling sensitive data. Not being compliant can lead to lost business opportunities, legal penalties, and reputational damage.
Reality: While documentation is crucial, compliance is about implementing real security measures to protect data, prevent breaches, and build customer trust. Paperwork without action won’t protect your business.
For your small business or startup, compliance is about building trust and protecting your operations, not just checking boxes.
Before hiring a Compliance as a Service (CaaS) provider, always ask for proof of their track record. Request client references, success stories, or case studies that demonstrate their ability to deliver results. Additionally, inquire about expected timelines for achieving compliance and compare these with industry benchmarks.
A trustworthy CaaS provider will be transparent about what they can achieve and back it up with evidence. This step not only protects your investment but also ensures you're partnering with a provider who aligns with your small business's goals.
By partnering with a reliable Compliance as a Service provider and using tools like automation, you can streamline your path to certification without sacrificing quality or security.
At BEMO, we’ve experienced the challenges of achieving compliance firsthand. After obtaining our SOC 2 Type 2 certification, we set out to add ISO 27001 to our credentials. Within six months, we achieved our second certification—a significant accomplishment that underscores our expertise and realistic approach to compliance.
Our success was built on careful planning, leveraging automation to reduce manual tasks, and focusing on the overlapping controls between frameworks. Automation played a critical role in streamlining evidence collection, risk assessments, and policy management, enabling us to move efficiently through the process.
As our own customer zero, we test every strategy and tool within our operations before offering them to others. This ensures we only recommend approaches we know can deliver results. If it doesn’t work for us, we don’t pass it on to you.
Remember, the fastest way to get compliant is through careful planning, expert guidance, and a commitment to the process—not shortcuts or empty promises.