What if the biggest business threat isn't your competition or economic downturns? What if it's happening right under your nose, performed by people you trust in amounts so small you barely notice?

We're talking about the three types of theft that good employees, contractors and even clients commit — energy, time, and money — and why by the time you see money disappearing, you're already too late.

This is the first in a four-part series. Coming up: spotting energy theft, identifying time thieves, and when small theft becomes a big financial loss.