Technology has made it much easier for small businesses to compete with the big boys. Automation has made it easier for small businesses to do more with fewer employees. Technology saves both time and money, but one glitch in your tech and the whole operation can quickly come crashing to the ground. We place a lot of trust in technology to keep our businesses flowing efficiently, but there are major IT mistakes that small businesses make when it comes to their IT.
No tech is foolproof. Make sure you hire IT experts to help you troubleshoot.
Technology requires a technology department
You may be able to do more with fewer employees if you have the right technology. However, if you are relying on IT to keep your business competitive, you have to work out a way to have an IT department. No technology is foolproof, and most business owners aren’t IT experts. Signing up for managed IT services is like giving your tech a safety net, and ensuring that the time and money you save don’t all go up in cyber-smoke when something goes wrong, or a system fails.
Hiring IT experts
Hiring one IT expert to manage your IT and provide tech support is more cost-effective than having an office full of people who only know a little about tech. One of the biggest IT mistakes a company can make is to not hire people with an expert knowledge of the tech that you are using. When something goes wrong, you need the problem to be fixed quickly, or you lose business. Having a few employees double as tech support because they fancy themselves tech-savvy is not a viable solution for business. You may be saving money in the beginning, but the cost of fixing a problem using non-experts could cost you a lot more in the long run.
If your business relies on technology, you need to get adequate tech support.
Using the latest software
Cyber security is one of the biggest concerns for small businesses, but also an area where many tend to be woefully inadequate. While they are busy keeping up with business, many forget to update software or end up doing things that could compromise their system. Do not save money by working with software that is not completely updated to the latest versions, and always make sure that you have budgeted for proper cyber security measures.
Back it up
Losing all or part of your data is tantamount to death for a small business. One of the biggest mistakes that you can make is to not have an adequate backup system in place for your data. Many IT services will offer backup solutions for small businesses that are easily scaleable to minimize the costs. As your business grows, so will your backup solutions.
Proper tech support for your small business
Technology is becoming smarter, more efficient, and more innovative, helping small businesses everywhere. However, without proper IT solutions and tech support, your business may not be able to survive. Technology crashes every day, so make sure you don’t make the mistake of not allowing for adequate tech support to help keep your business competitive.
