Small business owners will often depend on technology quite a lot. Everything from computers to smartphones and even broadband can be taken for granted when they work. I'm sure you get mad at the provider when it suffers an outage. If you want to make sure that your company does not fall into this same pattern, or if you want to make sure that you are making the best tech decisions, then this is the guide for you.
Choosing Equipment based on Cost
The last thing that you want is to make the mistake of researching things like cheap laptops. Sure, as a small business, you may feel as though you are somewhat bootstrapped and working on a shoestring budget, but if you go out and buy cheap a cheap device that is essential to your company, then this can be unwise, and it can also be short-sighted.
It is also one of the biggest mistakes that business owners make. The cheapest stuff out there is not always suited to business use. In most instances, it does not come with a decent warranty, and you may also find that it often lacks support. Worst, it is not usually made with a build that can last either. If you buy cheap, you will probably end up buying twice.
Small business owners often find that they spend thousands of hours in front of their computers, and you should see it as one of the top tools of the trade. There are credit deals available if you believe that your budget is tight. Companies will do themselves a favour if they buy a computer suited to regular and heavy use, so be mindful of this if you can.
Assuming Things Will Not Happen
It is often easy to forget about how critical business back-ups are. There is always a demographic of people that do not prioritize backing up where possible. The people who have experienced data loss in the past and had to deal with the fallout are usually more sensitive to that type of thing.
Ensuring that data loss does not happen is not something you can put down to just your IT team. You should be constantly trying to back up and update, not to mention that if you keep pushing your backup reminders, the IT team will not be able to perform magic and restore your data when your drive fails. You have to do your part because if you do not, this will go on to impact you.
Using Friends for Technical Jobs
Having a family member put together your site can be a way to save money, but you will probably end up spending way more in the long run. Sure, there are great people out there who may be able to put something together, but the issue with this is that arrangements can fall apart later on; This is the last thing you need. You may find that they unravel the most when someone from your IT department has to set up something, and there is just no professional documentation that explains how it all works together. If you want to make sure that your site does not fall prey to issues like this, then it is a good idea for you to make sure that you explore managed IT services.
Allowing BYOD
BYOD stands for Bring Your Device. It is one of the main mistakes that so many start-ups make; This is very common if you look at younger start-ups if everyone working there is somewhat tech-savvy.
Many companies allow you to use your device, but this privilege comes with rules and regulations. It is not hard to see what kind of damage BYOD can do to your company either. To begin with, you may find that unrestricted use of a device means that you have data all over the place and that you do not have a good encryption process to ensure data security and integrity.
You may also find that it puts your company in a very sticky situation with legal compliance in general. A BYOD also opens the organization to virus infection and may find its way onto a company system, creating dire consequences. Once again, please remember that even a fraction of knowledge is dangerous.
If you try to cut costs by convincing your team that your company is just too small to manage tech properly, it will come back to bite you later.
Falling for a Sales Pitch
For a lot of small company owners, tech is evil. They may have to use computers every day, but they probably have no interest in understanding the intricacies. Unfortunately, people like this tend to be easy pickings for a lot.
If you do not want to be a target, you need to try and make sure you do what you can to learn the basics of what you need. Companies often announce that they have signed up for a bespoke CRM system or a bespoke database. The problem is that people who hate tech are often drawn in by solutions that will solve all of their problems.
Implementing such a system can easily lead to a crap tone of new issues; This is the last thing you want. The ultimate reality here is that you need to invest a lot of time in research, and you also need to learn that easy solutions are not what works. An IT company should be able to advise you here, but a lot of it comes down to you simply trying to understand your needs as a company.
