Most small businesses don’t have an IT person. Tech gets sorted when it breaks, usually at the worst possible time. These five basics prevent most of the emergencies I see.
1. Backups that you’ve actually tested
Plenty of businesses have a backup. Far fewer have checked they can get files back from it. Make sure important files, accounts and email are backed up automatically, and try restoring a file now and then. A backup you can’t restore from isn’t a backup.
2. Two-step sign-in on everything important
Turn on two-step verification for email, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, banking, accounting software and your website. Most business account takeovers start with a reused or phished password, and two-step sign-in stops most of them.
3. Keep guest Wi-Fi separate
If customers use your Wi-Fi, give them a separate guest network, kept apart from your EFTPOS, POS and office computers. It’s quick to set up on most modern routers and keeps strangers off the network your payments run on.
4. Make sure the business owns its accounts
Your domain, email admin account and key logins should be in the business’s name, with passwords you control, not tied to a former staff member, web designer or relative. I see a lot of businesses locked out of their own website or email because of this.
5. Have a plan for when people leave
When staff leave, remove their access the same day, change shared passwords, and wipe or reassign their devices. When someone new starts, set them up properly from the beginning. A simple checklist makes both quick.
Want a hand?
I help sole traders and small teams in Wellington with this sort of thing in the evenings and at weekends, so it doesn’t interrupt your trading day. Have a look at small business IT support, or text me on 020 453 2233.