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When you start up a new business, you’ll probably find that you rely on the internet and technology more than you’d have originally thought you would. Chances are you’ll need the internet to operate your business. More and more small businesses are starting out online before taking on more traditional commitments, such as a brick and mortar store or office space. Your website is where your customers will browse your products, familiarise themselves with your brand and ultimately make purchases. So, you need to keep your website up and running around the clock to make sure you don’t miss out on sales or enticing new customers. You’ll need your tech to do your work. This could include sending emails, placing orders for your base stock, creating and publishing blog posts, updating your social media feeds and more. In short, if your tech fails you, your whole business could go down and you could experience financial loss to an unprecedented level. So, what can you do to keep things up and running all the time? The most reliable, cheap and simple way to achieve this practical goal is to make sure you have an IT team on hand to prevent issues and resolve any issues that do manage to arise. You also need to protect your hardware, so you can have your computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone ready to go as and when you need it. Let’s take a little further look into these two areas!
IT Support
Software problems can be extremely difficult for the average person to rectify. Sure, there are troubleshooting guides and a number of tutorials out there that can guide you through most problems. But they’re so filled with jargon and require such specialist knowledge that they’re not of much use to many of us anyway. Software is essentially anything that exists within your computer. It could involve files saved to your computer, items placed on your desktop, computer programs that you use to work, your email system or anything else on your computer or other device that you use. Software problems can involve programs crashing or freezing, your mouse not responding on-screen, virus or malware problems slowing the speed at which your system operates and much more. But don’t worry too much. There are a number of IT firms and specialists out there who will work for you on a freelance, remote basis and resolve things with methods like Backup and Disaster Recovery. Using their services will prove much cheaper and place a whole lot less responsibility on your shoulders than building a full time, employed, in-house IT support team.
Fixing Hardware
Hardware is pretty much the parts of your tech you can touch. Your computers themselves. Your laptops. Your tablets. Your smartphones. Your mouse. Your keyboard. Your leads and cables. Your memory sticks. Your SD cards. These things tend to be sturdy but can experience damage or wear and tear through accidents and long term use. Make sure you have everything insured and it can be repaired or replaced quickly and easily should you need.
Sure, these are the basics of managing your IT. But hopefully, the above advice will help you get started out in the right direction with as few bumps in the road as possible.
