6 reasons that your small business needs dedicated IT Support
Small business owners tend to wear lots of hats, serving as CEO, accountant, HR, sales, web developer, and more. However, as your company grows, it’s important to recognize that certain tasks are best left to specialists. Just because you can do your own taxes doesn’t mean that is an efficient use of your time. The same is true for IT solutions – while in the earliest days it may have made sense to do it yourself, as your company grows so too does its need for dedicated IT support.
If you aren’t yet convinced that your small business or startup could benefit from hiring an IT company, keep reading to see 6 ways that a dedicated IT support company can help your company grow.
Reduce downtime
Downtime is a nuisance that comes in many different forms. Whether it’s lost data, computers not working, or network problems, downtime is the time when a machine or computer is out of action or unable to be used.
When the machines responsible for running your business aren’t working, you’re losing money. How much do you think it costs your company when the WiFi goes down and no one can complete their work? Staff costs are one of your biggest expenses, and when your systems are offline you’re still paying your team even though they aren’t able to generate revenue!
The risks of downtime go beyond workers simply sitting idle – if you have any computer-assisted data tracking going down then your staff may take matters into their own hands. This means your carefully built inventory management or sales tracking systems get bypassed, with data ending up on sticky-notes or improvised word documents. The additional time necessary to consolidate these data streams is problematic by itself, but the risk of this data never finding its way back to your servers is very real.
Increase worker productivity
Having IT services available full-time prevents productivity loss. The less time your employees are sitting around waiting for things to load the more time they have to produce quality work. Good equipment, accompanied by IT support services, will ensure the success of your employees by giving them less obstacles to maneuver around.
Improve cybersecurity
On any given day if you tune into the news you’ll likely hear about a new security breach – usually directed against some large corporation or government organization. However, don’t think that because your company is small that you’re flying under the radar. In 2020, 43% of all cyber attacks were committed against small businesses and the average cost to recover from an attack was $200,000.
Even with cybersecurity insurance the out of pocket costs of malware or ransomware attacks can be enormous. But you can reduce this risk by employing an IT services provider who can ensure your IT infrastructure is kept up to date against these emerging threats. Your small business IT support will prevent data loss by implementing data backup software and cloud storage solutions.
Cost Savings
For small companies and startups, technology is typically your second biggest expense – just behind payroll. With their broader knowledge of the IT industry, IT experts can help you find the most cost-effective software and hardware solutions. Sometimes that may take the form of new technology, while other times it could be as simple as an off-the-shelf Microsoft product. By working with an IT consulting company you’ll make the most of your technology budget.
Trusted Business Consultant as your business grows
When you first launched your startup it might not have made sense to include an IT department. However, as your company grows so too does its IT needs. What at first was simple will have grown in both scale and scope – a problem made more difficult by the simple fact that IT as an industry is constantly evolving too!
Having a managed service provider will help your company stay abreast of industry changes and allow your IT infrastructure to grow with your company.
Leverage a team of experts
Time is something we all find ourselves wishing we had more of – after all every day only has 24 hours. And, as a small business owner each additional person you hire represents more hours on payroll. This can make hiring an in-house tech support person a difficult proposition, particularly since one person can only hope to accomplish so much. Thankfully outsourcing this role to a managed service provider offers significant advantages.
Rather than working with a single IT professional, your company will have an entire IT support team at its disposal. This gives you access to a wider range of expertise than any single person could provide, with each member of their team bringing a unique specialization or skillset.
Conclusion
IT support may not be glamorous, but it is a cornerstone of successful companies. From reducing downtime to protecting you from cyberattack to helping your IT infrastructure scale over time, a dedicated IT support company is an asset that will quickly show returns.