The Ultimate Guide To Overcoming The Most Common Tech Problems For Small Businesses

If you run a small business, you know how much you rely on technology to keep things running smoothly. Technology can help you improve your efficiency, reach new customers, and grow your business.

But technology can also be a source of headaches and stress when it doesn't work as expected or puts your data at risk. That's why you need to be aware of the common technology problems that small businesses face and how to avoid them.

Keep reading to learn 3 common technology problems that we see, plus some tips on how to solve them or prevent them from happening in the first place.

Not Meeting Industry-Specific Compliance Requirements

Depending on the industry you operate in, you may have to follow certain rules and regulations that govern how you handle and protect your data. For example, if you’re in healthcare, you need to comply with CQC Standards and if you’re in financial services, there are FCA requirements that your organisation must meet.

Not only that, all businesses, big or small, need to comply with GDPR and take action to protect customer’s private data. You might also need to comply with Cyber Essentials, PCI DSS or other compliance standards.

Compliance is not only a legal obligation, but also a way to protect your business from cyber attacks. If you fail to meet the compliance requirements, you could face fines, lawsuits, and reputational damage. You could also expose your data to hackers who could steal, damage, or ransom it.

The best way to ensure compliance is to work with a managed services provider (MSP) that has experience in your industry. An MSP can help you implement the right software and solutions, such as antivirus, firewalls, encryption, backup, etc., to meet the compliance standards.

They can also help you monitor and audit your systems to make sure you are always up to date and secure.

Not Having A Strategic IT Plan

One of the biggest mistakes we see is a lack of communication and alignment between the business leaders and the IT team. Technology is not just a tool, but a strategic asset that can help you achieve your business goals.

When you involve your IT team in your business planning, you can make better decisions about what technology to invest in, how to optimise your processes, and how to scale your business.

Some of the areas where your IT team can help you are:

• Improving your business operations to make them faster, easier, and more productive.
• Choosing the best software for your specific needs and industry.
• Upgrading your old or outdated hardware and software to avoid issues and security risks.
• Implementing cyber security best practices to protect your data and reputation.
• Moving to the cloud to save costs, increase flexibility, and enhance collaboration.
• Creating a predictable IT budget that doesn't rely on break-fix solutions.

Not Having Enough Cyber Security Protection

Cyber security threats are becoming more sophisticated and frequent every year. You can't afford to ignore them or hope they won't affect you.

Cyber attacks can cause serious damage to your business, such as data loss, downtime, ransom demands, legal liabilities, and loss of trust. You need to protect your data, which includes trade secrets, customer information, employee records, and more, from falling into the wrong hands.

To do that, you need to have a comprehensive cyber security strategy that covers three aspects:

1. Prevention strategies such as such as antivirus, firewalls, multi-factor authentication, etc., to block or deter hackers from accessing your systems, as well as training your employees on how to spot and avoid phishing emails, malicious links, and other common scams.
2. Detection mechanisms including regular scans and monitoring your systems, using endpoint detection and response tools, having a backup and disaster recovery plan, to name a few.
3. Response and recovery action steps so you know what actions to take to respond to and recover from an attack, if it happens.

Are you ready to solve your IT problems once and for all?

Learn more about the common tech problems small businesses face in our latest blog post here.

And if you need help avoiding these problems in your business, book a Free, No-Obligation Assessment with one of our experts. We’ll review your systems to let you know how and where your organisation can better use technology to grow.