by Small businesses are notorious for operating with a skeleton staff. They typically have just enough employees to get the work done, thereby maximizing the budget and not hiring extra people needlessly. And while that may be fine most of the time, when issues do occur there are very few people and resources that you can dedicate to fixing the problem.
IT issues are one of the most common issues to plague businesses and they can result in long periods of downtime. This not only costs the business money but can tick off your customers. So what’s the best way of dealing with IT issues in your small business? Here are some tips.
Always Perform Updates When Offered
While updates aren’t going to eliminate all IT issues, making sure you stay up to date on the latest versions of software does help it to run smoother. Whenever there are updates offered, they should be done immediately or as soon as possible. Updates can include fixes and repairs and patches to software, the operating system, and antivirus applications.
Be sure to also communicate to staff that when they get update alerts on their computer, they need to be done.
Is It Time to Upgrade Your Computers?
At some point, updates won’t be enough to stave off IT issues, and there will come a time that replacing the computers is necessary. Because this can be a costly investment, it’s no wonder that business owners like to put this off as long as possible, but on the flip side, you don’t want to push it so far that the computers become unusable, and work comes to a standstill.
Some of the tell-tale signs that it’s time to replace computers can include:
- Noisy fans that never seem to shut off
- Computers/laptops overheating
- Startup or shutdown takes much longer
- Security issues
- Compatibility issues
- Repairs are getting expensive
- The computer operates slowly
If you’re looking to save money on replacing the computers, you can look into leasing the equipment or purchasing gently used or refurbished computers.
Perform Preventative Maintenance
Preventative maintenance is a way of extending the lifespan of hardware and software and can stop IT issues in their tracks. It won’t always be enough, but it should become a regular practice of the company.
Don’t Deal with Them – Leave It to the Professionals
Then there is the simplest solution, which is to not deal with the IT issues yourself and instead leave it to the professionals. Outsourcing IT support to professionals with experience and knowledge means you’ll get faster solutions without expending any resources in-house. You know if issues pop up, you can contact your IT service provider and they will get on it immediately.
Outsourcing often results in money savings and it’s easy to see why, as there will likely be less downtime and issues will last for shorter periods.
Don’t Panic – There Are Ways to Lower the IT Issues
The important thing for business owners to remember is not to panic when IT issues occur. Ideally, you want to prevent them from happening, which these tips can help with, but outsourcing your IT services can also act as an instant solution.
