What is a small business? The U. S. Census Bureau defines small businesses as those organizations having “firm revenue (ranging from $1 million to over $40 million) and by employment (from 100 to over 1,500 employees).” But if you are a small business owner, you know the challenges of running your organization don’t always seem “small.”
In the movie, Apollo 13, Gene Kranz famously remarked, “Failure is not an option.” You may have adopted that motto, but in reality “18% of small businesses fail within their first year, while 50% fail after five years and approximately 65% by their tenth year in business,” according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. So why do these businesses fail?
World renown business strategist, Tony Robbins, cites 14 reasons. Of the items he cites, several relate directly to the organization’s IT strategy and performance. Let’s look at three of them.
- An Ineffective Business Plan
You may have the expertise to develop a solid growth plan for your business, but do you include an IT strategy in your plans? Today’s businesses rely heavily on their IT systems and tools; it’s vital you integrate your IT strategy with the growth plans for the other areas of their business.
Hardware can fail; software becomes obsolete in light of new technology. Your budget should consider the needs of your IT infrastructure, building a system that can grow with your business.
- A Lack of Innovation
How well can your business scale? Can you quickly adapt your practices and processes to a changing business climate? The Covid pandemic pushed organizations to rapidly adapt to the new work-from-home culture. Companies that successfully pivoted to the remote and hybrid work environments adopted innovative collaboration tools enabling their employees to work effectively from anywhere.
The increase in remote workers also saw a spike in cybersecurity threats. Employees working from anywhere too easily opened internal networks to bad actors. The new paradigm demanded newer and more secure virtual private network (VPN) tools.
- A Fear of Business Failure
Fear of failure can prove paralyzing in any situation, but allowing the fear of business failure to distract you can prove fatal. Many organizations focus on the things within their control, but too many businesses fail to recognize the unanticipated threats to their valuable IT infrastructure and proprietary data.
Power and equipment failures, manmade and natural disasters, and cybersecurity attacks can bring down a network resulting in loss of data and productivity. A wise organization not only maintains its IT infrastructure, it also creates and periodically reviews its Disaster Recovery Plans.
An IT department must employ IT professionals who know how to create a hardy IT strategy, how to design an efficient IT infrastructure, how to keep the network working, how to create and maintain effective backup and recovery plans, and how to address cybersecurity threats. The professionals need ongoing training and licensing.
Managed IT Service Providers (MSPs) employ licensed, trained professionals who not only help you maintain your IT infrastructure, they also offer consulting services to help you develop a solid IT strategy and budget. Contracting with an MSP saves you recruiting expenses and employee benefits costs and gives you the comfort of knowing your network is being maintained by trained professionals.
An MSP provides the IT support for small businesses allowing you, as a small business owner, to focus on what you do best, growing your organization.
Contact Us for more information