The biggest decision a small business owner can make

By Lindsay
The biggest decision a small business owner can make is when they expand.  From 1 to 2 people is a large step.  Not only for the business, but for the IT systems that need to be put in place.

For example a new computer will be needed.  Do you use the old one lying around, or get a new one?  Will you want to share data, or just use USB drives or email to share information?

Will you get a new email address, and if so what will it be?

Will they have access to your accounting system, or will you use another method of recording time/expenses?

Will you get them a new mobile phone or will they use their own?

And if they leave how will you protect your data, contacts, and client history?

My suggestions for the small business (after all I wasn't going to leave you to guess the answers) is a s follows:

• Get a new computer.  If a general purpose computer then any of the Windows 7 computers available at the local computer stores will do.  As for your own computer ensure that it is dedicated to your business, rather than sharing the home computer.  Do not let children use your business computer.  Ensure that you have good anti-virus on your computers.  You should be looking at a product that has some end-point security features, such as web site disabling, removable media disabling.  Sharing data is easy.  I recommend Dropbox (www.dropbox.com).  The US$10/month for 50 Gbytes of data is a good deal.  You can now work remotely, and still have the latest information available to you (both).  It also means your data is backed up.  The free version allows up to 2Gbytes of data to be synchromised, and you can get it here http://db.tt/zvdE9Mb (this is a bit cheeky, its a referral link, if you get dropbox via this link I get extra space on my free dropbox account)

• As for email addresses, you may want to move from the @xtra, @gmail type addresses and get your own domain name (you@yourbusinessname.co.nz).  Options available include hosted Exchange, and at around $50/month for up to 3 users, this may be a start for better email handling.  With hosted Exchange your emails are available on your computer, your smartphone, or any web browser.  And hosted exchange mailboxes are typically very large.  And backed up automatically.

• Access to important business information such as your accounting system needs to be controlled.  A hosted service such as Xero (www.xero.co.nz) allows for controlled user access.  Being web based means that you can access your system 24hrs of the day, from any web browser.  And your data is automatically backed up.  A job management system such as WorkflowMax (www.workflowmax.co.nz) allows time and costs to be tracked, and then either invoices generated from the system, or transferred accross to Xero for actioning.  Both Xero and WorkflowMax can be accessed from any web browser or Smartphone.

• You will buy a new phone for your new employee.  It remains yours so that if they leave, you keep it.  A Iphone or Android phone will be set up to receive your emails from your Hosted email service, access your job management system etc.  In this way you can be running your business 24 hours per day.

• Protecting your data means at the physical level, the employees computer and phone are yours.  When they leave they stay.  Change passwords on your hosted applications, and they can no longer access your data.

In Summary from the IT side, adding a new employee is relatively painless when using the new 'cloud' based services.  As these services are subscription based (excpet for the hardware that you will need), then capital expenses are minimised, and operational costs go in step with the number of employees that you have.