Most small businesses in DFW don't have an IT person. They have an owner who figures it out, a nephew who "knows computers," or nothing at all. That's fine until something breaks or gets hacked — and then it's very expensive.
These aren't advanced topics. They're the five things we see missing most often when a client calls us in a panic.
Not "I think there's a backup somewhere." A real backup running automatically to a second location every night. For files, OneDrive or Google Drive works fine. For a website, a separate copy sitting on cloud storage. The question to ask yourself: if your computer died tonight, what would you lose? If the answer is anything important, you don't have a real backup.
Your staff is reusing passwords. Or storing them in a spreadsheet. Or writing them on a sticky note. One of those gets compromised and you spend a weekend changing access to everything. Bitwarden is free, works across devices, and takes about 30 minutes to set up for a small team. There's no good reason not to use one.
Your email account is the master key to everything. Password reset for your bank? Goes to email. Social media recovery? Email. If someone gets into your Gmail or Outlook, they own your business accounts. Turn on two-factor now — it takes 5 minutes and makes this attack nearly impossible. This one alone prevents most of the account takeovers we see.
If customers connect to your WiFi, they should not be on the same network as your point-of-sale system, your computers, or your security cameras. Most modern routers let you set up a guest network in 10 minutes. This isn't paranoia. It's standard practice for any business that handles customer payments.
Not your nephew. A real person with experience in small business IT who will answer the phone. Having a relationship with an IT consultant before something breaks means the problem gets fixed fast. Waiting until you're down to find someone means you're paying emergency rates and hoping for the best. The relationship is worth more than any single fix.
None of these require expensive software or a full-time hire. Most can be set up in an afternoon. The cost of not doing them — a ransomware attack, a hacked email, a lost hard drive — is almost always thousands of dollars and days of downtime.
If you're not sure where your business stands on any of these, that's exactly what an IT consultation is for. We work with small businesses at $100 to $150 per hour, no retainer required. We'll tell you what you need, what you don't, and give you a plain-English list of exactly what to do next.