Many small business owners start out doing their own IT work. They register their own domain name, setup emails through their domain registrar, acquire a second-hand computer and maybe a cheap multi-function printer, and they set out to do business. Some run into seemingly small issues that they continue to put up with because IT support is seen as an unnecessary or unaffordable expense. Eventually they reach a point where they realise the small issue is costing them a lot of time. Here are a few examples I’ve come across over the past year:
· A tradie setup his own domain and registered his emails through a cheap provider. His mailbox has a 5GB limit which he has now reached. He doesn’t remember who is hosting his emails and the available records are too vague identify the host company.
Result – we can’t increase his mailbox limit, so he has to continuously clear out old emails. We’ve recommended migrating him to Microsoft 365.
· A professional firm leased a printer but couldn’t setup scan to email. As a work around they used scan to folder instead, but it would only work with one of their laptops meaning that scanning wasn’t possible when this person was out of the office. They put up with this for 6 months.
Total time to fix – 1 hour.
· In another professional firm, one staff member couldn’t print so had to email documents to their colleague to print for them. This meant they couldn’t print at all if their colleague was out of the office. They put up with this for over 6 months.
Total time to fix – 15 minutes.
· The same firm spent hours at the end of each day manually filing their sent emails into client folders. This had reached the stage where they had given up, which was impacting their ability to collate client communications.
Total time to fix – 15 minutes.
· A charity sending out monthly newsletters and maintaining contact lists and email groups separately on two devices as sync wasn’t possible.
Total time to fix – 3 hours (email migration to Microsoft 365). Estimated time savings – 45 minutes per week.
At Raspberry IT, we look at ways of improving the efficiency of your IT systems. We can review your hardware, software, and processes to find ways to save you time and money. Many repetitive tasks can be automated, allowing you to spend more time on chargeable work.
Whether you’re setting up a new business, or wanting to review your existing IT systems, contact us today and let us ensure you’re getting the most out of your IT.
Comments