One of the unwritten rules of entrepreneurship is that you need to be good at lots of different things to succeed. In fact, many of the business owners we meet with take it as a badge of pride that they run their companies while also serving as the top salesperson, lead accountant, and head of maintenance.
However, one thing we always caution about is the temptation to manage your own technology. No matter how much you love your business, and how invested you might be in it, you shouldn’t serve as your own IT manager.
Why don’t we want you to look after your own hardware and software? Let’s look at three simple reasons business owners make bad IT managers…
Reason #1: It’s Hard to Learn and Practice a Range of IT Skills
There is a reason we employ many different technicians with dozens of different specialties at our managed services firm. Namely, it’s almost impossible for any one person to learn all the different skills needed to manage hardware and software for even a small business.
When you add in the fact that business owners have so many other things on their plate at any given time, the job simply becomes overwhelming. That means you’re bound to miss important details that could cost you in a big way.
Reason #2: You Need More Coverage Than One Person Can Provide
Even if you could somehow learn all there was to know about small business IT while simultaneously running your company, you wouldn’t have the time needed to look after the tasks and systems that need attention. That’s especially true if your business is growing since you might have employees working remotely, or during hours when you aren’t available.
Again, even a dedicated full-time IT specialist can’t provide 24/7 monitoring coverage. No business owner should be trying to do that themselves.
Reason #3: You Should Have More Important Things to Do
The first two reasons we have given should be sufficient to keep you from serving as your own IT specialist. But, if you could somehow overcome them, it would still be a bad idea. That’s because the time you spend figuring out your company’s tech would be better directed toward future planning, interacting with important customers, or directing key vendors (as examples).
In other words, you should be spending your time and energy in your business, not on the details of tablet replacements or software patches.
Managed IT Is Cost-Effective and Stress-Free
Perhaps the best reason to work with an outsourced IT vendor is the one we haven’t even mentioned yet: it’s inexpensive and stress-free. In fact, you might be amazed at how easy and affordable it is to get assistance from a team of specialists who will get to know your business so they can help you with your tech strategy.
If you want to learn more, contact us today to schedule a free consultation. We’ll be happy to show you what we can do for a company like yours!