Many business owners, when faced with a situation where some of their technology isn’t working the way it’s supposed to, will ask themselves a simple question: can I fix this myself?
It’s easy to understand why they would. Not only should solving your own problems help you save time and money, but most entrepreneurs are naturally hands-on people. That’s why they started their own companies in the first place. And, it’s those savings of time and money that help them to remain profitable and competitive.
Unfortunately, when it comes to IT issues, this is usually the wrong mindset. Rather than asking whether you can resolve a certain issue, a better question is whether you should.
Let us explain. With the huge number of forms, videos, and resources you can find online today, it’s possible you can get the solution you need to get your tech working again. However, you might not want to even if it seems like you’ve been successful. Let’s quickly look at a few of the reasons why…
You Could End Up Solving the Wrong Problem
Often, we see situations where a business owner has “fixed” an issue by taking away the symptom. For instance, they can turn off an error message without addressing the underlying challenge. It’s only later that they find they have disabled network security features, for example, or stopped important backup files from being created.
Sometimes Fast Solutions Lead to Lingering Issues
A lot of what you see on the internet involves quick-fix solutions to common tech problems. These fast tips sometimes work, at least in the sense that they make some symptoms disappear. However, they might make other problems worse. And, as you would probably expect, that means more extensive and costly repairs or upgrades later.
You Might Void a Warranty or Service Agreement
Some manufacturers stipulate that only certified personnel can work on equipment without voiding a warranty or service agreement. While the loss of the product guarantee might not be a big deal in some situations, it can lead to big expenses in the future. The newer and costlier a piece of tech is, the more careful you should be about tinkering with it.
It’s Probably Not Worth Your Time and Effort
Even if these other things weren’t true, it usually takes a business owner much, much longer to solve an IT problem than it would a trained specialist. Every hour you burn fiddling with network settings, printer configurations, or email encryption configurations is one that you aren’t using to reach out to clients, hire new staff, or plan for the future.
No IT Service Is Ever Completely Free
The point we are trying to make isn’t that you should be afraid to work with your own technology. Instead, it’s that as a busy entrepreneur you have a lot of things to do. There are other roles you fill that make you more profitable and effective than serving as your own IT administrator.
Once you have a team of trusted specialists on your side, you can feel more comfortable handing some of those tech-related duties to someone else. That, in turn, frees you up to get back to running your business.
Want to find out what this looks like in the real world? Contact the Fantastic IT sales team today to see how we can help!