Are you thinking about starting a new business or side hustle? Maybe you already have or know someone who is. Whilst this is an exciting time it can also be a scary and daunting experience; it will suddenly dawn on you that there are so many different things to do such as understanding legal requirements and identifying areas that will grow your business.

It is easy to be ‘sold to’ from other companies that prey on inexperience to profiter from you!

Our advice would be to speak to as many people as possible to hear their experiences, one of the many important things to consider for new and small businesses is your IT infrastructure. Again, this can be a daunting task and can often leave you not knowing where to begin. At PDR IT Solutions we are all for simplicity thus have put this blog together to help you with an IT 101 short guide on areas to focus on initially.

As your Jargon Free & Trusted IT Partner we look forward to form long-term relationships and we achieve this by offering a complimentary consultation where we give you your personalised IT Roadmap. This is ideal for giving you a clear understanding of how to get the most out of your IT over the short, mid and longer term.

The next points are some useful tips that you can implement yourself straight to get you on the right track.

Do I need to pay for software such as CRM or Accountancy?

The short answer is not necessarily, believe it or not simple spreadsheets in the early days if done correctly can be a great way to minimise your overheads. A simple idea to keep in mind is Cost vs Benefit this is as straightforward as if the cost outweighs the benefit, then it is best to give it a miss. However, if the benefit outweighs the costs, it is certainly worth investing some time and funds.

Customer Relationship Management software (CRM) is an essential tool for tracking your client’s information and have ensuring that you have a process in place for managing the lifecycle of your clients. We recommend the following tools you can use:

• Trello is a fantastic tool that can be used for a wide range of things, best of it is FREE! Trello Premium does have a low monthly cost but, in our opinion, this is a great tool for your business. More information can be found here

• Bigin by Zoho is ideal for startups and small businesses as it has a FREE package and thereafter a more in-depth solution for £5 and £10 per month. Learn more here.

In terms of accountancy software, our advice is to get an Accountant as they are experts in their field who will be able to assist. Remember – a good Accountant will advise you and ensure your business is as efficient financially as possible. A lot of people think it is cheaper to do their own Bookkeeping and Accountancy but this useful ends up being more expensive as you could inadvertently fall foul of HMRC legislation.

One final note whilst everyone tends to use Xero or QuickBooks, it is crucial to remember that the software is only as good as the quality of data that is entered into it. Therefore, be considerate to not assume that these pieces of software alone will address your financial requirements.

Click here to learn the risks of doing your own bookkeeping.

Click here to learn why you need an Accountant.

Why do I need to pay for a business email, when I can get one for free?

This is a valid question, what is the point of paying for an email service when there are multiple online email providers that enable you to use their services free of charge. Whilst this blog so far has focused on either utilising free software tools or investing in low cost, investing in a business email solution is a wise and important long-term investment. But why?

The first reason is to create a brand name for yourself, having your domain name e.g., yourname@yourcompany.co.uk shows your current and perspective clients that you are an established company.

More importantly, investing in a domain name and business email solution provides scalability where you can add further email addresses for new members of staff or having different mailbox aliases such as an info email address and so on.

In additional it provides you with more administrative functionality to assign different security permissions and allows you to control who has access to what.

A final reason, if you ever need to migrate your email data into a more advanced business application such as Microsoft365 for Business having your email within an application for personal use can prove problematic with migration. In plain English, this means it can be more complex and time consuming. To summarise, it is better to invest in a proper system now as it could end up costing you more time and money further down the line.

Utilise what you already have – you could be sat on something great and not know!

We all have a tendency to focus on new shiny things whether that be a new laptop or snazzy software option. However, we often overlook what we already have, what is the point of possibly wasting funds when you are only using 10-20% of the capacity you already have.

Our advice would be to write a list of what you are looking to achieve as this is a great way of truly understanding what you need, which in turn will help you find the correct solution for you. It is a common occurrence where we can be ‘hoodwinked’ into thinking a new piece of software will resolve all our current problems, the reality is that these problems are just moved to a different system.

It is possible that you are not currently using your current software to its full potential, this could mean that what you’re looking to solve is already there!

We’re not saying avoid getting new equipment or software, with careful planning and consideration doing so can be a fantastic catalyst for you and your business. Speaking to an IT Partner such as us will enable you to discuss your options and work out the best route moving forwards.

Learn more here on how you can get the best from your current software.

How Microsoft365 Improves Efficiency

Microsoft365 is a fantastic tool that has many benefits that are ideal to get you and your business going, these tools enable you to improve efficiency and are great for scaling your business.

See our top things on what we love about 365! Depending on the type of your plan these come included within your Microsoft365 subscription ready for you to use straightaway!

Microsoft Bookings

There are many different booking systems out there, thankfully a lot of them are free of charge. However, when you start to add more members to your team this is where billing can come into the equation.

Bookings enable you to avoid a game of email tennis with getting an appointment booked in, as people can see your availability and book in at a time you are available.

Microsoft Forms

If you can think it, then you can create a form for it! With Forms you get access to the data you need by creating user friendly forms that automatically provide you with the data within a spreadsheet. Forms can be used to gather the right feedback you need such as client satisfaction forms and more.

Microsoft Intune

Out the box security to keep you and your business safe, with Intune you can manage devices to ensure security. A couple of key features are that you can prevent people from accessing company email and data via an unauthorised device. Using Intune enables you to always have control over your company data. Another handy function is that you can remote wipe a device, so in the event it is lost or stolen you can protect your data further by turning it into a useless paperweight.

Microsoft OneNote

A collaborative way of sharing notes with your team or just you! You can divide into sections and pages with easy navigation. This is a great way of keeping up to date notes on projects or things that are important for you.

We use OneNote for our internal documentation which enables us to ensure that we’re all the following the correct processes.

PowerBI

We call this Excel on steroids; it is a powerful tool that lives up to its name by getting customised analytics. PowerBI enables you to turn complex data into user friendly reports by summarising data into charts and so on.

Microsoft Viva

You may know Viva more from the daily or weekly emails you get from it saying how much time you have spent on your emails or how many hours you have clocked up speaking to your favourite colleagues on Teams. Did you know that Viva is tool that does so much more?

Viva enables you to improve employee engagement by improving communication and feedback. In our opinion, this is a great tool to improve employee welfare and mental health, but why?

Viva can assist with tracking employee burnout and possible stress, let’s take Dave for example, he is always quick to respond to emails at any time of the day and has loads of emails in his inbox. It is easy to assume he’s busy and productive, the truth is he is always responding to emails because he is active over 12 hours per day.

This could mean that Dave is stressed and could be suffering from burnout, with the help of Viva Dave can now be pulled aside and spoken to, to ensure that he is okay.

Cloud Backup

Cloud Backup is ideal for reducing costs and provides a more financially efficient way of keeping your critic data safe and secure. There is a misconception that cloud backup is expensive however this is not the case and is an affordable thing that even startups and small businesses can utilise.

Why does this reduce my costs? Simply because you do not have to have on-premises backups which incur further costs due to the physical servers, the electricity to run it and saving on space to store the server. In summary cloud backup is a more effective solution to backup your data as it can be stored across multiple different cloud servers which translate to have more fail safes.

In addition, it is far easier from a scalability point of view and simplifies disaster recovery.

Mailchimp

Have you ever found yourself getting bogged down and frustrated with sending multiple emails to current and perspective clients? Is it hard to keep track? If so, MailChimp may be the ideal solution for you!

MailChimp allows you to send email campaigns to several contacts at once and track the success of each campaign. The great news is that this is free of charge when your monthly emails are no more than a 1000 or is less than 500 contacts.

Learn more about MailChimp here.

Flexible IT Support

Flexible IT Support is a useful and vital tool for startups and small businesses as a managed support contract in the early stages may not be the most cost-effective solution at first. Whilst there are many important benefits of having a managed service, for the purpose of this section we will focus on flexible support.

Some IT companies offer what is known as Flexible IT Support where you can block buy a predefined number of hours that can be used to resolve your IT needs, it is as simple as that, you just pay for time. This can be a great way to budget and get IT support when you need it.

If you have any further questions on flexible IT support or managed services in general, we would be delighted to assist you with this. You can book your complimentary IT consultation here, where we can learn more about helping you with your requirements.

Consultancy, strategise technology investments, and specific projects

This is a broad area, the reason for this is because this will be bespoke to you and your requirements. As a new startup or small business you cannot do everything, and it is often best for you to bring in the right people as in the longer term this will likely be the most effective solution for your business.

Consultancy can take form in many ways and doesn’t have to break the bank! In a way with the Flexible IT Support, you are getting a form of consultancy as the IT experts will be able to streamline your business’s IT needs.

It doesn’t stop there; you can look at getting a business growth coach who will be able to work with you and understand your business to deliver tailored advice on how best to grow your business. Virtual Assistants are ideal for performing administrative tasks plus a lot more and can be a vital asset.

The list of consultants is endless, please note this may not be for everyone, also consider different personalities work better so you may find yourself better suited to one consultant over another. The important thing is to select someone you gel with and is the right fit who understands your business.

Cyber Security

This is a massive subject, and a lot of fear is generated when telling businesses, the dangers of when things go wrong. There is a fine line between fear mongering and education, as the reality is it important to have the correct protection in place and by not doing so it does leave you vulnerable.

There doesn’t seem to be a week go by where we do not learn of some horror story in the news, and it then becomes a wakeup call of the importance of having adequate protection. It is a minefield as things change so quickly.

The best advice we can give to anyone is education, we’re all the weakest link as by being human we make mistakes. You can have the best cyber security system in the world but all it takes is human error and it can all come falling down. By educating it allows us all to become more conscious namely not clicking links or downloading random files.

Two factor authentication (2fa) is a simple and free effective way of protecting your accounts, the majority of online accounts will usual enforce this now as standard. You can add 2fa to your accounts by downloading a free app from the Apple Store (for Apple Devices) or Google Play (for Android). Learn more about two factor authentication here.

Cyber Essentials is another topic you will see everywhere, it is a government backed scheme that enables you to implement steps to protect your business against a cyber attack. Learn more about Cyber Essentials here.

At the very minimum ensure that you have anti-virus and 2fa in place, it is always advised to speak to a cyber expert who will be able to assist you with ensuring that you get the right solution to suit your needs.

Unsure on where to begin for your business?

For anyone at any stage of business it can be a daunting prospect with where to begin. It is true that people work with people that they know, like and trust. As such, attending local networking events such as your local Chamber of Commerce or breakfast group is a fantastic way to find people suited to you and helping you grow your business.

You can find your local Chamber of Commerce by visiting the British Chamber of Commerce here.

You are also welcome to contact us, through networking PDR IT Solutions have formed many great partnerships which enables us to act as a one stop IT partner. We are fortunate to know many industry leaders and if it isn’t something we can do ourselves often are able to point you in the right direction of where to go.

We hope this blog has been useful and provided you with an overview of not just an IT 101 guide but also tools and tips you can use to grow your business into 2024 and beyond.