Small business owners, please don’t make the mistake of trusting your business with an information technology service firm on which you haven’t done proper due diligence. It can prove to be a very expensive mistake, both in money and time.
We know you are busy wearing many hats in your company. It’s difficult not to. You only have so many resources and need to stay within budget. You try to balance your time between servicing clients, handling employee concerns, accounting, legal and making sure the lights stay on.
But is it wise to try to do it all? Perhaps not. According to a poll done by CNBC, the number one mistake small business owners make is trying to do it all. Sound familiar? Like any other person, you have specific talents. As a small business owner, you need to focus on your areas of expertise and not try to do the things you are not good at.
The catch is that small businesses have to run lean, which prevents you from hiring full-time talent in the areas where you don’t have expertise. That’s why you contract with accountants and lawyers rather than having them in house like big companies.
The same is true for information technology. You need not hire a tech professional full-time to manage critical hardware, help with your computers, or manage your website. You can hire companies on a contract basis that specialize in these areas and save time and money. Just as importantly, you will have a team of experts you can rely on to make sure your business operates smoothly.
The problem then becomes one of trust? There are so many software and IT services companies out there. In the US alone, there are more than 100,000, 99 percent of which are small and medium-sized firms (under 500 employees).
It is important that you do your research before you even reach out. Hiring the wrong service firm will add to stress rather than alleviate it. You could be left stuck in an engagement or contract where your contractor lacks the knowledge or resources to help you with your business problems. Or they could offer poor support and leave you to fend on your own when you need them most. All of this will cause interruption to your business and leave a negative lasting impression with your customers.
To solve this problem, many businesses have been turning to free research platforms like BizXPro. This platform allows you to save time and trouble by delivering quality service firms. The purpose-built platform handpicks the best service firms known for their excellent work in the categories they list under. This reduces your risk of trusting your business with the wrong service firm.
Rather than spend your valuable time on general search engines and online classifieds, sending out requests and waiting for calls back, you can narrow down your search to the most relevant service firms for you. The search engine takes your project description, price range and company information and matches you to the highest-rated firms in your area. You can learn more about them and select the ones you think will do the best job. Unlike do it yourself searches on Google, BizXPro guarantees a response back to you in two days or less. This way you can get your IT and development projects up and running faster and feel confident you have the right people for the job.
There are dozens of categories on BizXPro.com in which IT providers and development companies work. From managed services for your email or computer systems to cloud services, SEO, and web development, you depend on technology like email and phone systems to communicate with your customers. You want the best people to help set up and manage this technology so you can focus on what matters most — your business.
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This article, “How to Find Qualified IT Firms Fast” was first published on Small Business Trends