Recently, a business executive passed away leaving no instructions on how to access his computer. A friend of a friend had her laptop stolen when she was travelling home from a business trip. Cybercriminals hack into the systems of a local warehouse forcing them to shut down for a week. I think we all know someone, maybe even ourselves, who has had a computer suddenly emit sparks and an acrid smell of burnt plastic. Data loss is one of the most common disasters experienced by small businesses. Here are some organizing tips to help mitigate risk so you can recover from a crisis.
Protect Your Computer
Installing anti-virus protection, malware detection, and firewalls is important to prevent data loss. It is worth paying for some technical support to get these applications up and running on your system. And while you’re at it, protect your wi-fi network as well.
Invest in a surge protector and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) battery for your computer. A UPS prevents electrical power surges from overloading the computer system. If there is a power failure, the battery backup provides power long enough for you to save your work and shut the computer down safely.
Protect Your Data
Create a login password. Set your system so you must re-enter the password after the screen saver starts. Configure your computer to return to factory settings if there are ten failed login attempts. Thieves might get your computer but they won’t get your data – or your clients’ data!
Backup Your Digital Data
Backup your data on a daily basis to an external hard drive. External hard drives are inexpensive and easy to install. Should your computer crash, you can easily access your data. However, if a fire or flood destroys your office, you would likely lose your external hard drive too. It is wise to create another backup to off-site storage, i.e. a cloud-based system. There are several options available such as OneDrive, iCloud, as well as Dropbox. The Canadian-based cloud service Sync complies with all federal and provincial privacy regulations.
Backup Your Paper-based Data
There may be times when you cannot access your paper-based information. Perhaps a gas leak on your street has prevented you from getting to your office for the day, or the weather has prevented you from travelling. Get into the habit of making a digital copy (scan and save) of essential documents needed to manage your day-to-day operations. This could include:
- contracts or agreements
- service or production schedules
- company policies and procedures
- accounts payable/receivable
- inventory listing
- customer/supplier contact information
Remember to keep electronic copies of your insurance policies, letters of incorporation, etc. in case your paper documents are destroyed. Even if the electronic copies are not sufficient for “evidence,” they will at least facilitate obtaining duplicates from government agencies and insurance companies.
Use a Password Manager
There are numerous benefits to using a password manager. They store passwords and other sensitive data and make it easy to change passwords on all your accounts if your computer is hacked or gets into the wrong hands.
The tasks on this list may appear daunting but taking the time to protect your paper and digital information will prevent data loss and keep you productive even when a crisis arises. If you need help setting up these systems to streamline your workplace for success, contact us to discuss how we can help.
