Seeking Technology Help as Your Business Grows
If you’re a small business owner, using technology to help run it is a given. What technology you choose to use, and what you spend on it, can have a significant impact on your business’ success. So choosing wisely is vital. A big part of that is knowing when to go it alone, and when to ask for help, and choosing the right help. Although your business has its own unique needs and path, below are some general guidelines we’ve seen over the years.
When your business is very small, say up to about 7ish employees, the tools and software that Microsoft and Google make available are easy enough to use that most people with any level of technical ability can typically handle it on their own with an occasional help of a friend or colleague. As long as you don’t need a custom domain name, Google really shines at this level, as many small businesses can get by with the free google apps and a personal Gmail account. Google apps are easy and intuitive to use, and, as I said, are free when you use them with a personal account, even commercially. Microsoft doesn’t compete well here, as even their inexpensive home accounts are not licensed for commercial use, and their web apps are not as good as Google’s. Prompted web site builders such as Wix, Squarespace, or GoDaddy Web Builder are good ways to get a starter web page up. AI can be used effectively for document creation and email cleanup, using paid personal AI licenses.
As you grow, things get a little more involved. From 7ish to 20ish employees, you are going to want a custom domain name (e.g. mybusinessname.com) and a richer website experience. In this realm, Google (Google Workspace) and Microsoft (Microsoft 365) are comparable. Both offer tools around $14 per month that include custom domain email and office tools (Still web based for Google, but local full office applications for Microsoft). If you are planning to grow, setting these up correctly can have a big impact on costs down the road, so you might want to occasionally consult with a professional to avoid mistakes that can cost you down the road. Likewise, you may want to hire a professional website designer to give you a more custom and distinguishing look. Digital marketing tools (e.g. social media, google ads & analytics, etc.) can start to get more involved here too, again requiring occasional professional help. AI usage can become more relevant in producing marketing materials, potentially using custom trained agents, with corporate purchased AI licenses.
As a business gets in the 20ish to 70ish employees, things start to become more challenging. You’re going to want to put in place levels of permissions, corporate control of devices, enforce policies, have structured backups and increased fault tolerance, more stringent cybersecurity, increased logging, implement physical security, etc. Your website will likely become more dynamic, and your marketing tools more complex and built around a Content Management System (CMS). At this level Microsoft’s breadth of products and capabilities start to outstrip Google’s. Here, many firms will migrate from Google to Microsoft, and that can be a painful transition. This is also where most companies start to either hire in-house technology specialists or engage outsourced managed services firms (whether that be for their IT, web development, or marketing tools). AI usage becomes more core, using departmental custom trained agents, and integrations with line-of-business applications.
Above 70ish employees, the needs become complex. Your cyber liability policy is going to require ongoing, monitored and maintained cyber security postures, your phone systems will become multilayered, you’re likely going to have some custom or line of business applications either on local servers or in the cloud using services such as Azure, AWS or GPC, and using applications that communicate with other systems via APIs. Microsoft tends to dominate these size businesses. You may very well have compliance requirements such as ISO 27001, PCI, CMMC (this starts much earlier if you need HIPPA compliance). Such compliance needs will require ongoing management and documentation to demonstrate compliance to auditors. Your website will likely be integrated with backend systems, that will also be tied into your digital marketing tools. At this level, you will need full-time professionals supporting, managing, monitoring, and maintaining all these systems. These professionals may be hired internally, or outsourced via managed services firms, and these firms or employees will need to collaborate and interact to meet business objectives. Due to the multifunction requirements, utilizing a firm with broad technical expertise can be much more efficient and effective than several firms with narrow skills. AI usage will normally be deep, integrated with applications with some agentic AI functions in use to increase productivity and speed of operations.
In summary, your technology needs will change as your business grows. Employee count is one useful guide, but other signs may tell you it is time to seek help: recurring problems, increasing downtime, security concerns, compliance requirements, or systems that no longer work well together. Planning for the business you expect to become—not just the business you are today—can help you avoid costly transitions and make growth easier to manage.
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Robert Hood
CEO & Founder
SpotLink®
Author’s Note: I write my own blogs. That’s unusual. Blogs are often authored by a service and then reposted, especially in IT, or written by AI from a few key words. Instead, I choose the topics that might be of most interest to our clients and write to them – to you – directly. While it does take a little more time to write my own content, it does mean that we are well versed in the subjects I send to you. So, please always feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or comments about anything I write, including any topics you’d like to learn more about. Thank you. – Robert Hood.
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