Most small business owners think about IT support in one of two ways: either they have a contract with a managed IT provider and pay a monthly fee regardless of whether they need anything, or they wing it and call someone when something breaks. Both approaches cost more than they should.
Here's a more practical framework for a small business or sole trader in Sussex.
What Most Small Businesses Actually Need
The honest answer for a sole trader or business with fewer than five employees is: less than you think, but more reliably.
Reliable hardware. Your laptop or PC is your business. A machine that's more than 4-5 years old is running on borrowed time. Regular maintenance (clearing out temporary files, keeping software updated, checking storage) extends the life of your hardware and prevents the kind of sudden failure that takes you offline at the worst possible moment.
Proper data backup. This is the one area where the stakes are genuinely high. If your invoices, customer records, and project files disappear, whether through a hard drive failure, ransomware, or accidentally deleting the wrong folder, can you recover? If the answer is "I think so" or "probably," the answer is actually no.
The minimum viable backup for a small business: automatic daily backup to an external drive, plus cloud backup (Google Drive, OneDrive, or Backblaze) running in the background. This costs almost nothing and takes one afternoon to set up properly.
Business email. A @gmail.com address for business correspondence tells customers you're not quite serious. A properly configured business email (hello@yourbusiness.co.uk) on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 takes less than an hour to set up and immediately improves how you're perceived by new customers and suppliers.
Basic cybersecurity. For a small business, this doesn't mean enterprise-level software. It means: unique, strong passwords for business accounts stored in a password manager; two-factor authentication on email and anything financial; and knowing not to click links in unsolicited emails. That's 80% of what you need.
When You Actually Need Regular IT Support
You need ongoing IT support when:
- You have multiple people who all need access to shared files and you're currently emailing documents back and forth
- You're processing customer payment data and need to meet basic security standards
- Your business depends on specific software that requires regular updates and occasional troubleshooting
- You've had a hardware failure or security incident in the past 18 months
For most sole traders, the model that makes most sense is a one-off setup and health check (making sure everything is configured correctly and your backup is working) followed by occasional on-demand support when something goes wrong.
The IT Setup That's Good Enough
For a sole trader or small trade business operating in Sussex, here's what "good enough" looks like:
- A laptop or desktop that's less than 4 years old and well-maintained
- Windows 11 with automatic updates enabled
- Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace for business email and cloud documents
- Automatic backup to an external drive + cloud
- A password manager (Bitwarden is free and excellent)
- Two-factor authentication on email
- A professional web presence (website + GBP) so customers can find and trust you
Most of this can be set up in a day. If you're not sure where your current setup stands, get in touch and I'll tell you honestly what needs attention and what's fine as it is.
