Small businesses will benefit from an IT consultant's expertise

Running a small business often means time and budget are tight. You probably don’t want to spend hours filtering through online resources to find the best methods or solutions.

Because the first year of a new business tends to be the “make it or break it” moment, sitting down with someone who understands IT can help you avoid startup pitfalls and technical glitches that can hinder your company’s growth.

Small businesses can benefit from hiring an IT consulting firm for a number of reasons.

Buying help
When you hire an IT consultant, you can gain insight into which servers, programs and other hardware can meet your needs and your budget according to your business plans. Without spending time on IT purchasing decisions, you’ll be able to focus more on the core of your work.

• IT consultants with experience know the best methods that will help you meet your goals.
• IT consultants can advise you on purchasing decisions so you don’t overspend or get a product that won’t accomplish what you had in mind.
• Better, faster and cheaper solutions with proven success will save you time and money.
• IT service providers stay up to date on the latest in tech and understand which products are not worth the cost.

Access to a team
Hiring a single IT employee may seem to be the best idea, but hiring a consulting firm provides more support and information than one individual can.

You also won’t have to worry about benefits, salary or training that come from the employment of an in-house IT specialist.

• You’ll have access to a team of specialists that can provide support on the latest and greatest in IT without additional training on your end.
• When hiring an IT consulting firm, you get a flexibility that doesn’t come with an individual. On-demand support is a bonus when unplanned events occur.
• Through a partnership with a well-established IT consultant, businesses can have the benefits of priority (and sometimes discounted) access to various technology vendors.

Increased productivity
If you hire an IT consultant, you and your employees can spend less time worrying about the office network and more time getting the job done.

• Effectively planned and executed technology can ensure your company faces less downtime and fewer glitches.
• Gain peace of mind knowing that whatever problems you face, you have an IT support system that can provide insight and solutions.
• Because you won’t be the one focused on making sure everything tech at your business is running smoothly, even if a hiccup does occur, you can continue focusing on what’s most valuable: growing your business.

As a company expands, bringing in an IT team may be the best route. Or, you may want to stick with the methods you’ve been using.

Small businesses can benefit from hiring an IT consultant, but it’s truly up to you to determine if this is the route you want to take.