When you get into business for yourself there is a piece of advice you will find repeated in books, blogs and from the minds of those who have made it in years past:
You are going to need a banker, a lawyer and a CPA. Go and find those three first and get yourself into a good relationship with all three.
Alright. That’s true. But it is missing something, or rather, someone. In the 20th century days of building a business with no website, email or cell phones the above three connections were really a stable foundation for a business plan to begin to work (this assumes you have a plan, as well as a marketing plan).
In the 21st century I believe there is another key person you’ll need: an IT person.
This dawned on me during a conversation with my wife. Her mom uses me as her own free tech support. I happily do this and it pales in comparison to all she does for us. I don’t know what “normal people” do when they have the kind of issues her network and computer has – do they suffer through hours of tech support? Call an IT person just to restart a router?
If you have an IT person as a part of your network – one who likes you and gives free advice (or who pops over in exchange for a meal) it is a valuable asset to have. Especially if it means business continuity.
I’m in marketing, but when it comes to technology I certainly know my way around. For serious IT issues I have the good fortune of a brother who can do anything when it comes to IT.
In closing, get a lawyer, a CPA, a banker and an IT person – you’ll need them all.