Managed IT Services for Small Business
I’m going to be upfront about this blog, I intend to try and attract search engines to Pluto Micro. We are running a business to be successful and profitable; also to put bread on the table. However, I have always believed in doing something you love, and I love to help people; it just so happens that I have an affinity towards computer technology, and I am good at it.
The problem is that search engines don’t differentiate I.T. Services for medium or large businesses versus small businesses and marginalized organizations, but that is who we have chosen as our target market. The fact is, hardly anybody differentiates a company of 5 from a business of 50, they are both called “small.” Hence, the title of my blog, Managed I.T. Services for Small Business; it’s clickbait for search engines.
It is much more gratifying to help what we call micro-businesses or simply micros. Micros are marginalized by all kinds of business-to-business service providers and governments alike. The most significant evidence is the definition of a small business; Statistics Canada considers a small business as one with fewer than 100 employees. They lump one employee in with one hundred employees!
At Pluto Micro, we recognize five distinct categories of micros: solopreneurs, startups, micro-businesses, small businesses, and non-profit organizations. While our services are mostly the same for all segments, we have a unique message for each one.
Before I share those messages, I want to review what “managed I.T. services” means. I could probably rant on a bit here, but I won’t. In the beginning, people more experienced with computer-based systems were called computer consultants. The computer consultants became the Information Technology department which became I.T. Support and then Outsourced I.T. Support, and finally Managed I.T. Services. Managed I.T. Services is equivalent to people more experienced with computer-based systems, which is what search engines believe. Clickbait!
Solopreneurs
This title is not hard to figure out. It is the one-man or one-woman business. You are independent, you are smart, you work hard, you don’t like people in your grill telling you what to do. Most of you get by without business services of any kind, you do it on your own. Why? Because you are entrepreneurs, and that is what entrepreneurs do.
But some of you would prefer to do your craft and let others who are more experienced do their craft. I’m an entrepreneur, and I can do a lot of things with many hats, but one thing I don’t do, for example, is file my business taxes. There is too much at risk to make a mistake.
Our message for solopreneurs is that we know you’re great at why you do, and for $10 or $25 a month, we can take a little off your plate and ensure that your data is not at risk.
Startups
Startups are fun, but sadly 99.999% do not consult me before they get too far into technology. I wish, I wish, I wish, that this blog will reach just a few while they are still deciding whether or not to go for it.
There are so many things that can lead to a startup being another statistic, but I.T. doesn’t have to be one of them. Among others, here are my top two tips:
Choose a company name and domain name that match. If you can’t get the domain name of the company name you like, choose a different one until your company name and domain name match or are very similar.
Run your company on Microsoft 365, don’t choose Google Workspace. Microsoft 365 will cost you $16 CAD per user per month, but it’s worth more like $100 a month.
I love startups so much, if you call me while you are doing 1 and 2 above, I’ll give you some free consulting. I’ll love it, and you won’t regret it.
Micro Business and Small Business
There are a few ways to define what is micro vs. what is small vs. what is neither. For us, micro is under five people for sure, maybe under ten people. Their annual revenue is probably under one million dollars. Small is under 20 people and 3 million. For the record, we only take a select few small businesses, but we will take just about any micro that will value our services.
We started this business specifically for micro-businesses, companies that want and deserve that same class of I.T. support that much larger organizations enjoy. Micros can’t afford the rates of the top-rated service providers, or service providers ignore them for bigger clients. Some small businesses fall into the same category; they have simple needs but require the same level of management and response to their needs as much larger businesses.
The main components of great I.T. support include the following:
Multiple support personnel
Ticketing system
Remote monitoring and control of computers
Computer software and operating system updates (AKA patch management)
Non-Profits
Charitable organizations and non-profit organizations are another category overlooked. They often exclude themselves from great I.T. support because of their tenuous budgets and revenue. When they do reach out for support, most I.T. service providers treat them like any other business with the same amount of people; they don’t realize the non-profits have specialized needs and special access to lower-cost pricing from software providers.
Charitable organizations still need excellent support at costs that they can afford. We recognize this and have special offers for non-profits that we don’t put on our website; you’ll have to call us to get the goods.
Conclusion
Managed I.T. services for small business is pretty ambiguous, but probably the thing to search for on Google even if you fall into the smaller-than-small category. I hope that some of the micro-businesses, startups, solopreneurs, and non-profits that really need help land on this page. If you’ve been searching for I.T. support and have been passed over, Pluto Micro is the team for you.