5 Questions Every Business Owner Should Answer
You don't need to be an IT expert to run your business, but you must be able to answer a few basic questions about the systems you rely on every single day. If you can’t answer them with confidence, you have some gaps to close.
1. Who has access to your critical systems, and is it still appropriate?
Think about your accounting software, your CRM and your email platform. Do you know who currently has login access to each of them? Access tends to grow over time. A contractor gets added. A former employee never gets removed. Someone's permissions get expanded for a one-time project and are never scaled back.
This isn’t about distrust. Every unnecessary login is an active security risk. A compromised credential gives someone a way in. The greater the amount of unreviewed access, the harder it becomes to contain issues when something goes wrong.
2. If something broke right now, who is responsible for fixing it?
Pick any critical system in your business. If it went down today, do you know who owns the response and how to reach them? If the answer is "it depends" or "I'm not totally sure," you’ve identified a gap.
Downtime costs money. Confusion about who to call makes that downtime longer. The time to figure out who owns what is before something breaks.
3. When was the last time your backups were tested?
Most businesses have backups. Fewer businesses know whether those backups work. Setting up a backup is one thing. Making sure it can restore your data when you need it is a different thing entirely. A backup that has never been tested is hope, not a safety net.
4. Where does your business data live today?
This one trips up a lot of people. Data doesn't stay in one place. It spreads. New tools are constantly being added. Files end up in email threads, shared drives, project management apps and personal folders. When you don't have a clear picture of where your data is, you don’t know who can see it, if it's protected or what happens if something goes wrong.
5. Which vendors have access to your systems or data?
Vendors get added quickly and sometimes seamlessly. Each one often comes with some level of access to your systems or your data. Third-party access introduces risk from outside your business, and it tends to get the least scrutiny. If you listed every vendor with access to your systems right now, would you know what each one can see or touch?
If you can’t answer these questions, it’s time to take action
These aren't obscure technical questions. They’re the basics: access, accountability, backups, data and vendors. If the answers to them aren’t clear, you have a visibility gap. Midyear is a natural time to step back and look at what’s changed.
In our initial conversation, we ask questions like these and help you see where the answers break down. Schedule a discovery call so you can start to answer with confidence.
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