"Where was this book when I was
setting up and managing my own small business computer system?"
That was the one question that continually floated through my mind
as I read advance pages of What Your Computer Consultant Doesn't
Want You to Know.
As a 13-year citizen of the small
business community, I've played many roles: CEO, rainmaker, customer
service rep, bookkeeper -- and ad hoc Information Technology (IT)
manager. In my role as the go-to IT guy, those questions that were
even slightly more difficult to answer than "Alt + H" (for
Help!) or "when all else fails, reboot," would require a
call to George, my independent tech support advisor.
And more often than not, George's information -
though useful and definitive - was simple at its core. A few
keystrokes, or a quick primer on troubleshooting the problem at
hand, usually was all it took to resolve my issues. While the cost
wasn't exorbitant, the time spent reaching this would-be sage -- and
asking him about what ultimately was a simple solution -- would have
been better spent on more profitable endeavors.
After all, time is money. And in the small business
world, both often are in short supply. And man, don't I feel
sheepish every time I bug him about something that (once it's
resolved) was so simple that even an adolescent, on his or her first
PC, could have figured it out?
In my almost 10 years of writing about small
business management and IT issues, I've found that entrepreneurs
take on dual roles as IT consumer and IT manager. The former is much
revered.
When systems are running smoothly, the PC has proven itself
the power tool of the small business. It allows one person or a
handful of workers to multitask and perform seamlessly the functions
essential to the operations of the modern business.
The latter, on the other hand, can be much reviled.
When systems fail, even those small businesses with an employee
overseeing IT are limited by that staffer's knowledge - or lack
thereof - regarding technology and troubleshooting issues. Or, these
small business owners are at the mercy of the computer consultant's
availability and fee.
If I may, a quick, telling tale about IT support: A
company's computer system fails. The owner calls in a consultant,
who looks at the system, taps a few keys and fixes the problem on
the spot. He then hands the business owner a bill for $500. The
business owner is aghast. "But you only hit a few keys and
fixed my problem," he pleaded. "I charge $5 for hitting
the keys," the consultant said, "and $495 for knowing
which keys to hit."
That's where What Your Computer Consultant
Doesn't Want You to Know comes in. Joshua Feinberg knows which
keys you can hit to solve your own IT problems. He has condensed
more than a decade spent at IT help desks and small business back
offices into 288 information-packed pages of tips, insights and
plain old common sense. Just flipping through the pages I can see
scores of ideas that, if implemented, will serve me well in my
future computing. This book has earned its place on my reference
desk beside my golden Rolodex, tattered dictionary and thesaurus. I
might even call it "George."
So I ask again, "Where was this book when I was
setting up and managing my own small business computer system?"
Luckily for today's small business owner, "George" now
comes in paperback.
Jeff Zbar
www.chiefhomeofficer.com
Small business columnist, author, advocate and
speaker
U.S. Small Business Administration 2001
Small Business Journalist of the Year
