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Small Business Bestie
Entrepreneurship is hard, and sometimes we could use a friend to walk a mile in our shoes. Small Business Bestie is here to provide that friendship, support, and inspiration that small business owners need from time to time.
Small Business Bestie
59: Tech Tips from the Tech Chic, Tina Watson
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Tech is essential for all small businesses, but many entrepreneurs overlook critical IT security measures until it's too late. Tina Watson, IT consultant with 25 years of experience, shares how proper technology planning can protect your business from devastating data loss and security breaches.
• Small businesses are prime targets for hackers precisely because they often lack proper security measures
• Security basics include strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, and regular software updates
• "Cloud" services aren't actually ethereal—they're physical servers that can be compromised without proper backups
• Managed IT services provide predictable monthly costs while ensuring proper security protocols and support
• Even low-tech industries now rely heavily on technology, creating new vulnerabilities that must be addressed
• Professional IT support helps prevent catastrophic data loss that can force businesses to close permanently
• Simple physical issues like overheating servers or damaged cables can cause significant tech problems
• Screen protectors can prevent sensitive information from being viewed from the side in public settings
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Tina's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tina.watsonsparkman
Tina's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/techchic/
ExactIT Solutions Website: https://exactitconsulting.com/
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Introduction & Sponsor Message
Speaker 1This episode of Small Business Bestie is sponsored by Cultivate Accounting . We're all that and a bag of chips , and we've recently added Lexington's favorite tax pro , microzine to our team , combined with the best small business bookkeeping pros . We're ready to help more besties than ever . We offer a free 30-minute review call each month to review your financials and answer your questions , because your numbers should empower you , not overwhelm you . Visit CultivateLexcom or find us on Facebook to learn more . Hey , besties , welcome back to another episode of Small Business Bestie . I'm your host , michelle Smock , and today I have my good friend , tina Watson here to talk with me . Tina does all things tech for small businesses , and so I'm really excited to hear from her and get some great insight and , hopefully , some usable tips for all of the small
Meet Tina Watson, IT Consultant
Speaker 1business besties out there . So , tina , take just a minute , tell us about yourself and what you do .
Speaker 2Okay , Hi , Michelle , Thanks for having me . As you said , I'm an IT consultant . I've got about 25 years experience in the industry Helping small businesses align their technology with their business objectives . So when I got into computers I just thought they were neat . I said this will be fun , and I really don't think I realized how important technology would be for a lot of small to medium businesses these days . So I think I picked a good career choice .
Speaker 1But yeah , for sure .
Speaker 2You know it's definitely been fun and it's usually something different every day , so that's been , that's been rewarding as well .
Speaker 1That's awesome . It's interesting I'm aging myself here , but you know , 25 years ago was like I was finishing high school and the internet was really just becoming like a thing that we kind of used in our daily lives a little bit more , you know . So I can imagine how it has absolutely evolved continuously over that time . And especially if you're helping with small business technology and things like that , the ways that we've used technology and the ways that it's changed over the past 25 years is just incredibly vast .
Speaker 2I'm sure it really is , and it seems like it moves so fast , you know , as soon as you think , oh okay , I know what I'm doing . Then it changes and there's a whole new thing out that you got to learn and got to try to keep up with . So it has evolved very quickly .
Speaker 1I feel like yeah , If someone had told my 18-year-old self working at Walmart as a cashier that 25 years from now your job is obsolete and the register does everything for you , I would have laughed hysterically Like that wouldn't even seem possible . You know , and that's just one tiny example of how tech has impacted business .
Speaker 2Well , I can remember , you know , watching Jetsons as a kid and thinking , oh my gosh , this stuff is so far-fetched . And then now you're like , oh my gosh , everything that was in it is , you know , coming to fruition . It's here .
Speaker 1Yeah , there are literally robot mops going around the stores cleaning up . That's crazy . So what got you into tech Like , why did you choose that field ? Was it always a passion ?
Speaker 2I , you know , I remember having some computer classes when I was younger and just thinking , oh , this is kind of neat .
Speaker 2I did my senior year in high school , have a coach and a teacher who you know meant a lot to me and he had a computer science class and I remember sitting in that class and just thinking this stuff is cool , Like I really like that . You know , you can make these machines do things that you want them to do , and so that kind of got my interest and I definitely , when I decided to go to college , I went to Sullivan University here in Lexington . I went to Sullivan University here in Lexington , I jumped right into the IT track and I really liked the fact that I got to take a lot of different IT courses and a lot of different technology courses to figure out what I wanted to do , Because at first I thought I wanted to be a programmer . I was like , oh , this is neat . But I quickly realized after sitting there for three hours writing lines of code and it didn't work because I was missing a semicolon somewhere that that was going to be a little frustrating for me .
Speaker 2So I like the people aspect of it a lot more and helping people maybe get through some trouble that they're having or , you know , frustrations with technology . So you know , that kind of piqued my interest in high school and then I just stayed with it , that's awesome , so tell us about the company that you work with now .
Speaker 2Okay . So Exact IT Consulting . They're based in Indianapolis and they had a couple customers here in Lexington and wanted to grow their office here . So the owner decided to purchase the company that I owned for 17 years called Technology Consulting Group , and then they asked me to stay on and help them build their brand here . So I got to keep most of my customers and also go find new ones . They've been in business for about 11 years now and we have 25 technicians in our company . So I went from a partnership with just two of us in the company to a team of 25 . So it really helped me expand . You know what I can offer , who I can offer it to , and just really build my team where I feel more confident going out there and helping some of those bigger clients that might need it .
Speaker 1That's awesome . I think I may have missed that when we talked the first time that you had a company that was then purchased by another company . That's amazing . That's kind of you know . One of the things that we fail to think through sometimes as small business owners
From Small Business to Acquisition
Speaker 1when we're first getting started is like what's the exit strategy ? You know , like we're going to start this business and then it's just always going to be you know , and we don't think through the fact that at some point you either step away and let someone else run your business , you sell the business or you close the business . Like one of those three things is going to happen and if we're not clear on what our goal is or what we want for the company in the future , it can feel really scary and frightening when that starts to happen . Did you find that it was expected or unexpected when this happened ?
Speaker 2Definitely unexpected , like we were not even really looking to sell the company . And you know , we were fine just doing what we were doing . We were fine just doing what we were doing . But we had a mutual friend of ours who I was just talking to one day and he said hey , tina , you know , I know a business out of Indianapolis that's looking to grow here in Lexington and maybe purchase another company . Would you be interested in a conversation with them ? And you know , and at first I was like no , I don't want to do that . But I was like you know , it's not going to hurt to talk to them . You know , you never know . And so it just it was very surprising , was not something we planned at all , but it definitely seemed like the right time and the right thing to do . So , definitely happy with the situation . And yeah , I don't know that I planned that in the beginning . You know , like you're saying , you think about those things as a business owner , but it just kind of happened organically , that's incredible Well congratulations .
Speaker 1And you said that's been a couple of years .
Speaker 2Yeah , the end of 2023 . So I've been with the company for about a year and a half . Now We'll get close to two years , so yeah .
Speaker 1That's great . So you and I met through just out and about networking . I know we ran into each other everywhere because you're a huge networker here in Lexington and so am I . Are there any tips or advice ? You've been doing this a long time out hustling and you know making those connections . Are there any tips or advice that you have around that , specifically about building your community or networking ?
Networking Tips for Business Growth
Speaker 2Yeah , about building your community or networking . Yeah , I mean , I just try to find groups that are welcoming that . You meet a lot of people that you want in your circle . There are a couple that I've went to that I'm like , yes , I like these people , but I don't think they're the right people to help me grow , the right people to help my business . So I'm always looking for the people to connect with that , you know , not only are going to help me grow , but I've really found that I like being in the connector too . So I'm trying to think of you know . Oh , who from this group should I introduce to this person ? Because they would , you know , be good referral sources or good customer for each other , or whatever it is . So , you know , just finding ways to be the connector kind of put you in those situations where people will think of you too . You know when they're looking for something .
Speaker 1Yeah , absolutely . I think stepping into that role of being the connector is such an empowering feeling . It brings me so much joy . When I'm able to make that valuable connection for somebody , I'm like , oh , my work here is done , you know I can go rest . That's awesome , all right . So I'm going to switch gears a little . I want to get into the value that I know you can bring to us on the tech side , because that's something that we have not talked about on the podcast at all and it's so important and obviously so often overlooked in small business . You know , I'm almost 60 episodes in and I've never talked about it . So I want to know are there particular situations or things that , like especially in the beginning , when you're setting up your systems and processes , that small businesses need to be thinking through and addressing from the very beginning ?
Essential IT Considerations for Small Businesses
Speaker 1Because if not , maybe it causes huge issues down the road . Sure .
Speaker 2Well , the first one is like , don't let IT be an afterthought . I feel like , especially if you're starting a new business or you're moving , you know you're thinking of what color do I want the walls ? What kind of furniture do I want in here ? I need to get the lights turned on . You know things like that . And then all of a sudden you get there and you're like , oh my gosh , I need internet . And a lot of times that takes , you know , 30 or 60 days to get installed and if you're ready to open Monday and you don't have internet , that might be a problem , right , you know , what kind of systems do you need ? Where do you want your server closet to be ? You know that's a big one .
Speaker 2A lot of people again , it's an afterthought . So they've got something hanging on the wall where they've got all these wires exposed and things out in the open and they're like one that doesn't look good . Two , it's not very secure . So you know , having somebody come in at the very beginning to try to help you just understand some of those little pieces like okay , where are we going to physically set your equipment ? Where it's secure ? You know people can't just walk by and unplug something if they want to , or it's not an eyesore for your customers coming in .
Speaker 2And then you know what do you need to help your business function in the right way . You know , do you need laptops or would a desktop be better ? And then I really think that security is a really big one . A lot of small businesses will think , oh , I'm too small , the hackers don't want to deal with me , but you're exactly the kind of company they're looking for , because they're like , oh well , they don't have any major security in place , they don't have a firewall , they don't have , you know , the training for their end users to teach them what to look for . So they think , oh , they're more susceptible , they're easier to get access to . So making sure that you have that security in place is a huge piece of it , for sure .
Speaker 1Yeah , I think I needed to know you years ago when we were opening the spa , my first iteration of the spa I did not think through any of that and had wires going everywhere , and I know for sure I hope none of my clients are listening to this but you know , we definitely didn't have the security in place that we needed to have , considering that we were storing credit card information , addresses , phone numbers , email addresses . All of that stuff was being stored within our you know either , our CRM and we just assumed that that security would be enough you know the built-in security for the CRM not realizing that we needed practices in place in our physical location and then training for our staff on how to protect that information . So can you tell us a little bit more about the security piece of it ?
Speaker 2Sure , so you know I'm going to lean on what EXACT does here . And we provide managed IT services , help small businesses take that stress off their plate by providing those pieces of security at the desktop level , at the server level , even at the network , you know , firewall level . That's going to keep things from getting into your network . We offer end user training . So we send out a little email every other week . That's like two minutes long video and then three questions that all the employees kind of have to go through .
Speaker 2This training process just helps to keep in the front of their mind . So they're not , you know , clicking on things they shouldn't , or they're , you know aware of the most recent um . You know hacks and things going on out there . And then , because we are experts in the industry , we have a lot of guys on our staff that have been in a lot of big organizations , that understand what kind of security is required . We deal a lot with medical customers , so you know HIPAA compliance , pci compliance . You know things with financial institutions where they've got to make sure that all the T's are crossed and I's are dotted , because if they don't do have a breach , you know they're going to end up getting fined if their things are not in place that are supposed to be Right .
Speaker 2You know we just try to help them make sure that they have the security layers in place and we help monitor and maintain those , so they don't have to stress about it so much because it's not their expertise , it's ours and so it's a lot easier for us to do it than for them to worry about that piece of it .
Speaker 1Yeah , absolutely . Are there any things that you run into on a regular basis that are like easy fixes that you could just help us ? Like you know , understand ? I know for one thing , like at the spa and this is before Neil and I joined forces , so this was just my like ignorance . Thank goodness he was actually in the IT field before he opened his spa , so he brought a lot of knowledge to me . But before we joined forces , in order to save time , we didn't put a password on our front end computer that sat at the front desk and didn't think about how vulnerable that left our information . Like anytime the spa coordinator walked away from that front desk , that was literally an opportunity for anyone to run back there and see information . You know they probably weren't going to get a credit card because it was all encrypted , but they could get you know emails , phone numbers , addresses , notes from the client files . Any of that stuff was really unprotected Again .
Speaker 1I hope nobody back in Oklahoma is listening to this , but you know so . Are there little tips and tricks like that that you could help us understand ? Like these are the base level , like you got to have this stuff , yeah .
Speaker 2So one is obviously good passwords , you know , don't use the same password for everything . Try to make it stronger . I've seen a lot of people start to go to phrases . So instead of like a word with some numbers , it's almost like a whole sentence as a password . So things like that are definitely helpful . Just locking your computer when you walk away , control-alt-delete lock it . You know what I mean . So somebody has to have the password to your phone or another device that says , hey , is this really you ?
Speaker 2And if it's not , you can decline it , so they can't get in . You know , and I know it's an extra step and some businesses are like , oh man , that's such a pain in the butt . But it's one of those things that if you don't do it , the worst case scenario is way worse than if you just clicked a button every time you tried to log in you know so um , and in certain environments , screen protectors are really nice .
Speaker 2You can get them on your phone , you can get them on your laptop , you can get them on regular desktops , but a lot of our medical customers would have a screen protector that goes on , that you can only see it when you're standing right in front of it , so if you're from the side , or things like that you don't get a good view of it .
Speaker 2So you can't really take information off the screen unless you're right in front of it . So a few things like that are some easy things to do . You know that might help protect in certain situations .
Speaker 1That's genius . I've not seen those or thought of that , but what a great idea . I'm sure whoever came up with that made a lot of money . Moving away from , like , the physical practices , are there things that need to be set up , like with your software or the hardware itself , to ensure that there's safety ? Like I'm talking way out of my league here . I know that , for when we opened Cultivate Accounting , neil told me I needed a VPN and I was like what is that ? And he was like just trust me . So there's this little thing that I have to make sure it works and then I have to log into it and he tells me that that makes my computer safe to use on other people's networks . So are there other things , when it comes to software and things like that , that we need to be thinking through ?
Speaker 2Yeah , you know , updates are one . You know I think that's an easy one , but it's one that gets overlooked a lot . Both , you know , Windows updates or Apple updates or actually just updates from the manufacturer . So I have , like a Lenovo ThinkPad . There's a little program on my computer from Lenovo that I can go and check for updated software
Managed IT Services Explained
Speaker 2for this specific laptop . So my BIOS , my network card , my Wi-Fi card , you know , like a lot of different things that they put out updates for not only helps it stay secure but helps it run more efficiently . Also , Windows updates , you know Wait , wait , wait .
Speaker 1You're saying I'm actually supposed to do those updates you are supposed to do those Because when I see the thing pop up , I almost always tell it no , thank you , because I'm like , I just learned where all of the things are the way it is . Like , don't go changing it on me , right , right , but I guess I need to change that practice .
Speaker 2Yes , yeah , and I mean always make sure that it is a legit source , right ? Like if you're out browsing the internet and something pops up and says , hey , click here to update your drivers . Probably don't do that , but you know , like , go to the Lenovo software on your computer and say , hey , check for updates , and then it'll go out and look specifically for what you need . So you know , you do have to be a little careful on what you're clicking on and make sure that it is the specific thing that you want to do , not just something that's popped up randomly when you're out surfing the web .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2Windows updates are important because a lot of times I've noticed if they've got windows updates that are sitting there ready to be installed , it will actually make your computer run really sluggish and you're like , why is it so slow ?
Speaker 1but if you just say , hey , install updates and restart a lot of times , it'll take care of that stuff oh man , I'm so glad that you came on today so I could learn that , because I literally have been ignoring updates like my entire career . Oops , awesome , okay . So at Exact IT , you offer the consultation to like come in , make sure that you have all the software and hardware and things are set up and you've got your closet where you can house all of the servers and wires and weird things that I know nothing about , and then , like the ongoing service , like you said , is the education piece and then if , if , something happens , I call you and I say hey , tina , something has happened and you can help me . Yeah .
Speaker 2So with our managed IT services , we basically do everything for you , like , we will set up new users . We will , you know , have a help desk support in case you can't print or your email's not working or you've got a project and you want to install a new computer . We have a help desk , again , with about 25 technicians that are ready to take phone calls . We have a help desk , again with about 25 technicians that are ready to take phone calls . So you know , I think that the managed services is nice because it gives small businesses the opportunity to know exactly what their IT spend is going to be every month .
Speaker 2I think a lot of companies that do the break-fix scenario they don't call as often because they're like , oh , I don't want to get that bill right , but if you know this is how much it's going to cost me every month , no matter if I call once or I call a hundred times , then you're more likely to stay on top of that stuff and feel okay giving our number to your employees . So you're like , hey , you can't print , I don't have time to deal with that . Call the help desk , you know . So it does it again . We're trying to take some of that stress off . You know owners and managers , that they don't have to be the onsite IT person when they're supposed to be doing other duties .
Speaker 1Yeah , even in our very , very tiny accounting company , the number of times that I would jokingly say IT and Neil knew that that meant I was having some sort of tech issue , it was almost always I can't print or I can't get something to open , or probably I just needed to run an update . Right , right , yeah , that makes so much sense . So the businesses that you work with in this area you said that you guys work with a lot of medical practices , things like that . Are there other specific industries that come to mind that are like these are perfect scenarios for us to be able to help with .
Speaker 2Yeah , I mean just about any business that has a computer , obviously , but ones that are a little more tech heavy . You know , obviously medical is one , but accounting , finance , um , engineering and architects . We have quite a few auto dealerships in Lexington as well . So we've got nonprofits . They're really across every industry , but it's the ones that are at the point where they need help , but it doesn't make sense for them to hire somebody full-time , right . And even when you do that , you really want a team of people because you're getting more expertise , you're getting more availability , all the things that go along with that . But yeah , every industry . I mean I say our sweet spot is probably between 10 computers and 200 computers , but we've got everything in between and even some with less than 10 .
Speaker 1Yeah , you know , it's so interesting . We were talking about how technology has evolved and how much more it's used and things like that . But like even in I was just thinking of , like some of our clients , you know , with the accounting company and thinking through , like how many computers do I think each of these businesses have ? And like we have a roofing company and every single one of their salespeople , their technicians , their you know everybody on their team has their own individual either tablet or laptop that they're carrying with them constantly because everything is done in a software now and I don't know . It's just crazy to think about . You know , even an industry like roofing is like so tech heavy now it really is .
Speaker 2You know and you were talking about VPNs earlier that's kind of where that comes into play making sure that you've got those secure connections from one point to another , but you know , asset management of those devices . How many of those roofers are going to leave the in their truck and then somebody you , you know breaks in and steals it ?
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2You know . So when that happens , what do you do ? You know , are you able to wipe it remotely , are you able to recover it , or you just chuck it up as a loss and hope nobody steals your data .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2Making sure that even those devices that you're giving out to employees are secure and , you know , available to be wiped remotely if need be , is pretty important .
Speaker 1Yeah , man , so many things to think about as a small business owner . And , like I said at the top , like I think this is just one of those things that we assume , probably because we've . We're at a point now where the majority of us who are in business have kind of grown up with computers and technology being a part of our daily lives and things like that . But obviously there's so much you know more when you start thinking about you know you're housing other people's data and how important that data is for your operation . So if you lose it , what do you do ?
Speaker 2You know so it's definitely going to be my next point .
Speaker 2The data is the most important thing , right ? Like the computers can be replaced very easily , you just go buy another one , right ? But if you can't restore that data or get back that information of who owes you money , who you owe money , you know what your calendar looks like If that stuff gets lost , that's when a lot of businesses end up closing the doors because they're just like we can't recover from this . Yeah , so making sure that your data is not only secure but backed up and easily recoverable is really important , and I think a lot of people that move to cloud-hosted solutions kind of have this sense of security that , oh yeah , they're backing up my data , but not always . So you know , it's a really good idea to make sure that you have your own backup solution to whatever cloud-hosted
Safeguarding Your Data
Speaker 2solution you're doing , because they don't always back it up .
Speaker 1That's a scary thought . I think when you and I first met , I told you the story about when we closed our business . We knew that we needed to keep those records for a certain period of time . You know whether it was for client retrieval , if they maybe decided to file an insurance claim on an injury or something like that . You know there were all these reasons that we needed to store that data and I guess in our time of like panic of closing the business and everything we're like , we'll just keep paying for the software you know the cloud hosted software so that we know it's there , instead of trying to figure out a way to , like you know , access all of that and download it into a secure environment . So , if you have cloud-hosted services , is there a specific frequency that you should be looking at backing up your data or how does that work ?
Speaker 2So a lot of that is preference on the business . Most businesses are usually backing up daily . If you're doing a lot of transactions or a lot of really important information , some of those are backing up hourly . So it just really kind of depends on you know what the business needs are and you know if there happened to be an outage or a loss like what could you afford to lose , you know what wouldn't hurt so bad . Basically , yeah , most of it is definitely on a daily basis .
Speaker 1Yeah , most of it is definitely on a daily basis .
Speaker 2Could you give me a real world like example or scenario of what could happen in a cloud hosted scenario where that data wouldn't be accessible to you anymore ? Well , let's just say , like , the data center where your stuff was hosted got ransomware virus . So you know that they're going to send you a thing that says , hey , we've encrypted all of your data and if you would like it back , you need to send us however much money in cryptocurrency . So now you're in a place where you're like do I pay these people to get my data back or am I losing it ? Because now you're either paying people who have already hacked into your system or you're having to go without it .
Speaker 1Oh my gosh .
Speaker 2If you had a backup of your own somewhere else obviously not in that data center then you could restore it and you'd be like I don't have to do that . You know , but it's hard because a lot of businesses think , oh , that'll never happen to me , right ? And you know , like I said , I've been doing this for about 25 years and luckily , in those 25 years I think I've only had two clients that that's become an issue for them . Both of them were medical practices and one of them paid and cost them a lot of money and a lot of down time , oh my gosh and the other one just said I think I can live without that data .
Speaker 1I have so many questions . That's the most terrifying thought that someone could hold your data hostage from you . It really is Just like negotiating with a hostage taker of a human . I could give you the money and then you could say oh , I changed my mind . That's not enough , give me more . That's exactly right . Yeah , oh , that's awful . Yeah , I've never even thought about that being a possibility . You know , oh , my gosh . Okay , I'm terrified now and so and I'll probably take this part out because I'm about to sound really stupid , tina but so when you're talking about data centers , it's like help me understand , because I don't know what that even means Pretty much all of you know cloud hosted applications are sitting somewhere .
Speaker 2Right , they're not literally in the clouds , literally in the clouds . They're in some office space or some building , somewhere where there's probably you know a hundred servers sitting in there , with you know different internet connections coming in , different firewalls , things like that .
Speaker 1But there there's a place that physically houses those servers that have the cloud hosted applications on them cloud hosted applications on them , so your data is somewhere , so like my Google Drive is physically in an office building , somewhere in a little box , and if someone were able to infiltrate that facility , they could hold my Google Drive hostage .
Speaker 2They could . Yeah , oh my , the things like that . You know when you think about it . It's not like your Google Drive . Stuff is separate all by itself , like it is on a server that probably has a thousand other people's Google drives on it . Yeah , I mean like they don't have a separate piece of equipment for every single person . A lot of that stuff is stored in the same location , you know , with other people's information .
Speaker 1So if they're not using best practices , then I'm vulnerable .
Speaker 2Correct Now , most of them Google , for example . You know they've got a lot of stuff in place . I would say that they are going to be extremely hard to hack into . It's possible , like it is possible . You know what I mean . So this is the craziest world that we live in . I mean it is .
Speaker 1It's such like ethereal ideas , and then you're like no , but there's concrete , like you know .
Unusual Tech Problems Solved
Speaker 1To it it's just also very unreal , like Jetson-like .
Speaker 2Right , well , you got to think about the . Really , the only thing the cloud is doing is taking from you , having a physical piece of hardware at your location and putting it somewhere else . Yeah Right , like , it's just like . Oh , you don't have to worry about this part of it , we'll take care of it , but it's still living somewhere , oh my gosh .
Speaker 1Yeah , I think I need to go live in a cave and just disconnect , because I understand so little about technology and I think that over the next decade or two it's going to become so much more imperative that you have a firm understanding of how it all works together and things like that . So do you want to go live in a cave with me ?
Speaker 2I might , I might . Okay , cool , you know , tech burnout's real yeah .
Speaker 1I'll find a really big cave .
Speaker 2I don't want to know anymore .
Speaker 1Yeah , oh , my gosh . Okay , is there anything else that you want to touch on ?
Speaker 2I think you and I talked a little bit about maybe thinking about some like crazy tech things that you know you wouldn't really think of . And two of them kind of came to mind , and the first one I would imagine most people would not think of . But I had a customer whose computer just kept dropping connectivity . We really couldn't figure it out . And then finally one day I noticed that the cable going from her computer to the wall was running under her chair mat . Well , it happened to be one of those chair mats that had a bunch of the like little spikes on the bottom so it wouldn't move and it had literally punctured holes through the cable . So you know she was just losing connectivity because that cable was so damaged . Oh my gosh . So just replace the cable . So you know she was just losing connectivity because that cable was so damaged oh my gosh .
Speaker 2So just replace the cable , Don't put it under your chair , Matt . It was fine . And then another one I can think of is there was a customer who had a server that was just running really bad . And so I finally go on site and I go look at it and it's in this very dusty , dingy closet and it was probably like 100 degrees in there . And I don't think people understand that those servers , because they're doing so much processing , they get really hot . You know , like if you've got a tablet or something and you've got it running for a while , you feel that they're getting hot . Well , those servers do that as well . So it was in this dusty , dirty closet of 100 degrees and it just could not function . It was like I need some AC .
Speaker 2So we had to move it out of there . But you know , just some little things like that are things that people don't think about , some of those physical aspects of things that might affect , you know , connectivity and computers .
Speaker 1But , yeah , that were kind of interesting connectivity and computers , but I thought that were kind of interesting , absolutely Awesome . Well , tina , thanks so much for taking time today and for sharing your wisdom with us . I hope that . I hope that everybody else learned something . I probably will leave in those parts that I said I'll take out , because , you know , if I have the questions , somebody else probably does too , and they might be too scared to ask , just like I usually am , so awesome . Well , thank you so much . And for those of you guys who don't know Tina or want to get connected with her , I know that she is often at the Small Business Bestie Meetups and you can follow her on social media . I'll be sure to link out to your social channels and your website , and then I guess that about wraps us up for today .
Speaker 2Cool . Thank you so much for having me . This has been awesome and you know I enjoy sharing the technology information with people because , like you said , not everybody's . It's not one of those conversations that comes up a lot . You know people don't sit around and talk about their tech stuff very often , it's true until you need it .
Speaker 1Until you need it , yeah , when it's crisis and I need you right now , exactly , well , we'll keep you on speed dial so that when I need you right now , I know how to get you . But thank you so much and we will talk to all of you guys later . Thank you All right
Closing & Community Information
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