It may be hard to believe, but the year is over, and 2025 is here!
As we jump into the next year, many of us are thinking through New Year’s resolutions at home: maybe this is the year to cut back, to get fit, to start saving, or to finally master that hobby or language.
We aren’t much help when it comes to those kinds of resolutions. But as you’re taking stock at home, right now is the perfect time to think through your business. What’s going well? What goals did you achieve during the previous year? And what needs to change heading into the new year?
To help get the ball rolling, here are 3 top business resolutions for the new year — changes that businesses like yours might benefit from making.
#1: Cybersecurity Audit and Upgrades
First up is making this the year that you conduct a cybersecurity audit — and implement any hardware/software upgrades or process changes revealed through the process.
Small businesses get hit every single day by cyberattacks and other digital threats. It’s tempting to think that your business is unlikely to suffer an attack: there are other, larger businesses and other more industries that are more valuable in terms of what could be stolen.
But here’s the thing: the bad guys aren’t looking only for the biggest, richest targets. Often they’re looking for the easy targets. Think more like knocking off the local convenience store compared to robbing a bank: sure, the bank is more valuable, but the amount of both difficulty and risk is drastically higher.
The point? Don’t let your business be one of those easy targets. Make this the year that you work with a partner like us to conduct a cybersecurity audit. Identify the flaws, gaps, and vulnerabilities, then make whatever upgrades or changes are needed to tighten up your cybersecurity response.
#2: Make This the Year of Digital Transformation
If your business hasn’t gone through a formal digital transformation process yet, then make this your year.
What exactly is digital transformation? McKinsey & Co defines it as “the rewiring of an organization, with the goal of creating value by continuously deploying tech at scale.”
In other words, digital transformation is more than just adding technology to your organization. It’s going back to square one and evaluating: if we had all of these technology solutions available to us when we originally set up our business processes, what would those processes look like?
Often, businesses allow their technology to evolve “naturally,” bolting on new systems and capabilities as they come along. This is the easiest and seemingly most affordable approach, but it’s never the most efficient option.
Digital transformation is complex, and we aren’t saying it’s easy. But in a rapidly shifting business landscape, your business needs every advantage. Rewiring your business technology to be the best version of itself can give you a competitive edge over others in your industry who are less digitally mature.
#3: Simplify Your Business Technology By Working with a Managed IT Services Provider
If you aren’t already working with a managed IT services provider like us, make this your year. Working with a managed service provider (MSP) greatly simplifies your approach to technology: we handle the architecture, provisioning, maintenance, and upgrades for your digital systems so that your team can focus on the core parts of your business — not on putting out IT fires.
Best of all, working with Blue Ridge Technology as your MSP means knocking out the first two resolutions, too: we’ll guide your business through digital transformation, which includes reviewing your cybersecurity approach.
Ready for your business to kick off the new year right? Reach out to our team today to discuss your needs!