EP 34 - Silos, Death and Protecting What Matters Most!

"It's really important for all of us to set up our businesses in such a way where even if something happens to us, the chief principal, the business can run at least for a while without us."

Welcome back to the Business and Bytes Podcast! In this episode, host John Hansman and co-host Lexi take on three things most small businesses don't want to think about: silos, death and protecting what matters most. They start with backups (yes, some offices still use tape) and why cloud backups only count if somebody actually tests them.

From there, John and Lexi dig into the "one person holds the keys to the kingdom" problem. That's the office manager, controller or long-time CFO who knows everything and wrote nothing down. Lexi shares what happened when a client's CFO passed away unexpectedly and bills nobody knew about started slipping. John walks through the simple fixes: a company password manager, business email on Microsoft or Google instead of a free Gmail address, company-owned computers and written-down processes. Then they talk about planning your exit, whether it's on purpose or by accident.

If you're getting ready to bring AI into your business, this is the groundwork that has to come first.

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What's covered:

• Tape backups in the cloud era, and why your backups need regular testing
• Silos: when one person runs everything and nobody else knows how
• What happens when a key person leaves, quits or passes away
• Documenting processes so anyone can step in
• Company password managers vs. passwords in a spreadsheet
• Why your business email shouldn't be a free Gmail account
• Company-owned computers and keeping work and personal separate
• Planning your exit, on purpose or by accident
• Getting your business ready for AI