I've been doing remote IT support for small businesses for years. Here are the 5 issues I see drain budgets over and over — and the simple fixes most people miss.

1. No backup strategy

"My hard drive died and I lost everything." I hear this monthly. Set up automated cloud backups — it takes 15 minutes and saves you from a $5,000+ disaster recovery bill.

2. Shared passwords on sticky notes

One compromised password and your entire business is exposed. Use a password manager (Bitwarden is free). Enable 2FA on every account that supports it. Non-negotiable.

3. Ignoring software updates

Those "update later" notifications? They're often security patches. Unpatched systems are the #1 entry point for ransomware. Schedule updates weekly.

4. No network segmentation

Your guest Wi-Fi shouldn't be on the same network as your payment systems. Most routers support guest networks — take 10 minutes to set one up.

5. Paying for break-fix instead of prevention

Emergency IT calls run $150-300/hour. A monthly support plan catches problems before they explode. The math is simple.

If any of these hit close to home, that's exactly what we handle at MalondiResolve. $99/mo gets your small business a dedicated IT support team — no contracts, no surprise bills.