The Importance Of Backing Up ... Effectively

As a small business owner, whether it's an online or "bricks and mortar" business, you likely depend on your computer system and the data it contains for nearly every aspect of running your business. What most people don't pay enough attention to, however, is the critical importance of backing up that data frequently and effectively.

Why backup your data?

This is the most basic question and the one that's easiest to answer. It's important to backup your data because if you were to lose some (or all) of it your small business could be severely impacted at best and perhaps even crippled at worst. Your small business information is quite literally the lifeblood of your operation; lose that information and all sorts of really bad things can happen.

While setting up a backup system and program might be a bit tedious and even seem like a lot of work, it's best to view it as an integral part of small business management. You take care of accounting tasks on a regular basis, you take care of inventory tasks on a regular basis, and so too should you take care of data backup tasks on a regular basis.

How to backup your data:

There are a number of options available for you to backup your data. A few examples include:

Separate hard drive (external or portable hard drive) - A stand-alone separate hard drive is an economical choice; they are available with all sorts of storage capacity for as little as $100 in many cases. Simply hook the separate hard disk up to your computer and then copy vital files over to it. To maximize safety of the data you should then keep the separate hard drive in a location that's separate from your main computer location.

Off-site storage - This is often the safest solution because it not only creates copies of your vital data, but does so in a way that is extra safe and secure. There are a number of excellent commercial providers of this type of service, such as iDrive, Mozy and Carbonite. Pricing and storage limits can vary so be sure to check out a number of different providers before making a final decision.

How often should you backup your data?

The right answer to this question depends in part on the quantity of data you need to back up, how frequently that data changes, and the method you choose for regular backup. At bare minimum, some experts recommend backing up small business information once per month but in practice this is usually not even close to often enough.

For most small business management purposes, performing data backup once per week is usually sufficient although daily backups may be required by some small business operators. If you're using an off-site storage provider most of them offer a range of backup options from allowing you to create a set schedule to, in some cases, performing continuous backup of your data files.

In the end, the frequency of your data backups is something where you'll need to balance the importance of having access to the most current data with the time and effort necessary to conduct such backups. The more automated your backup process, the easier it is to implement on a more frequent basis. The bottom line is you need to pay attention to your small business information and structure your backup systems to best protect and preserve that information from loss or file corruption.