After 20+ years doing on-site IT work across Baton Rouge, Denham Springs, Gonzales, Zachary, Walker, Prairieville, and the surrounding area, I keep hearing the same problems from small business owners. Different industries, different sizes — same headaches. Here are the 20 that come up most, what's actually causing them, and what you can do about it.
Speed & Hardware
1 "My computer takes 10 minutes to boot up every morning"
"I come in, hit power, go make coffee, come back, and it's still loading."
This is almost always one of three things: too many programs set to launch at startup, a failing or full hard drive, or a machine that hasn't been restarted properly in weeks. Windows loads every startup program before it gives you control, and over time that list grows quietly in the background — software installers love adding themselves to it.
The fix is usually a startup cleanup, a drive health check, and sometimes swapping a spinning hard drive for a solid-state drive (SSD). That last one alone can take a boot from 8 minutes down to 30 seconds on the same machine. See how we fix slow computers ›
2 "Everything freezes when I run QuickBooks and Chrome at the same time"
"I can't even open my email while QuickBooks is pulling a report."
QuickBooks is a memory hog, and Chrome is arguably worse — it treats every open tab like a separate program. If your machine has 4GB or 8GB of RAM and is running both simultaneously, you're asking it to do more than it was built for. The computer starts using your hard drive as overflow memory (called a page file), and that is dramatically slower than actual RAM.
A RAM upgrade is often a $60–$100 fix that completely transforms day-to-day performance. In some cases the machine itself is just too old to upgrade economically and replacement makes more sense. Learn about our performance upgrades ›
3 "Our computers are old but we don't know when to replace them"
"They still technically work, but I can't tell if we're wasting time or money keeping them."
There's no universal expiration date, but a few signals tell me a machine needs to go: it's running Windows 10 on hardware that won't support Windows 11, it has a spinning hard drive that's 5+ years old, or it's spending more time at the repair shop than it is at a desk. Old hardware also becomes a security liability when it can no longer receive OS updates.
A proper hardware audit looks at age, specs, failure history, and what software you actually need to run. That gives you a clear replacement priority list instead of guessing. Talk to us about a hardware assessment ›
4 "The printer never works when we actually need it"
"We have a client in the lobby and the printer decides that's the perfect time to stop working."
Most printer failures fall into three buckets: driver issues (the software that tells Windows how to talk to the printer got corrupted or outdated), network configuration problems (the printer got a new IP address and nobody updated the settings), or hardware issues like worn rollers or a clogged print head. Network printers are especially prone to "disappearing" after a router reboot or firmware update.
Printers are one of those things that seem trivial until they fail at the worst possible moment. Getting them properly set up on the network — with static IP addresses and current drivers — prevents 90% of the recurring issues. See our printer repair and setup service ›
Security & Fear
5 "I don't know if we've been hacked — nothing looks wrong but I'm not sure"
"Everything seems fine but I have this feeling something isn't right."
That gut feeling is worth listening to. Modern intrusions are designed to be invisible — attackers don't want you to know they're there. They'll sit quietly on a network for weeks or months, exfiltrating data or waiting for the right moment. Common quiet signs include unusually slow internet speeds, unfamiliar devices on the network, strange login alerts, or accounts sending emails you didn't write.
A security audit looks at network traffic, active connections, login history, and device inventory to determine if anything unauthorized is present. It's not a paranoid move — it's the same thing a responsible business owner does with their finances. See our cybersecurity services ›
6 "We got a ransomware popup and lost a full day of work"
"The screen went red and said all our files were encrypted. We panicked."
Ransomware encrypts your files and demands payment for the decryption key. It usually arrives through a phishing email attachment or a malicious download, and once it starts running it can spread across your network within minutes. Paying the ransom is not a guarantee — a significant percentage of victims who pay still don't get their files back.
Recovery requires isolating infected machines, scanning the entire network, removing the malware, and restoring from clean backups (if you have them). Prevention means endpoint protection, email filtering, and regular verified backups stored offsite or in the cloud. See how we handle ransomware removal ›
7 "Employees keep clicking phishing emails"
"We've told them a hundred times. Someone still clicks."
This isn't a stupidity problem — it's a design problem. Phishing emails are engineered by professionals to look legitimate, and they're getting better every year with AI assistance. A convincing fake from "your bank" or "your boss" with a sense of urgency will catch even careful people on a busy Tuesday afternoon. One click is all it takes.
The solution has two layers: technical (email filtering that catches most phishing before it reaches inboxes) and human (short, practical training that teaches employees what to look for and how to report suspicious messages). The technical layer is more reliable than willpower alone. Learn about email security and training ›
8 "We store customer data and have no idea if it's secure"
"We collect names, emails, payment info — but honestly I don't know where it all lives."
This is more common than you'd think, and it's a real liability. If you store customer data — especially payment information, health records, or anything personally identifiable — you have legal and ethical obligations around how it's stored and protected. A breach that exposes customer data can result in regulatory fines, lawsuits, and permanent reputation damage.
A data audit maps where your sensitive information lives, who has access to it, how it's stored, and whether those storage methods meet basic security standards. Starting from "I don't know" is fine — the point is to get to "I know and it's handled." Talk to us about data security ›
Network & Connectivity
9 "The WiFi drops during client calls and video meetings"
"I was in the middle of a Zoom with a new client and froze up three times. Embarrassing."
WiFi drops during video calls are almost always a signal-to-noise problem: the router is too far away, there's interference from neighboring networks or physical obstructions, or the router itself is undersized for the number of simultaneous connections. Consumer-grade routers are not designed to handle a business workload — they're built for a household with a few devices, not an office with 15+ devices all active at once.
Business-class access points and proper network segmentation (separating video call traffic from general browsing, for instance) make a huge difference. So does a wired connection for the machine you use for client calls whenever possible. See our WiFi and networking services ›
10 "Remote employees can't get into our systems reliably"
"Half my team works from home now and getting them connected is a constant battle."
Remote access reliability comes down to how it's set up. Consumer VPNs and basic remote desktop configurations aren't built for consistency — they break on network changes, timeout under load, and often require someone in the office to restart something on the other end. It creates a situation where remote work is technically possible but practically miserable.
A properly configured business VPN, or a managed remote access solution, gives remote employees a stable, secure connection that doesn't require constant troubleshooting. It also keeps your network protected — an improperly configured remote access setup is one of the most common entry points for attackers. Learn about remote access setup ›
11 "We have dead zones in half the office"
"The back half of the building has basically no WiFi. People take their phones to the break room just to load a page."
A single router placed in one corner of a building was never going to cover the whole space. WiFi signal degrades with distance and with every wall, especially concrete or metal. The solution depends on square footage and layout: sometimes a well-placed access point solves it; in larger or oddly shaped spaces, a mesh network or wired access point drops at strategic locations is the right move.
A proper wireless site survey maps signal strength throughout your space before recommending hardware, so you're not guessing at placement. Throwing a second router in the middle of the room and hoping for the best usually just creates interference problems. See our WiFi coverage solutions ›
12 "We have no idea what devices are on our network"
"Someone told me you can see all the connected devices. I don't want to know — but I probably should."
You should know. An unmanaged network is an open invitation — rogue devices, personal phones with outdated software, old employee laptops that were never removed, and in some cases outside devices that connected through a weak password and never left. Each unknown device is a potential vulnerability you have no visibility into.
Network discovery tools can inventory every connected device in minutes and flag anything that doesn't belong. From there, proper network segmentation keeps personal devices (and guest WiFi) isolated from your business systems and data. Learn about network security ›
No IT Person / Reactive Support
13 "When something breaks, everything stops until we figure it out"
"One server goes down and we've got four people sitting there doing nothing."
This is the cost of reactive IT — you only think about support when something is already on fire. For a small business without a dedicated IT person, that means every technology problem eats directly into productive hours. The real cost of downtime isn't the repair bill; it's the lost revenue and frustrated employees during the time you're scrambling.
Proactive managed IT support catches most problems before they become outages — through regular monitoring, scheduled maintenance, and keeping systems updated. It's the difference between a smoke alarm and calling the fire department after the building's already burning. See our business IT support plans ›
14 "We called a big IT company — they took 3 days to respond"
"Three days. We had a server down. They put us in a ticket queue."
Large IT companies run on ticket systems designed for large clients. Small businesses get triaged to the bottom of the pile because they're not the highest revenue account. Three days is not unusual, and it's genuinely unacceptable when your business operations depend on the system that's down.
A local IT provider with real capacity to respond — same day or next day — is worth its weight when things go wrong. And if your IT support has a name and a phone number you can actually reach, not a support portal, that matters when it's urgent. See our response time commitment ›
15 "New employees take a week to get set up with the right logins and access"
"We hired someone Monday. It's Friday and they still can't get into everything they need."
This is an onboarding process problem, not a technology problem — but technology is the solution. Without a documented setup checklist and an IT partner who can execute it quickly, new hire onboarding becomes a series of "who has the password for that" conversations stretched across multiple days. Permissions get forgotten, software doesn't get installed, and productivity tanks from day one.
A standardized onboarding workflow — with account creation, access provisioning, device setup, and software installation all handled the same way every time — gets new employees operational on day one. Talk to us about IT onboarding ›
16 "We have no plan for what happens if the server goes down"
"I've thought about it but I don't know where to start. We'd probably just be down."
Most small businesses don't have a disaster recovery plan until after they need one. A server failure, a flooded server room, a cryptolocker attack — these aren't hypotheticals, they happen regularly to businesses exactly like yours. Without a plan, recovery is improvised and slow, and the outcome depends on whether you happen to have recent backups and whether those backups actually work.
A basic disaster recovery plan documents your critical systems, where backups are stored, and the exact steps to restore operations. Testing the restore process (not just having a backup) is what separates a plan that works from one that just looks good on paper. Learn about our data recovery and backup services ›
Email & Software
17 "We're still using Gmail/Yahoo for business email — it doesn't look professional"
"I send quotes from a gmail.com address. I know it looks bad but I haven't switched."
It does look bad, and it's also a trust issue. Customers receiving invoices or sensitive communications from a free consumer email account have no way to verify it's legitimate — it looks exactly like a phishing attempt. Beyond perception, free email lacks the administrative controls, archiving, and security features that business email platforms like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace provide.
Getting your team onto a professional domain-based email ([email protected]) is typically a straightforward migration. The cost is minimal and the credibility difference is immediate. Ask us about business email setup ›
18 "We're paying for software subscriptions nobody uses"
"I think we have three different project management tools. Nobody really uses any of them."
Software subscription sprawl is a real expense that flies under the radar. A tool gets signed up for, the person who championed it leaves, and the subscription quietly charges the company card for the next two years. Multiply that across a handful of tools and you're potentially looking at hundreds of dollars per month for licenses nobody is actively using.
A software audit inventories every active subscription, maps it to actual usage data where possible, and identifies what can be canceled, consolidated, or replaced with something the team will actually adopt. Talk to us about software management ›
19 "Our business email keeps getting flooded with spam and phishing"
"I spend 20 minutes every morning just deleting garbage from my inbox."
High spam volume usually means one of two things: your domain's email authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) are misconfigured or missing, which makes your domain look less legitimate to mail servers and attracts more garbage, or you're not running a business-grade email filtering solution. Consumer spam filters catch the obvious stuff — they miss the sophisticated targeted phishing that actually causes damage.
Proper email authentication setup combined with an enterprise-grade filtering layer (like Microsoft Defender for Office 365 or similar) dramatically reduces both spam volume and the risk of a phishing email reaching your team. See our email security options ›
20 "One person knows all our passwords — if they leave, we're stuck"
"Our office manager has the passwords for everything. It keeps me up at night."
This is an extremely common and genuinely dangerous situation. When a single person holds the keys to every system — WiFi, accounting software, email admin, ISP login, domain registrar — their departure (voluntary or not) can lock the business out of its own infrastructure. It also means that person's accounts are a single point of catastrophic failure if their credentials are compromised.
A business password manager with shared vaults and role-based access solves this cleanly. Every credential lives in one secure place, accessible to the right people, with an audit trail of who accessed what and when. No single person holds everything in their head. Learn about password management for businesses ›
Want all 20 as a quick checklist?
We built a one-page reference you can print out, share with your team, or use to run a quick self-audit of your business IT situation.
See all 20 problems as a quick checklist →None of these problems are unusual and none of them require a full-time IT department to fix. Most of them have a clear, affordable solution — the barrier is usually just knowing what you're dealing with and having someone you trust to handle it. That's exactly what I've been doing for small businesses across the Baton Rouge area for over two decades.
If your business is dealing with any combination of the above, the best first step is a straightforward conversation. I'll give you an honest read on what's actually worth fixing, in what order, and what it'll cost — no upselling, no vague corporate proposals. Just a direct answer from someone who's seen these same problems hundreds of times and knows how to fix them.
Call 225-235-0846, send a message through the contact page, or book a time online. I'll take it from there.
Dealing with Any of These Right Now?
Call Geeks Anywhere — veteran-owned, local, and available. I'll give you an upfront quote and a straight answer.
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