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The Small-Business Technology Checklist
A plain-English checklist for Atlantic-Canada business owners — the technology basics that keep a small business safe, found, and running, with no jargon and nothing to buy. Work through it on a quiet afternoon and you will know exactly where you stand.
Dans la liste
- Your website 6
- Security and passwords 6
- Backups and recovery 5
- Email and accounts 5
- Privacy and PIPEDA 5
- Keeping it running 5
La liste complète
Your website
- Your address starts with https:// and shows a padlock — not a "Not secure" warning.
- The site loads in under three seconds on a phone using mobile data, not just office Wi-Fi.
- Your name, address, phone, and hours are correct and identical everywhere they appear.
- Someone other than your web person can update text, prices, and photos without writing code.
- You own the domain name yourself — it is registered to you, not to a past contractor or agency.
- You know who renews the domain and hosting, and when — a lapsed renewal can take the whole site offline.
Security and passwords
- Every account uses a long, unique password — never the same one reused across two services.
- A password manager holds those passwords so nobody has to memorise or write them on a sticky note.
- Two-factor (a code from an app or text) is turned on for email, banking, and anything with customer data.
- Staff each have their own login — no shared accounts that nobody can untangle when someone leaves.
- When someone leaves the business, their access is removed the same day.
- Your team can recognise a phishing email and knows to never act on an urgent payment request without a phone-call check.
Backups and recovery
- Your important files are backed up automatically — not "when someone remembers".
- At least one backup copy lives somewhere off-site, so a fire, flood, or theft cannot take both copies.
- You have actually restored a file from a backup at least once, to prove the backup works.
- You know how long it would take to get running again if the main computer died tomorrow.
- Backups of customer data are protected and not left open on a shared drive anyone can reach.
Email and accounts
- Your email uses your own domain (you@yourbusiness.ca), not a free gmail or hotmail address.
- There is a record of every online account the business depends on and who controls each one.
- Critical accounts are not tied to one person’s private email — the business can always regain access.
- Software and devices install security updates automatically rather than being put off for months.
- Old accounts and logins for services you no longer use have been closed.
Privacy and PIPEDA
- You know what personal information you collect and exactly why you need each piece of it.
- A plain privacy note tells customers what you collect and how you use it — a legal expectation under Canada’s PIPEDA.
- Customer data is kept only as long as you genuinely need it, then deleted.
- Only the staff who need customer information can see it — access matches the job.
- You could answer a customer who asks what information you hold about them, or asks you to delete it.
Keeping it running
- One written page lists your key systems, who the provider is, and who to call when something breaks.
- You are not depending on a single person who is the only one who knows how everything works.
- You review this list once a year, because tools, staff, and passwords change.
- You know your monthly technology costs and what each subscription is actually for.
- You have a name to call before an emergency — not while one is happening.
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