So, you’ve finally launched your business. Congrats! You've asked all your entrepreneur buddies the big questions:

"Where do I even start?"

"How much should I ask the bank for? $5,000 or $50,000?"

"Green logo or blue? Or maybe purple for creativity?"

"Wait, do I need an accountant or just an app for taxes?"

And even after getting a dozen different answers, you still have to do one very real thing: figure it out for yourself when the rubber hits the road.

But here’s the deal, some things in business aren’t meant for DIY. Take taxes, for example. One wrong number and the IRS might be a larger silent partner… for the next five years.

The same goes for IT.

Sure, setting up a computer is easy. You plug it in, it turns on, it connects to Wi-Fi—ta-da, you're a tech genius. But that’s just scratching the surface.

Let me tell you about Jeff.

Jeff’s a go-getter. He started a business and wanted to keep costs low, so he took the “I got this” route with his IT. He set up the computers, ran the network cables, and installed the software all by himself. Yeah Jeff.

At first, things went smoothly. He plugged everything in, got a few welcome chimes, and thought, “Nailed it!”

But then… trouble started brewing.

First, he used those dusty old surge protectors from his garage—the ones he’d been using since his college Xbox days. When a power surge hit, guess what fried? Not the surge protector but his brand-new computer.

Next up: wiring the office. Jeff ran network cables along the wall, but bent them at sharp 90-degree angles (which is basically strangling the signal), stapled them in place like he was putting up Christmas lights (again strangling the signal), and left the network hub sitting out in the open like a bowl of free candy.

Oh, and the hub? Ancient. Like, flip phone ancient. Hubs were fine when dial-up was cool. Today, they’re more like traffic jams for your network. One faulty device can slow down everything, and that’s exactly what happened.

Then came the software. Jeff figured, “Hey, I’ve got antivirus for my home laptop. I’ll just install that.”

The problem? That software came with five browser extensions, pop-up ads, and a search bar that hijacked his browser every time he typed “meeting agenda.”

Business computers need lean, mean protection. Not bloatware that thinks it's your personal shopper.

In the end, after all the hours Jeff spent trying to save money, all he really did was build himself a digital dumpster fire. Now he had to fix it, and it was going to cost him more than it would’ve to just get help in the first place.

If Jeff had just called an IT pro—or better yet, an MSP like PacketEx—everything could’ve been set up right the first time. No fried computers, no snail-speed internet, no software that tries to sell you movie tickets while you're writing invoices.

And he would have someone keep an eye on the operating system for errors, making sure the software is up-to-date, and be ready to answer questions when he is ready to grow.

Moral of the story? You don’t have to figure everything out alone. Especially when the cost of guessing wrong is time, money, and sanity.