IT for a brand-new business: getting the first ten staff right

Own the foundations from day one

Register your domain name in the business's name, using an email address the business controls, and record the login somewhere safe. A surprising number of established businesses discover that their domain is registered to a former contractor or a founder's personal email. The same applies to the admin account for your email platform, your website and your social media pages.

Choose one main platform for email, calendars and files, typically Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and stick with it. Mixing a free personal email account for invoices, a separate file sharing service and a third tool for chat creates confusion that is painful to untangle later. If your accounting or industry software works better with one platform, let that guide the choice.

Set up accounts so people can come and go

Give every person their own named account rather than sharing logins. Shared accounts make it impossible to see who did what, and when someone leaves you cannot safely change the password without disrupting everyone else. Named accounts also make leaver handling simple: you switch off one person's access and nothing else changes. Use shared mailboxes for addresses like accounts or info, which several people can open without sharing a password.

Turn on multi-factor authentication for every account from the start, including the owners. It is the single most effective protection against the most common attacks, and it is far easier to introduce to five people than to fifty. Pair it with a business password manager so staff are not reusing personal passwords for company tools.

Buy devices that suit business use

Buy business-grade laptops rather than consumer models from the bargain bin. Business ranges generally come with better warranties, more consistent parts and the version of Windows or macOS that supports central management. Standardise on one or two models so setup is repeatable and spare chargers fit everything. A sensible minimum specification for a general office laptop today includes a solid-state drive, enough memory for several apps and browser tabs at once, and a warranty of at least three years.

Enrol devices into a management tool from the first machine, so you can apply security settings, encrypt drives, push updates and wipe a lost laptop remotely. With a small team, this setup takes little time, and it means the tenth laptop arrives configured exactly like the first. Decide early whether staff can use personal phones for work email, and if so, apply app protection rather than full device control.

Files, backup and the boring essentials

Agree where files live from the first week: a shared library for team documents and personal storage for drafts, with a simple folder structure that a new starter can understand. Avoid files living only on individual laptops, where they disappear with a lost bag or a resignation. Decide who can see what at the same time: most small teams need one area everyone can open, plus a restricted area for finance and HR.

Cloud platforms keep your data available, but they do not replace a proper backup. Add a separate backup of email and files so deleted or encrypted data can be recovered. Set up a business internet connection at your premises, choose a phone system that can follow people onto their mobiles, and keep a simple list of every subscription, who pays for it and when it renews.

Write a few things down

Even a ten-person business benefits from a short written record: who has admin access to what, where the domain is registered, which accounts the business pays for, and the steps for setting up a new starter and removing a leaver. One page is enough to start. It means that when the founder goes on holiday, or when you hand IT to a provider later, nothing depends on someone's memory.

Add a brief acceptable use note for staff covering passwords, multi-factor sign-in, using company devices and reporting suspicious emails. Keep it short and practical so people actually read it. Ask each new starter to read and sign it, and revisit it once a year so it keeps pace with how the business actually works.

When to bring in help

Many founders set up the first few accounts themselves, which is reasonable. Bring in an IT provider when you start hiring regularly, when clients begin asking security questions, or when the person doing IT is spending hours a week on it instead of growing the business. A provider can check what you have set up, close the gaps and give you a repeatable starter and leaver process.

At that point, a per-user plan often suits a growing team, because the cost rises in step with headcount rather than arriving as a lump sum. Choose a provider who documents what they do and leaves the admin accounts in the business's name. Ask to see their starter checklist and a sample of their documentation before signing, because both are good signs of how carefully they will look after a small, growing team.