Practical ways to protect your business, strengthen your supply chain, and use technology to build for what’s next.
October is both Cybersecurity Awareness Month and National Manufacturing Month, highlighting two areas that are becoming increasingly connected for small businesses.
Technology is part of nearly every business today.
It helps process payments, communicate with customers, manage inventory, store financial information, coordinate employees, order supplies, manufacture products, and connect businesses with vendors across Alaska and beyond.
But the more connected a business becomes, the more important it is to understand the systems it depends on, and what could happen if one of those systems suddenly stopped working.
For Alaska businesses, resilience can mean protecting your digital information, adopting technology that makes your operation more efficient, understanding your supply chain, and having alternatives when something doesn’t go according to plan.
You don’t have to overhaul your business overnight.
Start with what matters most.
Protect What Your Business Depends On
Think about how much of your business runs through a screen.
Email. Banking. Payroll. Customer information. Online ordering. Accounting. Scheduling. Point-of-sale systems. Even a very traditional business likely depends on technology somewhere behind the scenes.
Now imagine losing access to one of those systems tomorrow.
That is why cybersecurity is less about becoming a technology expert and more about protecting the tools your business already relies on.
A few basics can go a long way: use strong, unique passwords, turn on multi-factor authentication, keep devices and software updated, regularly back up important information, and make sure employees know how to recognize suspicious emails and payment requests. The SBA recommends many of these same practices as foundational cybersecurity protections for small businesses.
Just as importantly, know where your information lives and who can access it. If a former employee still has access to an account or everyone on your team shares the same password, those are vulnerabilities you can address before they become problems.
Explore the SBA’s cybersecurity resources for small businesses or watch the Alaska SBDC’s on-demand workshop Avoiding Security Disasters for Small Businesses for practical guidance on reducing cybersecurity risks.
Use Technology to Solve Problems, Not Create More of Them
Once you’ve thought about protecting the technology you already use, the next question is whether it’s actually working hard enough for your business.
Technology adoption doesn’t have to mean a major investment, a complicated new platform, or chasing the latest trend. Sometimes the best place to start is with the task you dread doing every week.
Maybe you’re entering the same information into three different systems. Inventory counts never seem to match. Scheduling takes hours. Customer inquiries pile up in your inbox. You’re manually creating reports that could be automated.
Those frustrations can point you toward the places where technology may have the most value.
For one business, that might mean a better inventory system. For another, it could mean automating appointment reminders. A manufacturer might use technology to monitor equipment or streamline production, while a small retailer might use it to better understand what is selling and when to reorder.
Artificial intelligence is becoming part of that conversation, too. Alaska businesses are using AI to streamline routine work, organize information, support research, improve customer experiences, and increase productivity. The Alaska SBDC’s AI Resource Program is designed to help business owners explore those tools practically, not simply adopt technology for technology’s sake.
The important question isn’t “What new technology should I be using?”
It’s “Where is my business losing time, money, or capacity, and is there a better way to do it?”
From Your Business to the Bigger Picture
National Manufacturing Month is a reminder that manufacturing isn’t limited to large factories or production lines. Across Alaska, small businesses are creating products, processing local resources, and finding new ways to produce more efficiently and closer to home.
And even if your business doesn’t make anything itself, it almost certainly depends on businesses that do.
The product on your shelf, replacement part for a piece of equipment, packaging for an order, ingredient in a recipe, or material needed to finish a job all came through a supply chain before reaching you.
In Alaska, we tend to notice that chain pretty quickly when something goes wrong.
A delayed barge, canceled flight, severe weather, an unavailable part, or a supplier issue can turn something happening hundreds or thousands of miles away into an immediate local business problem.
That makes understanding your supply chain just as important as understanding your technology.
Instead of trying to account for every possible disruption, identify the few products, materials, vendors, or systems your business truly cannot operate without. Know your typical lead times. Find out whether another supplier exists. Consider whether something could be sourced locally or domestically. And think about how much warning you’d have if a critical vendor suddenly couldn’t deliver.
For Alaska manufacturers, those questions become even more important. Producing goods closer to where they’re needed can shorten supply chains, reduce dependence on distant suppliers, and help businesses respond more quickly when disruptions occur.
The Alaska SBDC’s Manufacturing & Onshoring Resources can help businesses navigate everything from funding and permitting to supply-chain challenges, domestic sourcing, exporting, government contracting, and technology adoption.
One Business, One Connected System
Here’s the bigger takeaway: cybersecurity, technology, manufacturing, and supply chains aren’t really separate conversations.
They’re all parts of how your business operates.
Your inventory system may connect you to a supplier. Your supplier may depend on a manufacturer. Your employees may access that inventory system from their phones. Customer and payment information may move through several different platforms before a transaction is complete.
A weakness or disruption at any point can affect everything downstream.
That’s why becoming a smarter, safer business isn’t necessarily about adding more technology or preparing for every possible scenario. It’s about understanding those connections well enough to make better decisions about them.
This October, choose one part of that system to strengthen.
Turn on multi-factor authentication. Review who has access to your accounts. Fix a repetitive process that’s eating up staff time. Explore whether AI could help with a routine task. Identify the supplier you couldn’t operate without and find a backup. Look for a locally or domestically sourced alternative. Ask whether the technology you’re paying for is actually making your business better.
You don’t have to change everything at once.
Start with one improvement that makes your business safer, smarter, or less dependent on a single point of failure, and build from there.
The Alaska SBDC provides no-fee Business Advising, workshops, tools, and resources to help Alaska entrepreneurs strengthen operations, explore technology, address challenges, and plan for growth.