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Common Tech Mistakes SMBs Make – And How R the Company Fixes Them

30/07/2025 , , , Sales Department

TL;DR:
Stephanie ran a dance school and made every classic website mistake, no backups, broken email, expired SSL, and weak hosting. R the Company stepped in, cleaned up her tech mess, and gave her peace of mind.

Stephanie ran a small dance school.

She taught ballet, jazz, and tap to children aged four and up. Her studio was in a cosy converted space in the back of a community centre. Parents loved her. Kids adored her.

Her lessons were booked, her classes full.

But behind the scenes, her online systems were a mess.

It Started With One Missed Email

A parent emailed her asking to sign up two new students.

Stephanie never saw it.

The parent followed up on WhatsApp and said:

“We emailed a week ago. We thought maybe you were full.”

Stephanie checked her inbox. Nothing.

She tried her contact form. It said “Message Sent,” but nothing arrived.

That was when she realised she hadn’t tested her contact form since the site was built.

The Problems Started Surfacing

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Once she looked closely, it all started to unravel.

  • Her SSL had expired

  • Her domain was set to auto-renew, but on an old credit card

  • Her hosting was on the cheapest plan possible

  • Her website loaded slowly on mobile

  • Her newsletter tool wasn’t sending

  • None of her emails arrived reliably

  • Her backup plugin had failed three months earlier

She felt overwhelmed.

She Tried Fixing It Herself

Stephanie stayed up late watching tutorial videos.

She tried updating her plugins. That crashed her layout.

She tried editing her DNS settings. That made her email stop working entirely.

Each fix created a new problem.

She gave up and went back to WhatsApp, manually sending invoices and replying to bookings one by one.

She Mentioned It in Passing

At a kids’ birthday party, she chatted to another parent who ran a local bakery.

They both complained about their websites over paper plates of cake.

The baker said:

“I handed everything to R the Company. Haven’t had a problem since.”

Stephanie took the number.

A Calm, Clear Conversation

She expected to feel stupid. But she didn’t.

They asked simple questions:

  • “What does your website do for you?”

  • “What are the most important things your clients need?”

  • “Have you ever had a full audit of your setup?”

  • “Would you like us to handle everything, or just support when things go wrong?”

She exhaled for the first time in weeks.

The Tech Audit Found Everything

  • Two expired plugins

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  • Missing SPF and DKIM records

  • DNS errors from her domain host

  • No functioning backup system

  • Old PHP version causing slowness

  • No mobile responsiveness on the gallery

  • Broken contact form

  • Unsecured admin login

It was worse than she thought. But at least now she knew.

R the Company Got to Work

They:

  • Rebuilt her contact form

  • Installed a backup system

  • Configured proper email authentication

  • Switched her to faster hosting

  • Installed a valid SSL

  • Updated her plugins in the right order

  • Secured her admin area

  • Gave her a staging site for safe edits

  • Reconnected her calendar and email tools

  • Fixed her DNS and cleaned up her domain records

What Changed

Stephanie no longer avoided her website.

  • Parents signed up through the form again

  • Her invoices arrived on time

  • Her newsletter had an 80% open rate

  • She stopped worrying about crashing her site with one click

  • Her Google ranking improved slightly due to speed and structure

She finally felt like a professional, online as well as off.

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The Mistakes She Made Are Common

1. Assuming the contact form just works
2. Trusting cheap hosting
3. Ignoring DNS and email records
4. Letting SSL expire
5. Running without backups
6. Not testing site features regularly

Stephanie isn’t alone. Most small business owners fall into at least three of these traps.

Ask Yourself

  • When did you last test your site’s contact form?

  • Does your email ever go to spam?

  • Do you update plugins without a backup?

  • Are you paying for tools you don’t understand?

If you’re guessing, you might be vulnerable.

Let Experts Handle What You Shouldn’t Be Doing Alone

Stephanie’s classes are still full.

But now her inbox is too.

Fix the Tech Problems You Didn’t Know You Had

➡️ Book a website and tech audit with R the Company

We’ll fix what’s broken and protect what isn’t.

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