The IT Setup Checklist for New Businesses

Starting a new business means making a hundred decisions in the first few weeks, and IT setup is one of those things that either gets done properly upfront or becomes a mess you have to untangle later. The good news is that getting your IT foundations right is easier than it sounds, and most of it can be done in a day or two.

This checklist walks you through everything in the order you should actually do it. No jargon, no overengineering — just the practical steps that will save you time and headaches down the road.

1. Email and Productivity: Pick Your Platform

This is your first decision because everything else flows from it. You have two realistic choices:

Microsoft 365 — The default for most London businesses. You get Outlook email, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams for video calls and chat, OneDrive for file storage, and SharePoint for shared documents. If your clients are in financial services, professional services, or any enterprise environment, they are almost certainly using Microsoft 365. Being on the same platform makes collaboration seamless.

Google Workspace — Popular with tech startups and creative agencies. You get Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Google Meet, and Google Drive. The interface is cleaner and the collaboration features in Google Docs are excellent. If your team lives in their browser, this might suit you better.

The honest answer: Both are good. Microsoft 365 Business Basic starts at around £5/user/month, with Business Premium (which includes better security features) at around £20/user/month. Google Workspace Business Starter is about £5/user/month, with Business Plus at £15/user/month.

If you are unsure, go with Microsoft 365. Most of your clients and partners will be on it, and the enterprise security features in the Premium tier are worth the extra cost. You can always add Google tools later, but migrating email between platforms is a pain.

2. Password Management: Your Team Will Thank You

Here is a reality of running a business: your team will create accounts for dozens of services — project management tools, accounting software, CRM, social media, cloud storage, and more. Without a password manager, people will reuse the same password everywhere or keep them in a spreadsheet. It is just human nature.

A password manager solves this painlessly. Everyone gets one master password to remember, and the password manager generates and stores unique, strong passwords for everything else. It also makes sharing login credentials between team members simple and secure — no more passwords in Slack messages.

Good options:

• 1Password Teams — Around £6/user/month. Excellent interface, easy to set up, great for small teams.
• Bitwarden Teams — Around £3/user/month. Open source, very capable, and more budget-friendly.

Both work well. Pick one, get everyone on it in their first week, and you have eliminated one of the most common security problems businesses face. Your team will genuinely appreciate not having to remember dozens of passwords.

3. Multi-Factor Authentication: The Best 10 Minutes You Will Spend

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) just means that when you log in, you confirm it is really you using a second method — usually a notification on your phone or a code from an authenticator app. You have probably used it with your bank already.

Turning on MFA across your business accounts is the single most impactful thing you can do for your IT security, and it takes about 10 minutes per service. It stops the vast majority of account takeover attempts because even if someone gets hold of a password, they cannot get in without that second factor.

Where to turn it on first:

• Your email platform (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace) — this is the priority
• Your password manager
• Any financial accounts or banking
• Your domain registrar
• Cloud storage

Most platforms have MFA built in — you just need to switch it on in the security settings. If you are on Microsoft 365 Business Premium, you can enforce MFA across the whole organisation in one go through the admin panel. It is genuinely one of those set-and-forget things that makes a real difference.

4. Devices: Company Laptops or Personal?

This one depends on your budget and how many people you are hiring.

If budget allows: Company-owned laptops. You buy them, you configure them, you control what is on them. This gives you full control over security settings, software updates, and what happens when someone leaves the company. A solid business laptop costs £600-1,200 and should last 3-4 years.

If budget is tight: Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). Team members use their own laptops. This saves upfront cost but means you need endpoint security software on personal devices and clear policies about what company data can be stored locally. It is a reasonable approach for early-stage startups — just make sure you have the security basics covered.

Whichever you choose, look into Mobile Device Management (MDM) once you grow past 5-10 people. MDM lets you manage devices remotely — push security updates, enforce encryption, and remotely wipe a device if it is lost or stolen. Microsoft Intune comes included with Microsoft 365 Business Premium, which is one reason that tier is popular with growing businesses.

5. Cloud Storage: One Place for Everything

Pick one file storage system and make it the single source of truth for your company. If you are on Microsoft 365, that means OneDrive for personal files and SharePoint for shared team documents. If you are on Google Workspace, that means Google Drive with shared drives.

The key principle is simple: files live in the cloud, not on laptops, USB drives, or email attachments. When everything is in one place, people can find what they need, collaboration is straightforward, and you are not at risk of losing important documents because someone’s laptop broke.

Set up a sensible folder structure from day one. Something like:

• Company-wide shared documents
• Department or team folders
• Project folders
• Templates

It does not need to be complicated — just consistent. Agree on where things go and stick with it. Future you will be grateful.

6. Endpoint Security: Insurance for Your Devices

Windows Defender, which comes built into Windows, is decent for personal use. But for a business, you want something with more visibility and control — the ability to see threats across all your company devices, respond quickly if something is detected, and get alerts if a device is behaving unusually.

Think of endpoint security as insurance for your devices. You hope you never need it, but when you do, you really need it.

Good options for small businesses:

• Microsoft Defender for Business — Around £5-10/user/month. Integrates neatly with Microsoft 365. Solid protection with a good management console.
• CrowdStrike Falcon Go — Around £8-15/user/month. Excellent detection capabilities, widely respected in the cybersecurity world.

Both give you antivirus, threat detection, and basic device management. For a startup, either is a great choice. The important thing is that you have something installed on every company device, managed centrally so you can see what is happening across your fleet.

7. Backup: Peace of Mind in a Box

“But our files are in the cloud — are not they backed up already?”

Sort of. Microsoft and Google protect against their infrastructure failing (data centre issues, server problems), but they do not protect against you accidentally deleting files, a disgruntled employee wiping a shared drive, or ransomware encrypting your data. For that, you need a separate backup solution.

The 3-2-1 backup rule is a good principle: keep 3 copies of your data, on 2 different types of storage, with 1 copy offsite. In practice for a cloud-first startup, this means your primary data in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, plus a third-party backup service that copies everything to a separate cloud location.

Services like Acronis, Veeam, or Backupify can back up your email, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams data automatically. Cost is typically £5-10 per user per month. Set it up once and it runs quietly in the background, giving you peace of mind that your business data is recoverable no matter what happens.

8. Communication Tools: Keep It Simple

If you chose Microsoft 365, you already have Microsoft Teams included — video calls, chat, channels, file sharing, all in one place. It is not the prettiest tool in the world, but it works well and saves you buying separate software.

If you chose Google Workspace, you get Google Meet for video calls and Google Chat for messaging. They are functional but less feature-rich than Teams for team collaboration.

Some startups prefer Slack for chat (it is genuinely good for organised conversations) and Zoom for video calls (still the most reliable for external meetings with clients). The downside is extra cost — Slack Pro is about £6/user/month and Zoom Business is about £10/user/month.

The practical advice: Start with what is included in your productivity platform. If Teams or Google Meet does the job, great — that is one less subscription to manage. You can always add Slack or Zoom later if you find you need them.

9. Internet and WiFi: Office Edition

If you are fully remote, skip this section entirely and check out our remote working IT guide instead.

If you have an office, here is what matters:

Business broadband — Residential broadband is not designed for business use. Business connections come with better upload speeds (important for video calls and cloud uploads), static IP addresses, and faster fault resolution. Expect £30-80/month depending on speed and provider. Leased line connections (dedicated bandwidth) cost more at £200-500/month but give you guaranteed speeds — worth considering once you have 15+ people in the office.

Separate guest WiFi — Set up a guest network that is separate from your main business network. This takes about 10 minutes on most modern routers and means visitors and personal phones are not on the same network as your business devices. It is a simple step that makes a real difference to your network security.

A decent wireless access point — The router your ISP provides is usually fine for a small office. Once you grow beyond 10-15 people or have a larger space, invest in proper business-grade access points (Ubiquiti, Meraki, or Aruba) for reliable coverage.

10. Cyber Essentials: A Badge That Opens Doors

Cyber Essentials is a UK government-backed certification that proves your business meets a baseline of IT security. You may not need it right away, but it is worth knowing about because:

• Some clients require it. If you are bidding for government contracts or working with larger enterprises (especially in financial services or healthcare), Cyber Essentials is often a minimum requirement.
• It is a competitive differentiator. Having the certification shows potential clients you take security seriously.
• It is straightforward to get. If you have followed the steps in this checklist, you are already most of the way there. The basic certification costs around £300-500 and involves a self-assessment questionnaire.

You do not need to rush this on day one, but keep it in mind as you grow. When the time comes, it is easier to achieve than most people expect — especially if your IT foundations are solid from the start.

Wrapping Up

That is your IT setup checklist. None of this is rocket science, and most of it can be done in a day or two. The key is doing it properly from the start rather than bolting things on later when your team has already developed bad habits with passwords, file storage, and device security.

If you want help setting any of this up, or you would rather hand the whole thing to someone who does this every day, get in touch. We work with startups and growing businesses across London and can have you up and running with solid IT foundations faster than you might think.