Top 5 Tips For Backing Up Your Craft Business Data

Craft Maker Pro » Top 5 Tips For Backing Up Your Craft Business Data

Computers crash, laptops get dropped, drinks get spilled on keyboards, online craft stores are hacked, and Etsy suspends shops… that’s life!

backupThe difference is, will you have a backup plan or will you be among the many who are emotionally and possibly financially destroyed by the loss of all their important data?

Next to having an effective antivirus, firewall and password management solution, ensuring that you regularly backup your data will do more to safeguard your online craft business operations than anything else.

Tips For Backing Up Your Files

Identify the important files
Backup any data that you can’t do without; you don’t need to backup everything on your computer, but do ensure that you backup all of your key data. Go through all of the folders where you save information to make sure that you’re backing up the files. Check all of your settings regularly including what’s actually being saved to your backup locations to ensure that your important data is protected.

Backup in more than one place
Using a combination of local and online backup means that you’ll have more than one copy of your data in case anything goes wrong. Setup your online backup solution as soon as you can so you don’t need to worry about it.

Have enough storage space
If you have a lot of files, or quite large files, it can be easy to go up to your quota (if there is one). Make sure you have enough storage to meet your needs and pay for expanded storage if you need it.

Don’t neglect other parts of your computer security
It’s vital to combine backing up with a good antivirus and firewall solution for your business. Don’t skimp on your malware protection, firewalls or password management. The aim is never to get into a situation where you need to use your backup.

Any time that you spend setting up a backup solution will be well spent. Ensuring you are able to speedily recover your data will mean you can get up and running quickly in the event of a disaster.

Choose A Good Backup Service

Using an Online backup service makes a lot of sense: It gives you off-site peace of mind and the security of knowing that someone else is keeping your data safe and sound. Unfortunately, selecting one isn’t a snap. Though dozens of service providers focus on individual users, only a few services are designed specifically to handle the needs of handmade businesses. Here are a few we can recommend:

Online Back Up

Dropbox
Dropbox is a service I have used for years. It works great as a collaborative sharing service, too, which means you can upload photos or videos or documents and share them with employees or fellow crafters . They offer a free plan with up to two gigabytes of storage, then $9.99 for 50 gigabytes of storage.

Box
Box is another popular backup service that offers a larger five gigabyte free plan. Box.net’s first paid tier on the personal plan is $9.99 per month for 25 gigabytes. You can also get a business plan which is $15 per month, with a three-user minimum.

Local Back Up

This software backs up locally to an internal or external hard drive or other local storage device.

Windows backup
Windows backup is installed as part of the Windows Operating System, this software (available via the control panel) will locally backup the files you choose to an internal or external hard drive, on a schedule determined by you; Windows Backup will also take a ‘system snapshot’, allowing easy restore of your whole system

Crashplan
In addition to offering secure online backup, Crashplan will also allow you to backup locally; free backup is generally available for personal use only.

Mozy
Mozy allows you to store information locally as well as providing online backup; free backup is generally available for personal use only

You must understand that you never know when your computer will simply give up. Whether you have a brand new Mac or an old PC, the computer can somehow crash. Your website is vulnerable too. When disaster strikes, avoid downtime and restore critical data in minutes!

So what do you do with your handmade business data? How do you backup your machines? Let us know in the comments below!

Gary Capps
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