Why now, not “when we’re bigger”

When a company has three people, sorting out IT takes hours. With thirty, it takes weeks, and usually comes after something unpleasant has happened. Personal Gmail accounts for work, one password for everyone, files on desktops — it’s all convenient in the first month and expensive in the second year.

The good news: a proper start costs almost nothing. You just need to know the order.

The order: day, week, month

IT start in a month

  1. Day 1domain, work email, MFA for everyone
  2. Week 1computers, protection, password manager, separate administrator account
  3. Month 1file organisation, backups, website, payment procedure
  4. Every quarterreview of access, backups and protection
Order matters more than perfection: each step builds on the one before.

Day one: identity

  • Domain. The company’s .lt domain (Lithuania’s country-code domain) is registered with an accredited registrar. Switch on auto-renewal and MFA on the registrar account straight away — a forgotten domain means lost email.
  • Work email on your own domain — Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. How to choose — in the lesson Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
  • MFA for every account from day one — it’s harder to switch on later. See Passwords and MFA.

Week one: devices and access

  • Everyone gets their own account. No shared “info@” passwords; for a shared inbox, use the shared mailbox feature.
  • A separate administrator account with MFA, used only for administration.
  • Computers: automatic updates switched on, disk encryption, protection, and employees without administrator rights. See Antivirus for a company.
  • A password manager for the company — so shared accounts (e.g. supplier portals) are shared securely, not on a sticky note.

Month one: order that lasts

  • Files in shared places (SharePoint, Teams or shared drives), not in personal folders. See Where to save files.
  • Backups and the first restore test. See Backups.
  • A website — simple, fast, your own. See Build a new website in 1 hour.
  • A payment procedure: a new supplier’s bank details are confirmed by phone, and above an agreed amount — two signatures. See Invoice fraud.
  • Three lists: equipment, access (who has access to what) and IT suppliers with contacts.

Your start-up plan — drawn up by AI

You know what your company is like. AI knows how to turn that into a plan in the right order. Copy and paste:

You are an IT adviser to a new Lithuanian company. Draw up our IT start-up
plan and walk me through it step by step.

ABOUT US
- Business: [...]
- How many people will work here now and in a year: [...]
- What's already done: [e.g. domain bought, we use personal Gmail]
- Computers: [new / personal / don't have any yet]
- Special needs: [e.g. we handle clients' personal data, NIS2]

PROCESS
1. ASK. Ask the missing questions, one at a time.
2. PLAN. Three stages — the first day, the first week, the first month. For
   each item: what is done, who is responsible, whether it's free or costs money.
3. DO IT WITH ME. Start with the first item and walk me through it. Where my
   login or a payment is needed, tell me what to click, wait, and carry on.

GOAL
The job is finished when the first-day items are done and the rest have
dates and responsible people in the calendar.

RULES
- Don't make up prices. Where the price matters, tell me what to check.
- Never ask for passwords or payment card details.
- On legal questions (GDPR, contracts) — only general directions and what
  to ask a specialist.
- Answer in English.

AT THE END
Write what's done, what's planned, and separately — WHAT YOU DID NOT CHECK.

🤖 AI route recommended

The AI plans and leads

An AI that can control a browser can walk you through registering a domain or creating email accounts: it shows you what to click, and you log in and pay.

“Start with the domain. When we're done, tell me what's next and why.”

Your job: log in, pay and approve. Card details and passwords never appear in the chat.

✋ Manual route

Three sheets of paper

  1. Write three headings: day, week, month.
  2. Copy the items from this lesson and next to each one write who is responsible.
  3. Give every item a date in the calendar.

What to do this week

  1. Use the prompt above to draw up your start-up plan.
  2. Do the first-day items: domain, work email, MFA.
  3. For the other items — dates in the calendar and the people responsible.

Would you like us to set up your start? pagalba@itbroliai.lt

Check yourself

Five questions on what you’ve just read. At the end you’ll get a certificate with your score.