Three examples of how companies like yours get held to ransom

If you've been following the Manchester United vs. Wayne Rooney saga, you'll know it generated a lot of controversy beyond supporters of the club.

It opened a wider debate: should one player be able to hold a club hostage over cash?

Of course it was resolved now because Rooney is seen as being one asset the club can't easily replace or go on functioning without. Until they devise a way to make 30-goals-a-season strikers grow in greenhouses, one pivotal asset like Rooney is always going to be potent enough to lever a whole financial empire.

But had you stopped to think of how the same scenario could happen to you?

To your business, to be exact. Small firms get financially held to ransom by suppliers and competitors all the time, and it's usually for a similar reason: they have the key to something you can't function without.

And they exploit that to charge you mercilessly for it. Here's three examples of where firms get held to ransom.

1) Print and copier toner

Paperless office, my foot: if you don't have ink in your printer, it might be possible to get around it, but it won't be easy - and your staff will go nuts without Ctrl+P. Until tablet computers replace bulky desk-bound computers in offices across the UK, since you can't function without print toner, they'll make a fortune from you buying it.

2) Legal services

If your company can't defend itself against challenges from competitors and employees, its very existence is hanging by the thinnest of threads. There's not much you can do to mitigate against the risks of legal action so when you need representation, it's often do-or-die - and boy, don't those sky-high solicitor's charges show it.

3) IT support

Guess you saw this one coming but it's important you don't fall for it. Here's the bottom line: if your IT breaks down, every support firm in the country knows that you'll be at a standstill without your systems. Ergo, you'll be desperate to get them fixed: and so the charges leap tall buildings with a single bound. 

That is, unless you're signed up to a simple fixed monthly cost. Then it's simple: no hasty agreements, no invoice disguised as a ransom note, no uncomfortable explanations to the company accountant. Just an SOS call to the support desk, a remote or on-site fix is carried out, and your bill? It won't change by a penny.

Chorus IT has been providing IT support, Bristol and beyond, for over ten years and it's all provided on an inclusive, fixed-price basis. To find out how much that would cost for your entire business, and prevent you ever being held to ransom over IT, call us now on 01275 398900.