Whether it's a half-baked software program or a server outage, technological glitches can wipe out a small business's revenues and cost thousands in recovery efforts.
Don't expect customers to be forgiving either. "Customers just don't seem to have the patience for a [crashed website]," said Tom Gegax, founder of Gegax Advisors, a small business consultancy. "Especially in the case of a small business, customers tend to think, `Wait a minute, I thought you guys were supposed to offer personal service.'"
In many cases though, business owners are as much to blame as technology itself. Many cut corners on critical software development to save a few cents. Others simply don't have the disposable revenue to bankroll disaster recovery efforts. And in some instances, IT departments are run by the same guy who handles merchandising and payroll.
The one saving grace: You're not alone. Here are five small business owners who endured -- and survived -- hi-tech snafus.
These small businesses were hit by a number of different scams. Here's what they had to say about their experiences.
