In 2010, when I opened Compass Commercial, it was initially just two people. Since it was big and only my son and I lived there, we both worked out of my house, and since no one else was around, we were very lax about our passwords. In 2012, we hired several more people and moved into our first office. It was an exciting time for me. Unfortunately, we kept our bad habit of writing passwords down and leaving them on our desks. Our server was constantly being attacked, which was a costly issue for us. When we moved out of the building a few years later and started using a password program designed for business, we magically had no more issues with our server being broken into.

The password program has one master password that my husband and sister both have. They also have the combination for the safe in my office. All staff must use the password program and are not allowed to write down any passwords.  The program allows me to look up their passwords if they lose access. Or, if someone leaves, I can remove all of their passwords in less than 15 minutes.

In your letter and disaster recovery booklet, include the password plan you use and your master password. Otherwise, you may lose access to important information.