It does not give us permission to enter accounts, scan private systems, submit forms, or change your live website. We name what we can see and what the recommendation is based on.

• A so-called audit that is only a sales deck.
• A confident conclusion made without access or evidence.
• Private credentials sent through an ordinary form.
• A recommendation that ignores who owns or supports the result.

• Describe the business problem and what it interrupts.
• Share public links or non-secret facts only.
• Choose the one decision the first look should help make.
• Review the written next step and any paid scope separately.

Call, text, email, or use the form. A person answers 9am–9pm Eastern. A few plain lines beat a long story. Send what you have:

• One sentence a stranger could follow. “The card reader drops every afternoon” beats “tech is acting up.”
• When it started, and what changed just before: a new router, a staff change, a declined card, an update.
• Public links: your website, Google Business Profile, booking page, or social page.
• The exact error words, or a screenshot that shows the time.
• The devices and tools involved, by name: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Wi-Fi, printers, card readers, booking software.
• For a cost question: the list of monthly tool charges, or the vendor quote you’re weighing. Black out card and account numbers.
• Who holds each account, by name or role. Not the password.

For a longer checklist, see what to include when you ask for IT help.

No passwords. No sign-in codes texted to your phone. No card numbers or customer lists. The first look works from what you can share in the open.

If paid work later needs access, the safer route is a separate login for the helper. Google’s Business Profile help says that to manage a profile “without the need to share your password, each user needs their own Google Account.” An owner can remove a manager when the job ends.

Be wary of any “free scan” that starts with someone contacting you. The FTC says legitimate tech companies won’t contact you by phone, email, or text message to tell you there’s a problem with your computer.

A plain next step, in writing, based on what you shared.

• Sometimes the next step is yours: a setting to change, or a question for your current vendor.
• If paid work makes sense, you get a written scope before any paid work starts. You decide on it separately.
• Paid work is normally hourly, scoped, and written. Regular check-ins are optional.
• Diagnosis can start remotely, by phone or text. When a visit is needed, on-site help in New York comes once availability is confirmed.
• After paid work, you get plain-language notes on what changed. The accounts stay in the business’s name.

Use the Tech Audit when the problem crosses tools or you do not know where it starts. For one obvious typo or cable, fix the typo or cable.

Start the free first look

Product features and rules can change. Use the linked source as the current word.

• Google Business Profile Help: Manage your Business Profile owners & managers — How to give someone access to a Business Profile without sharing a password, and how owners remove users. Checked October 19, 2026.
• FTC Consumer Advice: How To Spot, Avoid, and Report Tech Support Scams — Warning signs of fake tech support offers (page dated September 2025). Checked October 19, 2026.