Free course · Module 2
Know what you have
Module 1 gave you rules for deciding what to fix first. Every one of those rules asks the same question: what does this problem touch? Payroll or the break-room PC? The store or the brochure site? You can only answer that if you know what you have.
Most small businesses don't have that list. Accounts get created and never closed. Someone signs up for an app with the company card and leaves a year later. A camera system goes in and nobody writes down that it can be reached from the internet. This module builds the list, and it turns out most of it already exists in places you can open today.
Who it's for. Owners and managers of businesses with roughly 5 to 50 people and nobody whose job is security. If you did Module 1, you'll use your top systems list here. If you didn't, this module still stands on its own.
What you'll build. A spreadsheet with four tabs: the people who can log in, the apps and services you use, the devices that are plugged in, and the vendors who hold your data. A fifth tab counts what matters: people who left but still have access, apps without two-step login, devices a stranger can reach, devices that no longer get updates.
What you'll need. About an hour in total, and access to your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace admin console (or the person who has it), plus twelve months of card and bank statements. Each lesson tells you exactly where to look.
Warm up (optional, 5 minutes). If you haven't yet, play What First. Every problem in the game sits on a specific thing your business runs on. This module is how you find out what those things are.
What you finish with
What We Have
A spreadsheet you build on your own computer, one tab per lesson. It opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers. Prefer pen and paper? There is a printable one-page version too.
Nothing you write is sent to this site. Once it's filled in, the file describes how your business is set up and where it's exposed, so keep it on your own drive and share it only with named people.
The lessons
- 01Who can get in12 minEvery account in your business, who holds it, who has admin rights, and which ones belong to people who have already left. Fills in: Tab 1, People and accounts.
- 02What you pay for13 minHow to find every app and online service your business uses, including the ones nobody remembers signing up for, and record what each one holds. Fills in: Tab 2, Apps and services.
- 03What's plugged in12 minEvery device that touches your business, from laptops to the camera system, whether a stranger on the internet can reach it, and whether it still gets updates. Fills in: Tab 3, Devices.
- 04Who holds your stuff, and what matters most13 minThe outside companies that hold your data or run your systems, how to reach them in an emergency, and how to mark which of everything on your list matters most. Fills in: Tab 4, Vendors, and the Level column.