“While it tends to break down demographically, there are still many business owners who either add technology but fail to efficiently incorporate it into best business practice, or who insist its benefit is either inflated or irrelevant when viewing their bottom line,” says Doña L. Keating, president and chair of the West Sound Technology Professionals Association’s (WSTPA) Board of Directors.

The majority of business owners agree that technology gives them the competitive edge, but some still find themselves handwriting sales receipts and thinking the fax machine was the best thing invented since the horse and the buggy were relegated to a museum display.

“(The word technophobia) conjures up images of those who are either fearful or intimidated by the use of technology, or who believe it can wield too much intrusion, power or control over our lives,” Keating says.

Horror stories of people afraid they will break their computers by pushing the wrong buttons have gone the way of the fairytales. But there are plenty of scary monsters left in the tech closet: new software, hackers and the black hole that feasts on those precious documents entrusted to the hard drive.

“Daily basis,” is the answer of Double Agent Dane Witmer to the question of how often he and his geeky colleagues encounter technophobes. “They know they need to get into it (computers) but don’t quite know how.”

Double Agent Witmer is part of an army of tech gurus called the Geek Squad dispatched to American homes everywhere in their Geekmobiles at the sound of frustrated computer users (at least that’s the TV commercial version).

In Kitsap County, the Geek Squad central, where double agents like Witmer and Counter Intelligence Agents known as CIAs are ready to show you the “how,” is located at Best Buy in Silverdale. “We are 100 percent true to the commercial minus the jet packs,” Witmer says. That means if you’re in the store for some tech advice, just look for the people dressed in white, short-sleeve shirts, with breakaway ties and wearing a special agent badge (yes, just like the commercial).

The agents have one mission: to help you command and conquer your computer and its applications, along with other technology. “We are the nation’s only 24-hour computer support task force,” Witmer says. “We are here to make technology useable for the average person. You don’t need to be a systems administrator to enjoy that new computer.”

Software especially can be a technophobe’s worst nightmare. The number of choices is intimidating in itself, not to mention the learning curve, especially when the sneaky software makers toss a new version at you just as you’ve mastered the old one.

Ask Ingrid Wachtler, owner or Woodbrook Nursery in Gig Harbor. An avid user of accounting software QuickBooks for about 10 years, she just recently discovered a very handy feature: She can e-mail her invoices and sales receipts to customers.

“A lot of people are getting more and more electronic and they don’t want it faxed anymore,” she says.

Wachtler uses QuickBooks not only for bookkeeping but also to automatically keep track of inventory, store customer records, prepare invoices and collect tax information. She recalls those old times when things like calculating sales tax and writing receipts by hand could cause problems: For example, it wasn’t uncommon for a worker to forget to add the sales tax and she would need to take it out of her profits. Now, it’s all done by her computer during the sale, which at the same time subtracts the items from the inventory.

Wachler, a former engineer, knew her way well around computers when she opened her nursery, and ditching her double entry ledger for a computer program freed her up to spend more time outdoors with her plants and customers. “It can double your productivity as a manager,” she says.

Those afraid to venture into the world of computers should start by doing something simple like balancing the checkbook electronically, she recommends. “You can reconcile your checking account and it takes you 10 minutes. Do that and use Word (Microsoft software) and it will help you lose some fear,” she says. You should also consider taking a class at the local community college or joining a networking group.

Keating suggests taking incremental steps at a level that makes you feel comfortable, maybe by researching the technology or software on the Internet or attending a forum where the topic is discussed. “The key is to get beyond the stereotypes and mistrust, and to view your business success from a big-picture, long-term perspective,” she says. “And if it turns out it isn’t for you, at least there is the success of overcoming fears. What you don’t want to do is nothing.”

Of course, you can always tap into the expertise of professionals, either before you buy or upgrade a system, or when you need help navigating the applications. “If you’re not comfortable with what you’re doing, you can make more mistakes,” says Pat Joy, owner of West Sound Data. He says a computer consultant could be especially helpful before you buy new software, so you don’t end up investing thousands of dollars into something you don’t need. “The price tag on that stuff is unreal,” he says.

Although buying the hardware itself is much cheaper — you can get a computer bundle for as little as $500 — getting help before you buy a computer doesn’t hurt either. “If you’re ready to equip a business or perform a certain task, you need to consult with someone who can help configure the machine to do what you want it to do,” Joy says. “Adding parts later is very expensive.”

If you’re a technophobe ready to come out of the closet, you have plenty of local resources to tap into: from the free seminars and inexpensive computer classes to local consultants and the 24-hour Geek Squad hotline. Get your tech appetite going, and next thing you know it’s good-bye technophobia, hello technostress (which is what happens when your life becomes so dependent on technology, you’ll need more than a therapist and that uninhabited island to help you — but that’s a topic for another story).