Paper is cheap and easy to distribute, but once you start paying for printers, toner, servicing and all the other related costs, paper starts to look more expensive and that’s before you consider the cost of storage space.
Moreover, businesses don’t realise that the time spent looking for documents costs them dearly and is detrimental to their business. According to YouGov Survey, 30% of small to medium-sized business managers would spend the time on business development if they weren’t looking for documents!
Below are the Top 5 Benefits a paperless office can bring.
1) Cost reduction
You will save money on printing, postage and all related costs. You may even pay less rent because you won’t need all that space for your files. Clutter-free!
2) Quick access to information
Your digital documents can be stored, retrieved and searched faster and easier than paper ones. Quick turnaround time on customers’ queries.
3) Simplicity
Many business processes can be simplified when done digitally. You can action tasks and transfer data with just a touch of a button. Eg. Ordering goods and authorising invoices are some of best examples of daily tasks that become more efficient when done digitally.
4) Accessibility and Security
You can get access to your documents from anywhere (office, home or abroad) and can also create security settings to different users eg. read-only, password protected documents.
5) Business growth
With time saved, you can spend the time more productively on growing your business without having to carry a few file cabinets with you!
Sounds good, but how can I transform my office to a paperless workplace and get time back to grow my business?
1) Find out what paper you use
Take a minute to review what paperwork is used and by who. Look out for any duplication such as copying information from a customers job sheet to your own job sheet or copying information from a job sheet to an invoice.
2) Understand what is necessary
In most cases nowadays, information can be sent electronically to customers, suppliers and even the tax man. Once you understand how this works it is often a lot easier, quicker and in many cases can be automated altogether.
3) Move to online applications
Cloud based applications let you share data easily with customers and suppliers. There is no need to worry about different file formats or information getting lost in the post.
4) Communicate with your staff
Keep them up to date with what is happening, keep them informed and keep them on-side. Provide training and help and advice so they understand how getting rid of paperwork will benefit them as well as the company.
5) Manage your jobs electronically
One of the easiest areas to improve, is how you manage your day-to-day jobs. Rather than writing out job sheets by hand, check out the latest job management solutions that lets you send jobs to your engineers and subcontractors’ mobile phones then view the job status as they update the job in real-time.
6) Reward your best customers
Consider incentives and discounts for early payment of invoices, automate your invoice process to save time and ensure no delayed or missing invoices.
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