It’s no secret that running a business isn’t cheap, and amongst many expenses and outgoings are the energy bills that creep up each month, waiting to be paid. It can also be a struggle to keep on top of every little bit of paperwork around the office, often finding your desk buried in sticky notes and letters with no real system or order when it comes to logging them.
Going paperless and scanning documents instead can really help in the running of your business, not to mention the the positive contribution you’ll be giving to the environment and the money you’ll save on buying paper. Switching to paperless is a lot easier than you might think and once it’s done, you’ll never look back!
If you need more convincing, here are five reasons why you should ditch the paper today.
1. Automatic Backups
This is a big reason for no longer having important information on loose bits of paper that can so often be misplaced in a busy office environment – everything is saved electronically and things rarely get misplaced. If a document happens to get deleted you can back it up and recover it – if a piece of paper goes missing, the chances of finding it are very slim!
There are many ways that you can save data such as in the cloud, flash drives or even onto an external hard drive. Most systems will provide backups on an automatic basis anyway so you won’t even have to remember to do it yourself – or set the time aside when you’re busy!
2. Less Wastage
Most energy providers these days will tempt their customers to go paperless with some sort of discount or offer – purely because it saves a lot of money and saves a hell of a lot of paper being wasted. Whether you’re aware or not, the need to protect our environment is greater than ever and by going paperless, you are doing your bit!
Have a quick look at how much paper goes to waste in your office on a daily basis a and how much could be saved if you went digital.
3. Better Organisation
One of the best reasons for going paperless is how much organisation will improve, which is essential in a successful workplace. Having everything written down on various pieces of paper, even if they are stored in organised filing cabinets is often a recipe for disaster as things can get misplaced or mixed together – not to mention the amount of time you have to spend ‘filing’ everything away on a weekly basis.
Storing everything digitally not only means it can quickly be placed in different files, it can also be easily shared between co-workers, improving overall efficiency!
4. Bigger Office
Ok, going paperless will not somehow magically allow your office to expand but your space will seem bigger and less cluttered as going digital will mean you can get rid of big and bulky filing cabinets that take up a lot of room. A cleaner, less chaotic space will also make for higher productivity amongst staff, which is obviously extremely beneficial to your business!
It is said that in order to boost staff motivation, you need a bright, airy and open office space which is what can be provided once you get rid of the mess! Tidy mind, tidy life….or something like that.
5. Added Security
The main concern of customers is almost always security and data protection. Whilst you have everything down on paper or stored away in a filing cabinet, it can be hard to guarantee this – padlocks and paper shredders aren’t the best way to keep things private now that technology is much more advanced.
Many cloud based storage systems also offer bank level security which can put both your customer’s and your mind at rest making it a definite worthwhile decision.
Takeaway
So, there you go – five reasons why going paperless makes a good sense for your business. If you’re ready, you can start planning for it. Bear in mind, though, that plan execution is what matter, and for it to be executed flawlessly is by getting everyone in your company on board with your plan. That means a change of mindset is required, and that’s your job as the business owner to make it happens.
It won’t be easy, but if you can make it, your business will reap the reward substantially.