5 Ways to Quickly Digitize Your Small Business
Businesses worldwide have been heading toward a paperless world for decades – but they’re far from all the way there. Digitizing a business, large or small, takes time and upfront resources. And despite the cost savings and time-efficiency benefits of going paperless, inertia still is an issue.
Some people are simply most comfortable doing the same thing that they’ve done for years, making them unlikely to ever get the ball rolling.
We can help you push.
Call it getting your foot in the door or dipping a toe into the water – whatever you want. But the best way to move toward a mostly paperless operation is to digitize your small business in simple, easy ways that build momentum and get you used to the types of tools you’ll utilize as your operations migrate to computers and the cloud.
Here are a few small steps to get you started.
5 Ways to Digitize Your Small Business
1. Digital Faxes: If you’re just getting started with the transition to a paperless office, chances are that you still send some faxes as part of your regular workload. Switching to digital faxes is an inexpensive first step – and ensures that you can still communicate with other businesses that continue to send documents via fax. Services such as eFax, MyFax and RingCentral allow you to use a scanner or even a phone to scan documents and send them via traditional faxes. These services also can be set up to allow you to receive faxes on your computer.
2. Digital Statements/Bill Pay: Your utility companies probably have already pushed you to join online bill pay, and for good reason – it saves them money on postage, envelopes and everything involved in dealing with online checks. Your business can enjoy some of the same savings – both by paying your bills and vendors online, and by sending out invoices and emailing receipts digitally.
3. E-Signatures: Another step you can take is establishing an electronic signature. Providers such as DocuSign, Adobe Sign and HelloSign allow people not only to establish their own e-signatures, but even upload things such as contracts with spaces for other people to sign and send those documents via secure links. Electronic signatures contain additional information such as when and where the document was signed.
4. Expense-Tracking Apps: Travel expenses – and other types of business expenses, for that matter – are one area in which digitization’s benefits are clearly apparent. It’s easy to lose receipts from the road, especially if you don’t file your expenses immediately after returning from a business trip. Expense-tracking apps, however, let you scan receipts instantly, and take care of all the calculations, greatly reducing user error.
5. Talk to a Paperless Office Expert: When it’s time to move past simple steps like the ones outlined above, talking to a pro can save you stress and a lot of misfires. That’s because there’s far more to fully digitizing your small business than downloading a few apps. McManamon & Co. can take you through a complete paperless-office process, starting with a comprehensive evaluation of company work flow, full report of recommendations, help with implementing new hardware and software, and even follow-up consultations.
If your small business isn’t already technologically streamlined, now is the time. Call us at 440.892.9088 or contact us online, and we’ll examine just how much you can benefit from turning your office paperless.
Tags: McManamon, paperless office, small business | Posted in McManamon & Co., paperless office, small business