There’s a lot to keep on top of when you’re running a business. Whether it’s managing people, keeping clients and customers happy or looking for new ways to grow, you’ve got a lot to weigh up.
Let’s be honest, paperwork isn’t the most interesting thing on your to-do list.
In fact, it probably feels like a big drag on your time and is something that takes you away from the ‘important stuff’.
The key to making this less of a hassle is tapping into the right technology. Skeptical? You’re not alone. Almost 70 per cent of workers feel that new technology has not made their life more productive, but that simply suggests that they haven’t found the right software – or that they aren’t using it right.
Document management systems are one great example of the sort of technology that can make your life easier as a business. These are systems where you can store, track and manage the documents you produce as a business – from letters to marketing materials, business plans, financial reports and pretty much anything else you might produce on a daily basis.
Reduced storage space: Storing and managing your documents electronically avoids the need for large filing cabinets and drawers stuffed full of old paperwork gathering dust in your office.
Tidiness: Not only does that give you a bit more space to play with but it also helps to keep your office tidy – which is important when it comes to creating the right first impression for visitors to your office. You don’t want a client to remember you as ‘the messy office’ do you?
Paperless office: People have been dreaming about – and talking about – a paperless office for a long, long while now – pretty much since the dawn of computers. Document management systems help you to avoid the need to print and store paper copies of key documents so that you can finally come good on this.
Organisation: How do you find the documents you need when you need them? A mad dash through a filing system that has been messed up by the last person who used it? Document management systems allow you to search electronically for the thing you need, helping you to land on the right item in seconds.
Collaboration: If you’ve got numerous people working on projects at the same time, it pays to have a system whereby documents and records can be updated from multiple users. You can also store things like project roadmaps in a central location so that you can clearly communicate plans and deadlines to everyone involved in a project.
Backup: You can easily back up items held in a document management system, making it harder to lose key pieces of information. Storing this electronically also means that it’s protected from fire, theft or flooding, for example. As long as you have adequate cyber security software in place, this should make it safer to keep your documents in this way.
All six of these advantages will help you to free up time, money and effort to be spent elsewhere in your business – making you much more productive as a result.