Do you feel like the paperless revolution is so huge, you have no idea how to begin with aligning your business with this important movement? Do you struggle to know how your company has any chance of becoming paperless, especially whilst running as it does now?
Don’t worry, this is how many businesses and companies fear when they start to look into going paperless. It is daunting but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t doable. With a little enthusiasm, and lots of determination it is possible for any business to go paperless and not only to remain running efficiently, but for systems and processes to improve.
A paperless office is extremely desirable for many reasons, and a lot of companies were getting rid of paper to kickstart a reduction in carbon emissions. Now, the reasons are much more complex and plentiful, and range from the company going digital, to a company that simply has no physical space left to use paper, and needs to get rid of it in order to function. If you’re looking into going paperless and still need a little convincing, this step by step guide into going paperless will help you feel much more at ease with this epic change:
How Does Going Paperless Benefit Your Business?
For some types of business, going paperless is absolutely an advantage. Paper heavy companies and industries are not benefiting from their need for paper. For a start, there is a huge risk to the documents themselves.
Environmental damage could literally wipe out all of the records your company has. Then there’s the cost of all that paper, and the cost of getting rid of it when it has been used, or securely storing it in a document storage facility. The space the paper takes up is another cost, a huge one in fact when you consider that according to statistics from this March, one square foot of rented office space in London maxes out at a massive £148 per annum. If your company is interested in being eco-friendly to benefit the environment, to align with government guidelines and to boost consumer brand loyalty, then going paperless should be your first shift to move towards those credentials. Clients, customers and employees care about a company’s environmental awareness so it makes sense to work towards being paperless for that reason as well. So at the very least going paperless can:
- Enable you to have safer, more secure documents and information.
- Enable you to have documents and information safe from environmental damage.
- Provide you with cheaper overheads through limiting paper costs.
- Save you money on destroying paper.
- Save you money on storing documents in a separate storage facility.
- Save you money either by enabling you to move to a smaller office, or by enabling you to utilise the office space you already pay for.
- Boost your environmental credentials.
Working out exactly how going paperless benefits you is the key to motivating yourself and your team to taking the steps to remove paper from your office.
How To Go Paperless
Now you’re feeling inspired to go paperless, you need to figure out how to do it. Take these steps to work towards going paperless:
Create A Plan
It is so important that you create a plan when you go paperless, otherwise you will find that it quickly becomes very stressful and unorganised. You will need to create a timeline of goals and how those goals will be reached. For example; you might want to have all confidential documents scanned digitally and then created digitally from now on. So you have to speak to your paper storage facility about scanning and destroying documents, then you also need to have a place for remaining paper documents in the office to go, you need staff to know about what they need to do with remaining paper documents, then you also need to get a digital system in place, and get staff trained on it as well. Every single step will have a lot of consequences and details and it is important to ensure that those steps are well thought out before they are executed.
Buy Recycled Paper
Now, you may think this completely obliterates the point of going paperless, but it doesn’t. You have to be realistic about your goals and how long they will take to achieve, and going paperless will take time. Whilst you’re still using paper, you might want to buy recycled paper. According to studies, creating paper from recycled paper reduces the carbon emissions involved in its creation by a massive 95%. So, it might not be the perfect solution but it’s a start.
Make The Most Of The Space You Have
Seeing as you’re potentially paying over a hundred pounds per square foot of office space every year, it makes sense to make the most of each and every square foot you pay for. The very first thing you can do towards this is to get rid of your filing cabinets. Take it offsite and clear away a ton of space. Start with a secure document storage facility combined with secure shredding for things you can get rid of.
Go Digital
Going digital makes your business so much more fluid than working on a paper based system. No more getting up, walking to a cabinet and looking through files. You just click on the computer and find the file you need. Creating a document is also so much easier because you can create it, and work with it online, no need for scanning and the like. Concerned about cyber security? You should be. In the official UK government cyber security survey for 2017, it was discovered that:
- Nearly all businesses with online data are vulnerable to a cyber attack.
- Nearly 50% of all UK businesses said that had encountered at least one cyber attack in the last year.
- 13% of businesses say they suffer a security breach or attack daily.
- The average cyber security breach costs a business over £1,000 pounds.
It sure is scary stuff. But the most helpful statistic from that report suggests that breaches are most likely in 35% of businesses where the management do not consider cyber security a priority. But that’s not your business. You’re ahead of the game, and using a specialist expert in this field such as MonsterCloud, you can ensure your digital present and future is protected.
Communicate Digitally
Communication within an office will become more efficient and paper free if it is online. Reports, emails, messages, calendars and any other communication can all be completed online using an in-house system, or an app such as Basecamp or Trello.
You Can Go Paperless
Your company can move forward and go paperless. With a can-do attitude you’re completely set up and ready to start to make change right now. To become an innovative business. To carve out a truly amazing future for your business. Embrace digital technology and leave your paperless past behind. You have everything to gain.