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A survey carried out by YouGov recently found that the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises could be throwing away as much as £42.2m every single day in revenues looking for paper documents. 82% of financial services are still printing documents just to get a signature, and 31% of respondents also said that if they weren’t looking for documents, they would be spending time on business development.

This overreliance on paper – an outdated method of communication by any standard – could be costing the UK’s SMEs big. Switching to paperless solutions might not simply be a great option to protect the environment – it could end up protecting businesses in the long-term. Here are just a few ways digitising documents could end up supporting and protecting a small business:

Time savings

In the world of business, time is money. Time spent searching for archived documents or files in storage is time that could have been used more productively for business development, as mentioned above. A study in Australia found that workers can spend as many as five hours per week looking for documents, with three and a half hours also dedicated to filing and organising – if we assume these stats are replicated in the UK, that’s a lot of valuable time that could be used to support and grow the business in other ways.

Security reasons

What’s more secure – a filing cabinet or a cloud server? A physical archive or a password-protected hard drive? The answer these days is almost always the digital solution. Physical files can be lost, stolen or damaged in fire or flood. Going paperless means these documents are protected more robustly, with excellent security solutions that are more reliable and permanent.

Audit trails

Many businesses have to adhere to very string compliance policies with regards to document management and storage. Digital document management systems can simplify this process, with every document having a unique number and creating its own audit trail that can be followed with ease. Paperless documents can also be duplicated and amended while still keeping the original, which is another bonus when it comes to audits and compliance.

Accessible archives

Digital archives are far more accessible and user-friendly than physical ones. Sorting files by name, date or size can be accomplished with just a few clicks or taps, and managers can also password-protect confidential or restricted files, so that only authorised users can access them. Going paperless is also ideal when staff at different sites need to access the same documents – rather than the lengthy and expensive duplication of physical files, digital documents can be brought up from any location if they’re stored within the cloud, for total ease of use across multiple sites.

How much is your company spending on document storage? My bet is, too much. In this increasingly digital age, it just makes sense to go digital with your files and documents to lower costs and increase efficiency.

In the past we've spoken about the advantages companies can gain from document scanning but here we would like to reinforce what all these benefits can mean for the future of your company.

Benefits of Document Scanning and Digital Document Management

Let's remind ourselves of the benefits document scanning and electronic document management can bring;

• Cost savings
• Time savings
• Space savings
• Improved efficiency
• Improved document security
• Increased accessibility
• Improved overall organisation
• Decreased reliance on paper
• Increased office morale
• Future-proof your business
• Increase your green credentials
• Show better health and safety awareness
• Increase workflow efficiency
• Reduces stress

I could go on forever and, admittedly, we usually do but how does this relate to your company? As you can see, there are no negative effects on your business when document scanning and digital document management are executed professionally. The main effect on your business will be potentially higher profits brought about as a result of lower outgoing costs and improved efficiency. This can only be a good thing when companies and organisations are struggling to stay afloat due to higher costs in other areas. Every company is different so it would be futile to try and guess which benefits you would reap and to what extent.

So, here's the challenge. Take a look at the list of benefits above. Then make a list of the areas in which your company could improve. It is at this point I can almost guarantee there will be a number of areas that match on both lists. This is when you know it's time to stop being an adequate, or even failing, business and start being a SMART business.

What is a SMART business?

By hiring scanning services and adopting an electronic management system you can begin the path to becoming a SMART business.

A SMART business Scans, Manages, Accesses, Reaps and Tells.

Scan
The first step is getting your documents scanned and fully indexed.

Manage
Then you need to manage your new digital documents efficiently by adopting a digital document management system.

Access
You will then be able to access your digital documents whenever and wherever you need to.

Reap
With this new-found accessibility you can then reap the benefits mentioned above.

Tell
While you're reaping these benefits, why not tell your clients all about it, especially since some can mean a better experience for your clients as well as the company as whole.

How Can Pearl Scan Help

Here at Pearl Scan, we offer bespoke document scanning services including invoice scanning, legal scanning, HR document management and bulk document scanning. They provide all of the benefits mentioned in the article and have been used by a number of satisfied clients.

If you're are interested in taking steps to become a SMART business or if you would like some more information on the document scanning services and document management solutions we offer here at Pearl Scan, get in touch today. We can also provide you with a free, no obligation quote for your project if you complete our online form.