How document scanning became vital to SMEs
Effective leaders of SMEs are always looking for ways to increase productivity and efficiency. One of the best ways to do this is by investing in technology and new ways of working.
If your SME still uses paper files, now could be a really good time to get into digitising your documents via document scanning. Doing so could be hugely beneficial to your business.
In this blog, we look at how document scanning could become vital to SMEs and how it could benefit you.
Saving space
Space comes at a premium for SMEs. The majority of smaller businesses operate of relatively tight budgets, so every square metre of your premises has to count.
Physical documents take up a lot of space, especially as your business grows and takes on more clients, suppliers, and orders. When it is important to keep track of your documentation, you can wind up devoting an enormous amount of your physical space to paper documents.
Document scanning allows you to turn all of these paper documents into digital files. In turn, these can be stored on cloud servers. So, where your document storage once may have taken over several rooms and cabinets – now it can all be on the cloud, taking up no physical space.
That means your business can either reduce the size of your office space, which can save significant money, or you can have more room to expand into.
Saving time
Time is money, as the old saying goes, and you might not realise it, but working with physical documents can use up a huge amount of time. The majority of SMEs that work with paper documents do so because it is a legacy system that the company has always used – scanning your documents and going online can be hugely beneficial.
When a business moves to document scanning and cloud storage, it creates a system that is much easier to search. Trying to sort through thousands of paper documents can take up a significant portion of staff time every time you need something.
Digital documents can be easily labelled making it possible to find the exact document using a search function in just seconds.
Embracing remote working
Many companies found it a necessity to move to remote working as a result of the pandemic. And in the post-pandemic world, working away from the office is seen as far more normal and common. Remote work has many benefits for businesses as well as their employees, so if you are interested in taking advantage of them, moving to digital documents is essential.
Scanning is an important step in moving to digital documents. Once the documents are available online, they can be accessed from anywhere in the world, which is exactly what remote workers need.
Improving data security
SMEs need to take their data security seriously. The growing sophistication of criminals, as well as the implementation of data security legalisation such as the Data Protection Act 2018 makes it a true priority.
It is naturally the case that paper documents are at risk of theft – they can also be easily copied taken without attracting attention. If documents are scanned and turned into digital files before being shredded, the risk of data theft is limited.
Better customer service
Nothing frustrates customers more than finding that a business cannot deal with them because they cannot easily get the right information to hand. If a customer complains about an issue with a bill, or something else relating to their order, it can take a great of time to track down the details if they are stored in paper files.
With documents that have been scanned and turned into digital files, customers information can be found in seconds and any details can be dealt with easily.
Green credentials
Many businesses want to do more for the environment. This is both true from a personal perspective, and from the fact that customers like to see the companies that they use being more eco-friendly.
Scanning documents is an important step in moving towards a paperless office, which itself is something that SMEs can do to be greener. If you are looking to give your green credentials a boost, document scanning is a vital step.
Are you interested in document scanning and taking your business digital? The team at Document Options has years of experience in all aspects of document management and would be happy to help you. Call us on 01293 426677 or email sales@dol.co.uk and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
