Part of life involves dealing with annoyances and figuring out alternatives. This ultimately relates to why you should eliminate paperwork, trust me.
For example, if your shoes start giving you blisters, you get a new pair that fit comfortably and don't cause you pain. If you start a new job and your new commute has terrible traffic jams, you look for alternative routes or try leaving at different times in the morning to avoid the congestion.
From beating traffic to sleep hacking, we're always trying to improve aspects in our life that are annoying, or just not as optimized as they could be.
It's truly amazing that paper is still the dominant method of collecting information and record keeping for so many business owners. Even as far back as 2500 BCE, Egyptians had problems with papyrus, which could often be fragile or susceptible to moisture. Sounds like a familiar problem with paper forms, right?
The good news for small business owners is that it's easier than ever to eliminate the headaches caused by paperwork. Switching to a mobile app will streamline your business processes and workflows, while reducing unnecessary administrative tasks. Here are some reasons why going paperless is better than dealing with paper.
Why You Should Eliminate Paperwork Today
1) Capture Better, More Accurate Information and Level Up!
Reading handwritten information on paper forms can be like trying to decipher the Rosetta Stone. We've all been there. The busier you are, the more time it seems to take translating handwriting or tracking down someone to figure out what the heck something means.
I don't know about you, but I'd rather eliminate paperwork and spend my time doing my job (or hanging out with friends and family), instead of trying to be a handwriting analysis master.
By going paperless with mobile forms and apps, you don't have this problem anymore. Information that is captured via phones and tablets is easy to read and understand. Plus, you can capture more information such as photos, geo-location, automatically perform calculations, scan barcodes and do more to improve and streamline your business. Inspection reports are 1000 times easier.
2) No More Lost Paperwork and Fewer Grey Hairs
Have you ever cleaned out your car or truck and discovered that one really important form or check you were looking for a few months ago? Maybe it was stuffed in between the seats or underneath some tools in the trunk. Folks in the trucking industry should especially be familiar with this issue.
Or maybe one of your small business invoices, work orders or inspections simply disappeared. It happens a lot more than you might believe. In a recent survey, PwC found that 7.5% of all documents are lost. That's a lot of equipment that can't get ordered, customers you can't bill, work you can't get paid for and money that you will never see…or even realize you missed.
There's a better way. With mobile apps and forms, there's no paper forms to lose. The information you or your employees collect is captured digitally and available in real-time. It's easy to eliminate paperwork and say sianara to lost paperwork and hello to increased revenue. From truck drivers to scuba divers, anyone can do this!
3) No More Time Wasted Manually Re-Entering Data
You might do data entry tasks first thing in the morning, when you'd rather be getting your day started. Or you might do it before you leave work, when you'd rather just be home. If you're not doing data entry yourself, you're paying someone else to do it.
With today's technology, there's no excuse to put up with the annoying task of manually re-entering data from paper forms into your computer system. By going paperless and eliminating paperwork, information is automatically stored in the cloud and can be automatically routed to the appropriate people, groups or other software systems. No more wasted time on data entry and other senseless administrative tasks!
Take back your time for work that grows your business.
4) Eliminate Trips to Filing Cabinet City aka That Soul-Sucking Dark Place
There are few things in offices that are more annoying than the fax machine that never seems to work. These include that new intern that knows everything, a broken coffee machine and Filing Cabinet City in the dark corner of the office.
It's the equivalent of that dark place that the light doesn't touch in The Lion King, and Mufasa tells Simba “That's beyond our borders. You must never go there.”
Filing Cabinet City isn't just annoying and creepy: it's expensive. Gartner estimates that US businesses alone spend between $25 Billion and $35 Billion each year filing, storing and retrieving paper forms. Yep, that's Billion!
IDC estimates that the average employee spends 11 hours per week searching for info, compiling info from separate sources and recreating lost or missing information. IDC says that this amounts to roughly $19,732 wasted per worker each year!
With all your data stored in the cloud, it's accessible in real-time. There's no reason to keep putting up with the annoyances of Filing Cabinet City. Go paperless!
5) Reduction in Compliance Issues
Risky business may work for Tom Cruise, but it's not a good company policy.
We all have certain processes we have to follow in order to manage risk and remain in compliance with business/industry regulations, or just our own policies and procedures. Maybe it's doing inspections a certain way. Maybe it's making sure you go over a certain process with your employees and get their sign off. Maybe it's requiring a signature on a contract.
Most of the time, these forms get filed away forever, but sometimes things happen and you need to pull a file that's months or years old.
If you can't find it, you're fined. Or sued and held liable. Or something else that is annoying at best and beyond horrible at worst.
With digital data collection and cloud storage, these files are always a click away. You remain in compliance with your processes and procedures and not have to worry about this stuff.
6) Be All-Knowing: Access Forms and Data from Anywhere.
How annoying is it when you need a report or file and you aren't at the office to look it up? Maybe you just want to check up on your business while on vacation with your family. Or maybe it's 5:30pm on a Friday and you are talking to an angry customer on the phone, looking for a record of his invoice, right after you got on the highway to drive home. Paper, you're killing us here.
With your information captured digitally and stored in the cloud, you can easily find what you're looking for anytime, anywhere. Bonus: you'll save money on gas from fewer unplanned trips to the office (you're welcome Lorax).
7) Improve Workflows and Business Processes
If you're like us, you probably have business processes and forms that need to be seen or approved by multiple people. For example, a project estimate may start on-site with material requirements, need someone else to estimate costs, then need multiple people to sign off on it.
With paper or email, you might have to hand-deliver, fax or mail a form to multiple groups to get things done. Waiting on others may leave you wondering what the status is. Or you may wonder what the heck someone was thinking when making a certain decision. Was he even on-site looking at the right thing?
With a mobile workflow solution like GoCanvas, it's easy to understand where processes and projects stand. Mobile forms and apps can be easily configured to send the right information to the right person at the right time.
**Quick recap. Paper forms are annoying and they kill your time and creativity. Going paperless is easier than you think, and it's better. Improve your life and your business and eliminate your paperwork headaches for good.
Try us free, and give us a few minutes of your time. See how easy it is to go paperless and mobile.
