The chances are that, when you started your small business, you didn’t go into it because of your love of the pile of paperwork. As your company grows, so does the workload that you have to deal with. This can drain your time and, even worse, pile on the stress.
Running a business is always going to involve administrative duties and management on top of dealing with customers. Here are some ways to handle this aspect of running a business.
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Add Admin To Your Schedule For Filed Paperwork
There’s nothing worse than thinking that you’ve finished for the day or week, then realizing that you have a pile of paper to tackle. Administration, whether you like it or not, is part of the job. If it goes neglected, then it can lead to major financial errors and may even be the death of your company.
The best way to tackle this administrative work is to add it to your schedule so that you’re never caught out. You can make it more manageable and lower the likelihood of making mistakes because you’re stressed out.
Hire Employees To Fill Out The Paperwork
Sometimes the best answer is to delegate. If your workload has reached the point where you’re struggling to meet demand and fill out paperwork as necessary, then it’s time to take on an employee. You have several options in this situation.
One option is to hire a personal assistant. A PA can take the load off your shoulders and let you concentrate on the parts of your business in which you excel. They can pick up the slack, improve efficiency, and generally keep your stress levels low.
Another option is to hire someone to take on projects and tasks for your customers, allowing you to focus on management and administration rather than managing papers. This is often a good option if your administrative needs aren’t yet at the level where it’s necessary to hire a dedicated employee. Another employee will also help your company to grow.
Finally, you can outsource some tasks to a freelancer or another company. They can provide expert service, but reduce the number of roles that you have to cover. Even better, outsourcing means that you can act as a client rather than an employee, which means less work for you.
Invest in Technology
First, invest in scanning technology which allows for digitized copies of documents and contracts. This will allow business owners to easily store important files digitally and access them quickly when necessary.
You may want to look into cloud solutions to save time and money. Not only will this save you time but will help your business with saving on paper.
Software
You can also use software to make some of these administrative tasks easier. The software can fill in the gaps in your skill level, while still giving you ultimate control over the work. Even better, using software is often cheaper than hiring an employee or taking on a freelancer.
You can find appropriate software for almost any administrative task.
For example, the software can help you with statement reconciliation, which can be a hugely inefficient and time-consuming process. If you’re able to automate it, then you reduce the chance of human error and give yourself more time to focus on other parts of your business rather than filing paperwork.
Electronic signatures offer business owners countless benefits when it comes to increased organizational efficiency and reduced work. By streamlining the signing process, business owners can automate any documents necessary for approval without having to worry about printing and fulfilling paper documentation processes. These are used extensively in real estate offices.
It’s also a great time-saver since both parties have the ability to electronically–sign their documents from anywhere, at any time. Electronic signatures are secure, and convenient and can reduce your business’s overall stress in obtaining needed approvals for business activities. Therefore, allowing you more time to focus on other aspects of running their business.
Conclusion
Technology has taken off in the business world, so you might as well take advantage of it and use it to help you run your business. There is no reason why you cut back on the amount of paper used in your business today to save time and energy.
What have you done to cut down on the use of paper in your business today? It seems by now we would all be paperless but it hasn’t happened yet as information is collected by many on paper.
