Generation X (1961-1981) grew up with few things digital. Generation Y (1975 to 1995) grew up knowing digital was coming, it just wasn’t commonplace quite yet. Finally today, we’ve reached the point where we were headed. Generation Z (1995-2015) is growing up in a world where digital is the norm. We’ve reached that point and it’s glorious.
Though if you’re from an older generation than Gen Z, you may still have some paper documents lying around. That’s a mistake for many reasons (other than the obvious fire hazard). Let’s pull open the filing drawer and dig up the 7 reasons why all business documents should be digital:
1. Digital Documents Aren’t Likely to Be Misplaced
I was discussing this with a small business owner the other day. To illustrate, I had him hand me a sheet of paper he’d been taking notes on. I asked him to turn around. I slipped the paper under a stack of books, and asked him where it went. He looked concerned. I said, “See, physical copies and one and done. If the notes were digital you could have easily saved it out to multiple locations, thus virtually erasing ever worrying about it going missing. As your plans are now, all it would take is you losing this sheet of paper and having an hours worth of work disappear.”
Digital documents are much safer. With cloud technology, your documents can be placed on severs all around the planet in the matter of one click. Essentially, unless the world comes to an end, your docs will be safe. Gotta love living in the 21st century.
You also needn’t worry about spilling coffee on the sheet and ruining it. Sure, you could also do this to your computer but that’s why automatic backups were created.
2. Information Can Be Shared Much Faster
Time seemed to move slower in the past. But today we can send and receive data virtually instantly. When business moves faster, you can get paid faster. There are many systems out there today that allow you to share information with a team even while you’re working with document sharing. Gone is the inconvenient time between finishing a task and getting it submitted.
3. Save on Postage
I don’t even know how much a stamp costs anymore. That’s because I send nearly all of my documents electronically. Being 100% digital saves me from buying other office supplies as well such as: pens, highlighters, toner, envelopes, paper, walking to a mailbox, etc.
4. The Business Can Be Taken Anywhere
There are countless small business owners who can conduct business from anywhere there is an internet connection. It’s crazy to think about but yes, a person can be doing serious business all from a laptop and a Starbucks.
This makes traveling for work or pleasure much more enjoyable. For many digital enthusiasts, it’s just a matter of packing their laptop, charger and maybe an external mouse if they should so desire. They can be out of the office and onto an airplane in no time. Really, there’s no forgetting things either.
5. Less Clutter
Nearly everyone functions better in a clean environment. As they say, ‘A cluttered desk is a cluttered mind.’ Going paperless means there doesn’t need to be much on your desk. When you’re 100% digital, your work space can become amazingly tidy. Right now I have an external monitor, a laptop, a mouse, a keyboard, my phone and a glass of water. I don’t even use thumb drives anymore.
6. Command+F on a Mac/Control+F for PC
When I was in college, I knew a political science student who was doing his thesis on presidential rhetoric. For part of his research, he counted the number of times a candidate said ‘family values’ during campaign rallies. He spent hours and hours searching and counting by hand. He told me about the rough weekend he had. Then I told him he could have searched the electronic documents using Control+F on the keyboard. It would have counted for him in less than a second per document.
7. Less Money Tied up in Real Estate
Digitizing documents flat out saves space. Imagine if all the pages of the internet were printed. Yeah. That would take up quite a bit of land mass. Having fewer papers saves space. When my dentists office went digital, they were able to put in another room for procedures. Can you imagine how much extra money they were able to earn by using the space for procedures instead of papers? Some freelancers even get away with sharing office space because they can pack up each night.
