by Steve Harnden, Marketing Director at Computhink
Building a company from the ground up can be as daunting as constructing a house. You need a plan of attack (and the gumption to execute it), which includes a strong foundation, a solid team, and the right tools. These are all excellent resources for getting your business off the ground. But maybe we’re missing something. Just as you wouldn’t build a house out of paper, a business can’t stand on the weight of such a flimsy material. Every startup needs a sound skeleton to hold it together, and document management software is just the thing.
A company’s fledgling months (and years even) are subject to the trials of any business, except multiplied exponentially. The prospect of keeping straight all of the contracts, notes, licensing documents, reports, letters, and lists can be frustrating enough to make some startups second guess why they’re doing this in the first place. Having the paperwork you need (to keep your company alive and growing) is especially crucial at this time. Why would you trust the old methods of filing for a business so new and vibrant? Why would you settle for anything less than the most up-to-date, cost-effective, and comprehensive system?
Here’s some inherent advantages.
Imagine you do lose that very important document. ARMA International states that companies typically misfile up to twenty percent of their records. Most new companies will not get their start in a penthouse office suite. You’re most likely renting a single room in a dated facility and doing your work in a café or from your own home. The likelihood of not only losing your files but damaging them on accident is high. A document management plan is exactly what you need to both stay organized and secure.
Software such as this allows for remote transfer and access of documents. You travel across the country to attract investors, reach out to new clients, or meet with possible partners. Document management software can keep you in contact with headquarters no matter where you are, because it travels with you. Create and store files in the system using your tablet or laptop. If you carry an accordion folder full of loose papers to a meeting with your first big customer, chances are it won’t go as smoothly as you’d like. There’s no reason not to streamline your conference to ensure you seal the deal without a hitch.
It grows with you.
Say your company is gaining traction, picking up speed, and looking across the sea of bright young minds the world has to offer. You want them all to flock to your office and join forces. As your head count increases, the stacks of files will no doubt keep pace. The more people milling about the same building, the more chances to misplace, misfile, or mishandle a document. According to IDC Canada, $14,000 worth of productivity is lost per worker per year due to their inability to find the data they require to do their job. For a growing organization, fourteen grand can be a problem – and multiplied by many employees can suddenly be the number that breaks the camel’s back. Collecting and maintaining necessary files and collecting and sustaining funds go hand in hand. Document management software ensures that an increase in new recruits is always beneficial, no matter how much data they generate.
Working without document management is unnecessary.
Once you have these valuable new employees on your team, managing them and communicating with them is key. As a growing new business, you need to have the power to decide who can access, alter, or delete which files. Any piece of information entering a network with properly managed content is subject to customizable categorization, so finding it later will be a breeze. Project workflows can be constructed so that employees pass documents along to one another instantly, assembly line style. To avoid blunders, all version histories are saved and no document can be terminated from the system without approval, which means data loss will be reduced to zero. Your profits will continue to climb, equaling a bigger office and more room to grow. That’s why you’re in the startup game, right?
The building of a home is never finished. There’s always a second story to add, rooms to repaint, or furniture to replace. Your small business is never finished, even when it stops being small. To keep up with your growing workforce and the constant changes in markets today, document management software like Contentverse is a no-brainer. Organized and secure, with infinite customization and versatility, years from now you’ll be happy you chose right and started down the path of not limiting the potential of your business.
As Computhink’s Marketing Director, Steve Harnden has guided the direction of the Contentverse brand from its infancy. He’s been solely dedicated to Enterprise Content Management space for over six years, and is passionate about lean, startup marketing. He can be reached at sharnden@computhink.com or on LinkedIn.
