The goal of a digital transformation is to make your business more operationally efficient. And in the case of small businesses, digital tools especially bring plenty of benefits.
According to SMB Group research, small businesses that invest in technology are 18% more likely to experience revenue growth when compared to their contemporaries.
Automated document management, better cloud storage, improved communication and other related components are guaranteed to transfer your company to the next level.
Small businesses lose too much money because of insufficient document management systems
In 2018, in the Definitive Guide to America’s Most Broken Processes, Nintex conducted a survey of 1,000 U.S. full-time employees from different industries. The survey showed that many of them observed broken document management / sales processes within their organization.
In particular:
- 49% said they have trouble locating documents
- 43% have trouble with document approval requests and document sharing
- 33% struggle with document versioning
This respectively leads to a loss in productivity. Based on the statistics, the average worker spends 2.5 hours per day looking for information.
Assuming now an average yearly salary is $80,000, the inability to find and retrieve documents costs organization (that employs 1000 workers) $2.5 million per year.
This enterprise also wastes $5 million per year because employees spend too much time duplicating information that already exists within the enterprise.
Moreover, broken corporate processes prevent employees from maximizing their potential which leads to huge employee turnover. This also results in a waste of money.
And now just think how stressful the figures for small business must be.
What are the key benefits of using a document management platform for small businesses?
Document automation software is aimed at helping SMBs (or small and medium sized businesses) to streamline their workflow by:
- Ensuring accurate accountability
- Accelerating document processing
- Lowering company costs
- Increasing employee efficiency
- Improving the visibility of your brand
Today, most SMBs can afford specialized document automation software. It’s a cost-effective solution that allows users to build documents and access critical company data anytime and anywhere.
What are the components of a complete document management solution for your small business?
First of all – it has to be “complete” in the sense that it can cover more than one document management need.
For example, PDFfiller provides the services of an online editor, cloud storage platform, and a signature request manager all in one package. PDFfiller allows customers to fill and send any PDF form online. Our users can access their entire document database, as well as search for documents online, find needed forms in our library, and share them directly from their device.
Note that one of the most important components here, is having the option to add an e-signature to any of your digital documents. This is what contributed to PDFfiller recently appearing in G2’s Best E-Signature Software list, which took second place with a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars.
Users also pointed out that they especially liked PDFfiller’s versatility.
I love that I don’t need to hurt my brain trying to learn how to complete a simple task on PDFfiller. Everything is right where I need it and very easy to use. All the functions I need are right at the top and do exactly what I would expect. I like that it is web based and that I can access saved documents anywhere if I am not at my computer.
Let’s sum everything up. Your ideal document automation system for small business should consist of the following:
- Electronic forms. Creation of electronic forms allows you to eliminate manual data entry and paperwork in general.
- Automation of workflow. Easily track all digital documents and route tasks within your organization automatically by implementing automation tools into your business.
- Electronic signature. Electronically sign PDFs and create legible, professional-looking documents.
- Integrations. Integrations with Google Suite, Salesforce, Office 365 and Slack are a must. This will significantly help speed up data processing.
- Mobile access. Securely generate, process, and easily share your documents using your mobile devices, such as a tablet or smartphone.
Try PDFfiller for free today. Test the important features and see for yourself how the software can handle the specific demands of your small business.
