Statistics show that almost half of the world’s population are active internet users. So, doing business digitally is not simply a trend, but a daily necessity. As the workspace changes from minute to minute due to constant technological progress, it becomes increasingly vital to digitise corporate data and records in the office.
Digitisation allows you to search for documents so that employees and management can exchange and find information faster. It also speeds up some business processes and leads to higher performance and improved productivity.
Here we look at how you can digitise your business process.
1) Start with your Goals
Your digitisation projects should start with your end goals in mind. Think of what you are trying to achieve and develop a plan around those goals.
What are you trying to achieve?
- Quicker internal information sharing process?
- Faster answers to customers’ questions?
It is only when you have established the business goals for a digitisation project that you can decide how you will accomplish them. First set your goals, and from there, build up your project strategy.
2) Train your Workers
Employees are your greatest asset and a key source of ideas and new ways to re-inventing your company. Therefore, consider signing up your employees for online courses and skills training to ensure that they are competent and confident in a digital environment.
This will help them understand their new role, especially when it comes to acting as the first line of defence against cyberattacks within the company. Remember, a click on the wrong link could result in an attack that may have a long term negative impact on your business.
3) Go paperless
Going paperless is another way to digitise your business process.
A simple way to save paper is to request electronic invoices or bank statements from all service providers and suppliers. You can also send electronic bills and invoices to customers.
But that is not all. Going digital also means automating vital parts of your business operations, so that little or no manual effort is needed for tasks, especially administrative tasks. For example, you can use specialised software to automate your tax payments.
The same system can also work for payment of salaries, as well as contractors and suppliers, and even getting more inventory. What’s more? You save money by spending less time approving expenses and completing accounts.
You can also use your bank to streamline payment and invoicing processes, as well as use your technology to make paper-based cash management decisions.
4) Focus your Efforts on Key Areas
Digitisation can transform any part of a company, from product or service development, to supply chain and operations, to sales and marketing.
While it’s important to get the entire organisation digitised and track progress in all areas, it doesn’t mean you have to do it all at once. As part of the digitisation strategy, identify the areas that your organisation will benefit the most from. Then focus your energies on those areas so that you can achieve full digitalisation.
Once you have everything all set up, you will need to test the system to be sure that everything is working well, before moving on to the next item on your list.
5) Remember to Secure your Data
Having easy and quick access to sufficient data on consumers, the market and your business competitors are invaluable but the information and numbers may not be worth much unless you have the skills to properly analyse them to get useful insights on consumer behaviour and market patterns.
Similarly, customers expect you to keep their data safe, but this data is also an attraction for online crooks. Security breaches can severely damage the reputation of a business, and the threat of cyberattacks keeps growing, so take advantage of the security tools and services out there as part of your digital journey.
