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Action Item:
Make a list of technology that
you can move to the cloud.
If you’re not sure
where to start, don't worry, here’s a checklist
you can use:
Step 2: Go Paperless
The business dream to go paperless has
been around for many years now and is a
dream that a lot of industries continue to
chase. In the promotional products industry,
that dream would look like this:
• Replace paper processes with digital
processes through software.
• Rid every single promotional product con-
sultant’s desk of printouts.
• Torch the manual tracking of production.
The first step on this journey to paper-
work liberation is being able to access infor-
mation from anywhere (see Step 1). No more
lost paper files. No more orders slipping
away (under a desk, maybe). No more lost
scraps of knowledge.
The interesting side effect is that it opens
up a new world of possibilities for office
design. You can literally tear down the walls
and go open-concept as you are no longer the
slave to filing cabinets and messy stacking
trays. Simple glass desks can replace bulky
old wooden ones with tons of drawers, creat-
ing a light, airy effect. You no longer need
rows of filing cabinets to store current and
historical projects. No more archiving boxes
of paperwork that require heavy-duty shelv-
ing in a storage room to contain them.
Turn that reclaimed space into a lounge for
employees or a casual meeting space for clients.
The last bastion remains the world of
accounting. Many suppliers still fax (sigh)
and send bills in the mail. Ask them to email
you invoices instead. Implement digital tools
to email invoices to customers, encourage
them to pay you digitally and pay your sup-
pliers digitally.
Paper is no longer a requirement to run
your business. You will be free to reimagine
your work space. You can decide if that
should be an office, a home office or the local
coffee shop.
Action Item:
Review your paperwork
processes and make a list of what can go
paperless.
24 •
PPB
• SEPTEMBER 2015
INNOVATE
Catherine Graham is the CEO
and co-founder of commonsku
and president of Toronto,
Ontario-based distributor
RIGHTSLEEVE. She can simul-
taneously compute complex
Excel formulas in her mind and
protect her goaltender from an
odd-man rush.
Replace this:
With this:
Communication Google Apps for
And Scheduling email and calendar;
Microsoft Office 365
Document
Google Drive;
Storage
Dropbox; Box
Payments
Stripe; CardConnect
Accounting
Xero; QuickBooks
Online
Voice Calling
Skype; Google
Hangouts; Ring
Central
Virtual Meetings Skype, Google
Hangouts;
GoToMeeting;
join.me; Ring Central