Ironically, paper cuts may be unknown to the paperless generation. But anyone who still files and makes hard copies knows the pain. A razor-thin cut from a seemingly harmless office item. Annoying, and not a little insulting.
It’s not just skin paper cuts. Paper slices budgets. Ask any office manager or bookkeeper and they’ll tell you all those copies and invoices eat up the profits.
4 Ways Paper Cuts Profits
- Filing
According to industry studies, it costs a company roughly $20 to file a piece of paper. That includes time for requesting, locating, using and re-filing. Now think about every piece of paper that floats through your office. The dollars add up…fast!
- Storing
The average cost of commercial/office space is between $15 and $20 a square foot. Yours might be even higher. Now, how big are your file cabinets? How many do you have? Add up the space they consume and you are paying to store paper every month.
- Copying
Oh, standing around the copy machine is a way of life at many businesses. The queue forms on the machine and around it. Employees enjoy a quick chat while the trusty machine spits out copies. Maintenance, ink, upgrades, paper…the copier sucks of time and money. Yes, you need. But HOW MUCH? Does everybody need it? Is it necessary to print copies for everyone in a meeting or can it be digital? Think hard about the copier.
- Disposing
Your company documents shouldn’t just be thrown away. For privacy, shredding is best. But it’s not free. It costs approx. $1 a pound to shred paper. Not a huge number. But paper weight adds up fast. It’s another little cut into your bottom line.
So how can businesses stop the bleeding? Cut paper, before it cuts you!