Your small business faces a unique set of challenges that larger corporations don't. To overcome these challenges, you need more than a desire to succeed. You need the right tools to get the job done. This is especially true since even though your company may be known as a "small" business, the undertakings set before you are anything but little. One of the most invaluable tools that you should invest in to help you overcome small business challenges is document management software. Here is how this one investment can help you overcome several small business challenges.

Welcome to the digital era. After years of having to sift through mountains of paper documentation in order to get things done, you have finally digitized your documents. Even after you officially make the transition from paper document management to digital, however, you will still have to deal with all of that paperwork that your company has piled up over the years. Here is what you should do with your paper documents once they're digitized:

Digital technology has dramatically altered how we manage our data. Instead of dealing with more paperwork than a single person is strong enough to carry, we are able to store millions of documents on a device smaller than a human hand. Instead of shipping copies of paperwork via mail or courier, we can deliver a communication in seconds via a slew of online file sharing options. From sharing documents faster to storing them more effectively, digital technology has provided us with many data management upgrades.

You are constantly looking for ways to improve your small business' ability to succeed. One great way to make a significant upgrade to your small business is to go paperless.

Why should my small business go paperless?

Going paperless provides the following unique benefits for businesses of all types, including:

After converting your paper documents to digital files, investing in a good document management system is the next step. This will make the management of your company's newly digitized documents as easy as a Google search. Because the document management solution is a brand new piece of software, you must prepare yourself for its integration by taking the following steps:

Converting your business' records to digital files is a must. It will streamline your operations, save you money on paper and protect your company's data. That being said, you don't want your business documents to get mixed up in the scanning process right when you need them the most. So which of your business records should you scan first? To help you make the right choices during your business record conversion process, we are providing you with a universal guide for deciding the order in which your business records should be scanned.

Your employees are putting your company's data at risk right now. In most cases, they do this without even knowing that they are. Here are five ways that your employees are putting your confidential information at risk:

Document management and your employee turnover rate may not seem to have anything in common, but you might want to reconsider. If you don’t have your document management ducks in a row, you could be negatively impacting your human resources efficiencies that could leave a lasting impact on your staff.

To keep up with the rest of the world, your business needs to be able to operate at light speed. To this end, you have already invested in several digital solutions to streamline your daily operations. One of the most beneficial moves that you have made has been to convert your paper documents to digital files. To further enhance your document's accessibility, you are likely thinking about sharing your documents online via a third-party cloud sharing/collaboration tool such as DropBox or Google Docs. Doing this, however, would be a big mistake. Here are the reasons why:

Whether you are moving your office to a new location, or you are simply remodeling, you will likely have to transport many important items. As you begin your move, you will notice that the most difficult assets to transport are your paper documents. This is because in addition to carefully transporting them from point A to point B, you need to make sure that they remain organized. Fortunately, this doesn't have to be as difficult as you might imagine. Follow the following three office moving tips to de-clutter your documents before you start moving.