Thanks so much for the forum to talk openly about Saying No
to Paper, as you put it! You encouraged
reader feedback, so here you go!
I’m a small business owner in the Lansing area. I have heard a lot of talk about moving
offices paperless and of course about the GREEN movement as a whole, but I
never really thought about my business’ opportunity to reduce paper itself,
until I got hooked on your “30
Blogs in 30 Days Against Paper”. To
be honest, I really thought that we were too small to make a difference.
I was first introduced to the concept of going paperless in
my industry, after attending a furniture maker’s conference in Grand Rapids. I do mostly one-offs and custom work, so in
reality, I was probably too small of an operation to even have attended. Point being, my big take-away was this concept
of EIPP. Electronic Invoice Presentment
and Payment had never even crossed my mind before. Typically, I ask for a deposit upfront, make
the piece, and get the balance of payment at completion. I realized though, being a relatively small
operation, the amount of time billing was taking me was ridiculous, not to
mention the time it was taking me AWAY from designing and building.
The problem was, after I started to explore this concept of
EIPP, all of the providers of AR and AP (for that matter) automation, as you
all like to call it, weren’t interested in my business. In a good month, I have 200-300 invoices
going out (I also resell furniture making supplies). My payables are in the neighborhood of 15 per
month, on the other hand. No one would
even talk to me. Apparently, by EIPP
industry standards, my business was too small to be worth anyone’s time.
That’s when I stumbled upon Enliven Software. I got the feeling from your website that
regardless of size, you could help anybody. Of course I was skeptical at first, but after listening to the
video testimonial from the Cartridges
Are Us fellow, and reading up on your products, it seemed plausible that
you could help me save the time that I so desperately needed to recapture, as
well as possibly even reduce my costs.
In exploring your website, which is chock full of
information, I stumbled upon your 30
Blogs in 30 Days Campaign Against Paper. It talked about real concerns—security, disaster recovery, and doing our
part as members of a community to step up and do what’s right for the
environment.
Long story short, I finally made the call and spoke with
Samara. She explained how most businesses
that she helps are small like mine, and that they are typically able to save
between 40-60% of what it’s costing them to do their own invoicing. To me, I instantly thought that I could
continue to manage my office myself, without having to add another staff member
and all of the costs that are associated with a new hire!
I have a webinar
scheduled for Tuesday. I’m excited to
learn more, and feel like FINALLY, someone (YOU at Enliven) made a solution for
the rest of us! Thank you for allowing
me to keep my business more fundamentally mine and allowing me the opportunity
to contribute to a GREENER marketplace!
~Mark Camden, Fox and Hound Fine Furnishings