In the article below, Anne McGurty, a Paper Tiger Expert of Strategize and Organize, relays a story about a jeweler who purchased more hoop earrings because he didn’t remember that he already had more than he needed simply because he didn’t have, nor did he think he needed, an inventory. Are you wasting time and money repurchasing things you already have or recreating documents you already have? Do you think it’s a waste of time to get organized? Read on to see how a small investment in time implementing Paper Tiger Filing System Software can help you save time and money!
In my last webinar I presented for The Monticello Corporation, demonstrating how to use Paper Tiger, someone followed up with me as they related to a story that I told and I thought if it helped one person on the call, maybe one of my readers here would appreciate the story as well.
Years ago, I had a jewelry company. I used to go to New Mexico and buy American Indian made jewelry right from the Navajo, Zuni, and Hopi Indian tribes. I loved working with the artists and then going to all the retail stores throughout the country to peddle my collection.
One day I was in a “mom and pop” touristy type store in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. It was a cute little place and a little old man came out and welcomed me. I looked around the store and it was quaint with old jewelry cases, jewelry displayed in no specific order, and trinkets randomly displayed throughout the store.
As I looked through the jewelry, I noticed there were no sterling silver hoops and I had some simple basic ones in my inventory in the car, so it was a perfect lead to ask him if he needed to purchase any. He seemingly agreed based on what he could also see in the case, so he agreed to look at what I had and purchased not only some silver hoop earrings, but also a nice selection of other shiny new pieces. I was appreciative and went on my way.
A couple of months later, I returned and he had an abundance of silver hoop earrings. I thought, darn, someone else must of been in to see him and he purchased more from that wholesaler. He welcomed me and had a funny grin on him as he told me that after he purchased all the silver hoops from me, his wife told him that they had plenty of silver hoops, as they were in another case in another location of his store and there were even more in the back room safe. I asked him about how he was tracking his inventory and he laughed and said, he didn’t bother with an inventory, he knew what he had. Well, you know I didn’t respond, because as the story shows, he spent money on something he really didn’t need because he didn’t know he had it.
I tell this story to my clients often because this is true also for our business and personal files. If we don’t know what we have, it can cost us money. Recently while I’m spending time in Scottsdale, Arizona, I needed to go to the motor vehicle division. One of the records I needed was the title to my car. Now that could have been quite an ordeal as I have files both in Denver, Colorado, and in Scottsdale, Arizona. Fortunately, all of my files are inventoried in Paper Tiger, and I was able to look it up off my web-based version from my smart phone and know exactly where to find my title.
Knowing where to find my title so quickly and easily, gave me instant relief knowing that I didn’t have to pursue the project, taking more time and spending extra money to order a copy of my title. I was able to get my hands on it right away. Naturally, it makes sense that when you want to take care of business, you don’t want to have delays.
If you are like the jewelry store owner and don’t have an inventory of your stuff, whether it’s paper files, digital files, or supplies, obviously you may be wasting time and money repurchasing things you already have or recreating documents you already have.
Are you ready now to get to work and inventory your paper and digital files? Here’s the link to get started with Paper Tiger Filing System Software.
If you want some additional help, I work with clients over the phone or in person and coach them to completely set up a customized system to get organized and work more productive.
About Anne:
Anne McGurty is CEO of Strategize & Organize, a company devoted to training individual’s to be more effective with the tools and resources to be productive in their work environment.
If you like this issue, you’ll love Anne’s transforming productivity training and organizing products to help you organize your business — and yourself — ranging from productivity consulting for individuals and executives to small business coaching programs to keynote speaking and corporate training programs to improve efficiencies in the workplace and improve productivity.
While Anne is best known for her expertise in productivity and expert office organizing, her clients share that her biggest impact comes from her philosophy of “personalizing her programs to fit the needs of her clients so they can streamline more efficiently with existing processes” – ensuring to create a sustainable work environment. This, Anne says, is the most important key to bringing an individual to personal freedom with time and organization.
You can learn more about Anne at www.StrategizeAndOrganize.com.
Tags: Digital Files, document management software, document management system, filing system software, get organized, paper filing systems, Paper Tiger "finding" filing system, Productivity, professional organizer
Good story I like it. so many people waste their time in unwanted thing which they don’t want. This post is really helpful for those people who wasting time and money on repurchasing things which is already purchased.
Thank you! We know Paper Tiger will be helpful to you! thanks again!