It's frustrating when the bulk of your office expenses go
on the purchase of office supplies. Things quickly run out. Perhaps, it's time
that you start setting rules on the use of office supplies to avoid wasting
them. Apart from spending a lot, you also waste precious resources. Follow
these tips to avoid wasting office supplies.
Digitise your operations
You can reduce your use of paper if you start to digitise
the operations. It means that all transactions are online. There's no need to
keep a hard copy of the files. You can invest in a strong backup system in case
something happens with the primary storage. Besides, almost all transactions
these days happen online. You have to keep up, and digitising operations are a
positive step forward.
Make employees responsible for their supplies
Avoid having a common room for office supplies. It's
difficult to determine the person responsible for overusing the supplies if the
items are in a common area. The best option is to allocate specific items to
each employee. The use of the items depends on the employee. If the supplies
run out, you won’t be responsible for giving a new set, unless you caused the
depletion of the resources.
Let someone take charge of the supplies
You need someone taking care of all the supplies. You can
also create a system that records the details of using these supplies.
Transparency helps guarantee that the employees are accountable for their
actions. You can also control the number of supplies available each month.
Buy in bulk only if necessary
Some people will tell you that buying in bulk will help
you save money. Although it’s true, you might also end up buying things you
don’t need. You should avoid buying in bulk if you know that you will only use
a few items. You might have to throw away the ones you don’t need at all.
Partner with an office supplier
You need regular stationery suppliers who will give you a discount for every transaction made.
You can request additional supplies from the supplier only when necessary. You
don’t have to force yourself to get everything at once. You can even ask for
free delivery if you already established a stable partnership.
Inform your employees
Perhaps, employees don't mind how much they waste
resources because they don't even know it. They might think that their
consumption isn’t too much. Letting them know what’s happening could make them
rethink their actions. You don’t dictate to them what they have to do, but you
allow them to make the changes themselves. You can also have a conversation to
determine ways to reduce wasting office supplies.
You want to maximise your company's profit. If a
considerable portion goes to the purchase of office supplies, something needs
to change.
You can also think about it from an environmental
perspective. Reducing your office supplies could help save more resources. More
companies are taking steps to support the environment. It would help if you did
the same.
