Shredding Solutions for All Business Sizes

Small business owners are our heroes. You've seen it all. Done it all. With fewer resources than the competition. And that requires you and your team members to become experts in a multitude of disciplines outside of your primary expertise - human resources, finance, marketing, security, IT, tax strategy, document management, and more. At Shred America, we believe in taking one of those things off of your plate by making records retention and destruction affordable and accessible for small business owners. Some of the ways we do that is by providing step-by-step guidance at no cost through our blog, by coming directly to you and shredding on-site for convenience, and by sharing our expertise along with our services, so you don't have to learn the ropes in order to choose a provider or the right service to meet your needs.

Shredding For Small Business

Small businesses have different paper shredding, paper recycling, and records management needs than large businesses. If your organization is new to paper destruction, recycling paper, or records retention, developing a records management policy serves a number of important purposes: 

1. It ensures you meet legal and ethical requirements to maintain specific records for specified lengths of times
2. It protects your organization should a past client or employee bring a claim against you and you have the documentation you need to defend your organization
3. It makes finding important files and documents more efficient, saving time and resources
4. It saves space and keeps your office tidier and safer for those walking about the office when you maintain only the documents you need (and they're maintained in an orderly fashion)
5. Most importantly, it protects your organization, it's employees, and its stakeholders by ensuring data is secured and safely destroyed when it no longer needs to be retained.

Creating A Records Management Policy

Wondering how to begin the process of creating a records retention policy? We're happy to help! First, locate records retention rules and regulations for your industry, if any exist. Be sure to check for both federal and state guidelines and follow whichever is more stringent. 

Then, begin drafting your policy. Include the purpose of the policy, the records covered in your policy, how long each type of record should be retained, how record security will be maintained while records are in the building, and how records will be destroyed when they've surpassed their retention date. Be sure to discuss the qualifications that a vendor should possess in order to meet confidentiality guidelines and how the organization will prove in an audit (if applicable) that vendors were compliant. Don't forget to include the disposal of old technology in your policy.

Having a records retention and document shredding policy in place can help protect proprietary information, safeguard your employees' and clients' personal information, and help you establish a trustworthy reputation in your industry. It can also help you defend yourself against any lawsuits that arise in the future. 

Contacting Shred America for Shredding Services

Ready to get started? Contact Shred America today - we have locations that cater to small businesses throughout the United States.