Digital Signatures: Bolstering the Business Game for Start-ups

The COVID-19 pandemic left the whole world shattered with calamitous blows to almost every facet of the business. While this crisis became a catalyst of innovation for some organizations, for those who were missing out on digital transformation initiatives it became a wake-up call. Start-ups weren’t an exception to this. With the whole ecosystem moving to digital solutions for sustainability and agility, it was of paramount importance for start-ups to integrate digital solutions in their processes and innovations.

Companies embracing digital transformation are 26% stronger than their competitors and hold a 12% growth factor.

We are living in the generation of digital immediacy. Consumers ask for the best possible experiences delivered at a fast pace through digital channels. And to meet these ever-growing customer expectations, businesses have to leverage the use of digital solutions. Likewise, it is paramount for start-up owners to invest in new technologies and innovations. Start-up owners are striving to establish their brand images and make a mark in today’s cut-throat competitive market, which doesn’t allow them to spend countless time and effort on tedious and lengthy document handling and paperwork. This is why start-up owners are increasingly moving to digital solutions such as digital signatures. They not only streamline documentation processes, but also save a lot of time, effort, and operating costs. Moreover, it helps improve employee productivity, enhance customer experiences, and optimize operations. Let’s dive into this blog to discover the role of digital signatures in increasing sustainability and efficiency for start-ups.

Ways Digital Signatures Help Start-Ups Thrive In the Market

Before digging into the benefits of electronic signatures, here’s how paper usage harms our environment and the planet.

• Offices in the U.S. use 12.1 trillion paper sheets a year.
• Paper contributes 25% to landfill waste and 33% to municipal waste.
• The paper industry is the fifth largest consumer of energy worldwide, using over 4% of the world’s energy.
• The production of 1 ton of virgin paper accounts for 253 gallons of petrol usage.
• Paper waste contributes 50% to the overall business waste produced.
• Annually over 30 million acres of forests are cut down.

While paper usage can cause zillion hazardous issues, there is one smart solution that can help! Ditching the traditional wet signatures and embracing smart digital solutions such as digital signatures can live up the consumer expectations and market standards, improve employee productivity, and help businesses become sustainable! Here’s how digital signature solutions can benefit start-ups:

• Enhance Customer Experience

According to one survey, customers can spend over 200% more and interact at least 50% more with a business that delivers an excellent customer experience. Bolstering a superior customer experience for your clients helps create brand loyalty and boosts customer retention, which is the key component fostering start-up growth.

72% of users say they would consider abandoning a brand that provides a disconnected customer experience.

For the majority of start-ups, the struggle is real. This includes searching for funding, getting agreements signed on time, taking approvals from stakeholders, invoicing, and nurturing a great customer experience. Using traditional paper-and-pen signatures can slow down these processes, while on the other hand, e-signatures live up to expectations! Electronic signatures help start-ups save time and allow them to sign from anywhere, anytime, thereby speeding up the invoicing and agreement signing, helping them deliver an excellent customer experience without spending too much on resources.

• Attract New Customers

The first few years are crucial for any business. Start-up owners are constantly striving to keep everything and every stakeholder on the same page to avoid disputes. However, the most crucial goal remains generating enough revenue to keep the business running and to attract new customers.

Over 60% of consumers prefer an automated self-service, such as a website or mobile app.

Also Read: 8 ways e-signatures can transform your business!

People nowadays are more receptive than ever to new technologies. They tend to bend toward brands incorporating emerging technologies to offer a hassle-free experience to their customers. When customers purchase any product or service from a start-up, they expect prompt responses to their queries, feedback, and transactions. It is undoubtedly impossible to manually sign every transaction, keep track of feedback, manage overwhelming data in one place, and send/receive documents back and forth. E-signatures ease up these tasks. Moreover, every transaction handled using electronic signature carries the same legal weight as paper-based signatures.

Companies outshining customer experience drive 4-8% higher revenues than other competitors in the market.

• High-Level Security

77% of business owners want remote access to the files.

Security is the foremost concern that comes to mind when someone wants to access confidential files remotely. There are possibilities of data loss, file misuse, data theft, or unauthorized access.

Document handling challenges account for 21.3% of productivity loss.

Start-up owners shuffle through innumerable agreements and contracts to get the stakeholders on board, attract new customers, onboard new employees, and more. Getting entangled in lengthy and tiresome documentation can cost them time and money, which is the most crucial for businesses. In contrast, e-signature solution come at a very reasonable and adaptable price structures, and help in streamlining documentation. In addition, DrySign e-signatures are 256-bit encrypted, integrating end-to-end security in your signing processes. This allows businesse owners to easily access documents anywhere, anytime, from any device, without any security constraints. Furthermore, DrySign e-signatures are legally binding and comply with certain certifications to ensure the legality and compliance needed.

• Legally Binding

With a tremendous rise in online transactions, the need for a safe and legit way to bind the signatory to a written agreement, policy, or acknowledgment becomes dire. While integrating e-signatures in business processes, you might wonder if the signature solution complies with all the concerned legislation. An obvious response to this question is yes! Most e-sign platforms are compliant with electronic signature laws and regulations of the country they’re being used in, such as the ESIGN Act and UETA in US which grant legality to digital signatures.

Legally binding signatures adhere to public key infrastructure (PKI) that generates two bits of code known as keys to providing an extra layer of protection to documents. There are two such keys: private and public keys. PKI technology also guarantees compliance to certificate authority (CA) requirements, which ensures the uprightness of key security. Depending on your business requirements and the level of legitimacy needed, you can accordingly opt for e-signature solutions.

• Long-Term Savings

Physical contracts cost around $5 to $10, considering printing and courier.

When it comes to start-ups, everything has to be managed from scratch. And keeping a record of everything to avoid further disputes becomes challenging with manual processes. Moreover, sending or receiving agreements or contracts back and forth for review and signing takes overwhelming time and effort. The cost of storing, retrieving, producing additional copies, etc., can be much higher. In addition, it accounts for human errors, data loss or theft, or unauthorized access to confidential data.

By deploying digital signature solutions like DrySign, start-ups can bag long-term savings based on their operation and budget scale. Hidden costs like printing, scanning, office supplies and storage of paper documents constitute a significant portion of the budget. Smart alternatives not only eliminate these tedious aspects but also enable your start-up to do what it does best. Make this world a better place, one problem statement at a time.

• Operate Faster, Safer, And Smarter

Using digital signatures can help your organization reduce an array of operational costs. Businesses can reduce the turnaround time, document processing costs, and error rate by up to 80% and improve productivity by 85%. Streamlining your operations helps you with free time to connect with your customers and clients. The transition to digital signatures provides faster ROI when the scale of operations is huge.

• Join The “Greenitiative.”

The global picture of a paperless tomorrow is evident. All the U.S. federal government agencies are planning to go paperless. It would be safe to predict that given the initiatives going on across the globe, going paperless can become mandatory in the not-so-distant future. So instead of waiting for that to happen, there’s no harm in reducing the carbon footprint while saving time, money, and infrastructural costs.

If you are a start-up owner striving to upgrade and advance your business initiative with more customers and manageable contract processes, you must bring speed and security into your workflows to make remote working a success. Digital signatures are all you need for agile and sustainable business processes. Define your business requirements and choose the best-suited e-signature solution for your start-up to increase efficiency and sustainability.

DISCLAIMER: The information on this site is for general information purposes only and is not intended to serve as legal advice. Laws governing the subject matter may change quickly, and Exela cannot guarantee that all the information on this site is current or correct. Should you have specific legal questions about any of the information on this site, you should consult with a licensed attorney in your area.

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