In the grand scheme of what makes running a business exciting, asset management probably isn’t at the top of the list.
But managing your company’s tools, software, and computers is one of the most important tasks you can undertake.
Fortunately there are a number of new technologies and strategies business owners can deploy in the New Year that make asset management easier and give the whole process a better rap.
Retire Old Assets
Just as you personally have New Year’s resolutions, your business should too.
Resolve to purge your company of assets you no longer need. Holding on to outdated or even broken assets takes up valuable space and can give you a false sense of what you’re actually working with.
If you’re running a creative advertising agency for example, you may think that you have several DSLR cameras ready to use for a client’s campaign when in actuality one is broken and the other is missing a charger.
By making sure to retire non-functioning assets now, you can avoid problems later.
Beware Consumables Cost Creep
Even though the term “asset management” is all-encompassing, most people only associate it with high cost items like vehicles, specialized machinery, or expensive computers.
But even things like ink toner and photo paper are assets and if you don’t keep tabs on your stock room’s inventory, those costs can add up.
Resolve in the New Year to check in with what you actually have and track how frequently these items get used up over the course of the year.
Invest in Workflow Software
Keeping track of assets using spreadsheets is a dated practice.
It takes far too much time to be cost-effective and because it’s a manual process there’s increased liability.
As the article “How to Get a Better Grip on Your Asset Management Process” explains, workflow software is your friend when it comes to managing assets.
Software can help your company in terms of automation and ensuring that there is a central hub of accurate information anyone can understand.
Prepare for Possible Audits
Another often overlooked aspect of asset management is tracking software licenses.
Going into 2016, you’ll want to know what programs are running on which computers and who is responsible for using them.
You may find that there is more installations than there are licenses and that needs to be resolved.
Likewise, you may discover that you’ve purchased software that not everyone needs on their work device and eliminating that redundancy can save money.
Going back to the creative ad agency example, your copywriters probably don’t need expensive photo editing programs on their laptops when there are free image altering apps available.
Asset Management doesn’t need to be a tedious hassle.
By investing in workflow software, purging old assets, and tracking licenses you can ring in the New Year with a more refined asset management process.
About the Author: Kristin Livingstone writes on a variety of topics including asset management and small business.
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