Protecting your digital assets
Apple Podcasts thinks I'm messy. They're probably right.
I was listening to a podcast recently about home organisation (Clutterbugs in case you’re curious). I had stumbled across it on the recommendations page (what are you trying to say, Apple?!) and I was honestly amazed at what you can find podcasts about.
This particular episode was about digital organisation and the home office. So while I have no desire to put cute coloured tabs on my bulletin board, or arrange my books by the colour of their spine, the idea of keeping my work life organised? Yes please
Data is important in business. Whether its the reviews your clients give you, your previous years P&L statements, employee contracts, invoices, or your passwords into literally everything, finding ways to file, store, and access this data is as important as the data itself. For me, digital data is very important because I travel so frequently and we store our important documents in a shipping container in Perth. This means we cannot have piles of paper in our bus, nor do we have the space for storing documents or having a scanner/printer! I need to be able to access anything, from anywhere and its part of our nomadic lifestyle to have our digital filing up to scratch.
Here are some ways I file, store, and retrieve important information.
Dropbox / Cloud Based Storage
There are two reasons I love dropbox. The first is that its cloud-based so I can access and store things easily without taking up space on my drive, and without the vulnerability of what happens if I leave my laptop or phone on the roof of my car (yes, its happened).
Secondly, I can give direct access to a folder, to anyone in my team. For example, the images we use for social media are all stored in a folder that can be accessed by my team - I can also delete and add files as I need, or sort into subfolders.
Filing Systems
In a previous life I worked within a Melbourne Architecture firm. As anyone in the design or construction industries understandings, there is ALWAYS more than one file version, so they were very strict on correct naming protocols. I've taken these naming protocols into my entrepreneur life and it has saved me on SO many occasions. Especially at tax time ;)
To start with, you enter the DATE in reverse: 20220530. Then you enter the RELATIONSHIP that is relevant to the document or file, this could be a clients business name, or the name of the person who issued the invoice, or the name of the event. Then you enter the CONTENT of the file which might be an invoice or a Canva design, or a resume etc, and finally, you enter the VERSION of that document. The date is key, especially for sorting by order to find a particular file or to group a collection of files into a new folder, but the client/relationship, and document type, are all important fields you can search by.
It’s important to remember that just having a sub-folder within sub-folders will not be of help when you need to find a particular file, and the file name is simply Invoice_22.pdf! When you’re searching for that file, it doesn’t matter if its stored 2022-2023_Invoices > Staff_Invoices > March_Invoices. All you can search by is the name. So putting as much accurate data into the file name is important. THEN you can use folders and subfolders to your heart’s content!
So lets look at some lists I have filed;
Staff Invoices
20220125_LeaF_Invoice22
20220131_LeaF_Invoice35
20220213_KateY_Invoice1
20220219_AxelR_Invoice109
Graphic Design
20220331_StudioOpenDay_A3Poster_v1
20220331_StudioOpenDay_A3Poster_v2
20220331_StudioOpenDay_A3Poster_v3_printed
20220404_StudioOpenDay_Instagram_v1
HR
20220501_JohnWest_Resume_Yoga
20220512_KatePatel_Resume_Pilates
20220512_KatePatel_InsurancePolicy_exp20221012
Essential Info
My phone also has access to a Dropbox and within that I have a specific folder and documents for information I need to recall quickly. This is especially helpful for the information I need when trying to complete government forms, school/daycare forms, or licensing info. This means that even if I lose my phone, I don't lose this info because it's in the cloud.
For my biz this includes; my ABN, my business BSB & Account numbers, policy numbers for my insurances and business registration details.
For my home life this includes; My Tax file number, my Drivers license & passport numbers, policy numbers for insurance, medicare number, and CRN numbers for the whole family, as well as “name and contact info” for Next of Kin/Emergency Contact info, and Doctors surgery - the stuff that usually goes on a child’s intake form for holiday care.
These folders do NOT contain passwords or credit card details, obviously.
For passwords, using an app like 1password.com is a game-changer, especially since I need to be able to retrieve passwords quickly and efficiently. I have 4 people on my team who need to share passwords with me, so keeping them centralised (and safe!) with encrypted software not only enhances our security, but also helps me keep tabs on who is using what or if we have a breach. When it comes to task delegation, my BRAIN is not a safe space to retrieve a password from, to give at short notice to my VA. haha
In a more morbid sense, what if you were in a car accident and ended up in a coma - would your business wheels keep turning? Would your manager (or partner) be able to find important files without knowing what to search for?
I hope this has given you some things to think about this week, and if this has lit a fire under you to consider your digital systems, let me know!
x Kaye
