Operating a business, regardless of the industry, has always been tightly connected with a lot of paperwork. Despite the attempts to reduce the height of the mountain of documents each company is obliged to have, most UK companies are still buried in all sorts of files they have to store. So before you start declogging your office and get the folder you are balancing on your head off, you must learn how to store your business files properly. Now, if you are just starting your business, you might still have a lot of space in your new office to put clusters of files upon files, but soon enough, you will find yourself in the same situation almost every other entrepreneur has.

So before you start balancing documents on your head and build elaborate labyrinths of folders, we offer you a better solution – store your files elsewhere. This may sound like a Godsend, but before you rush to place your files in a storage room somewhere, consider the importance of these documents and the fact you might need them at some point.

To make it easier for you, we asked our friends at Fantastic Services, one of the most prominent storage service providers in the UK, and they gave us 6 tips on how to store our business files safely.

Organise your documents precisely

Classification, categorisation and labelling are vital in making your storage room not just a place where you will throw your documents but a place where you can easily navigate and find exactly what you are looking for in a short time. Organisation is key if you don’t want to aimlessly search for hours for a single document after five years. So, make sure to classify your documents according to which department they belong to. For example, if HR issued the file, it should go in one container, while if Finances issued the record, it should go in a separate container. Then, categorise them by date and year. Finally, don’t forget to make a digital master key of which document is where to quickly check where the file you’ll need is on your computer before you go to the storage place.

Naturally, you can come up with your organisation, but ensure it follows the logic that will work best for you.

Pick the right storage containers

Picking the right storage containers might be the difference between losing your documentation and keeping it safe and clean. You might be tempted to use regular old storage boxes, but there are better choices than that, as standard boxes are not very durable. Instead, go for either metal or airtight plastic containers. The plastic containers, depending on how much documentation you have, are a good choice, as they will prevent all elements and oxygen from taking a toll on the paper. Moreover, it will protect your files from rats and other pests, which often destroy large amounts of documents stored improperly.

Naturally, those containers are far more expensive than the carton boxes we all know from movies and TV shows.

When push comes to shove, you must decide what container best suits your needs. It depends on the type of documentation, where you are storing it, and how much time you expect it to stay there (most documents have expiration dates, after which they should be shredded and/or burned.

File and label clearly

Before putting all the files in a box, make sure you have a label that clearly states what documents one can find in that container. Otherwise, you risk losing a lot of paper or at least your employee’s time, which can be invested elsewhere. Make sure that you place all relevant information on the container. For example, a box that only says “IT” gives very little information. You need to put at least the date the documents were issued, and if you separated them into other sub-categories, the labels should also state them.

Keep everything away from moisture

That should be a no-brainer, but if you were wondering, the paper does not react very well to moisture—especially the ink on that paper. So, while suitable plastic airtight storage containers might be the first step in preventing your files from becoming a shapeless mass of pulp, you need to consider the storage place itself. You must ensure it’s prepared for floods and heavy rains if it’s your own building or facility. Unfortunately, in recent years there has been no lack of both in the UK, and with climate change, chances are they will most likely become even more severe each year. The best solution would be to have climate-control storage, so neither heat nor cold can affect your files.

Agree on a system for access and disposal

As your business grows, you need to start delegating work to others. That means that some of your teammates will need access to the documentation. You should be aware of the seriousness of this responsibility. Ideally, only loyal, long-term employees who have proven their worth will receive access. Sadly, best-case scenarios are only in textbooks and movies. So, instead, you need to prepare an easily understandable and secure system for access. Allowing everyone in the file storage is not very safe, so only people who need those documents (most likely in the upper management) should have access. They should be able to confirm when, why and which file they used.

Moreover, you will need to implement a process for disposing of expired and other documents that lost their relevance. Throwing away files in the public bin is not only irresponsible but is also illegal. So, delegate the responsibility of properly disposing of those files and ensure all norms are followed to the letter.

Invest in a good infrastructure for storing

Storing your sensitive files is not something to be taken lightly. Thus investing in some infrastructure to keep them protected is a must. An alarm system with motion sensors and CCTV is the bare minimum. Moreover, you need to invest in proper shelving, as just placing everything on top of each other will quickly lead to chaos. So, don’t be cheap and allocate the needed budget to prepare the storage facility for the vital job that awaits it.

Follow these 6 tips, and you can protect your sensitive documentation against the weather, pests and malicious actions without having them by your side at all times. 

Making your company cost-efficient is important if your cash flow is slow or if you don’t have blossoming finances in the first months or years of your business’s lifespan. Luckily, there are many ways that you can make your company more cost-efficient, and here are just some of them.

1.   Look at Affordable Supplies

When you’re getting supplies for your business, you might feel overwhelmed by the selection that there is to choose from. However, rather than feeling daunted by the number of different options out there, you should instead look for affordable alternatives that can still provide your business with the highest quality possible.

For instance, if you’re looking for takeaway coffee cups for your restaurant business, you should look at investing in a double walled coffee cup for your brand. These are both cost-effective and eco-friendly. This means that you’ll be able to enjoy the best of both worlds. It also means that customers will continue to flock to your business without noticing the difference in the coffee cups that you’re offering. You should never just go for the first option that you find or a brand that you recognise.

2.   Trim Your Team

Many businesses are leaking way too much unnecessary money through their payroll. Instead of taking on more and more staff and finding that your team members are often at a loss for what to do, you should trim down your team as much as possible.

For instance, you should consider cutting down on any role that doesn’t actively contribute to your company and consider merging roles where responsibilities come under the same banner.

Instead of taking on more employees, you should also look out for dedicated, motivated, and talented employees who can do the necessary work at a faster pace than those who came before them. This will then mean that the amount of money that you pay out on your employees is worth it.

3.   Be Careful With Your Inventory

Although you might think that your stock room’s shelves look bare without any stock on them, it’s important that you’re careful when it comes to your inventory.

You should make sure that you only purchase exactly what you need to keep your business running, and that you don’t order extra stock of products that aren’t selling well. You should also only place orders when you’ve nearly sold out of the stock that came before.

This will make sure that your stock room isn’t haemorrhaging money and that you’re able to keep on top of your expenses.

4.   Audit Your Marketing

Instead of paying out for marketing schemes that aren’t paying off, you should instead make sure that you regularly audit your marketing campaigns. This will make sure that you can find out which marketing techniques are worth the money or if the money would be better spent elsewhere. You will then be able to keep only the marketing campaigns that are giving you a good return on your investment.

In March 2022, Launch House, established by founders Brett Goldstein, Michael Houck, and Jacob Peters, made Fast Company‘s list of the 10 Most Innovative Social Media Companies of 2022. An appearance on this list might seem unusual because, in a technical sense, the membership community has very little to do with so-called “conventional” forms of social media. However, because the community is a disruptor in every sector it’s involved in, the prize isn’t truly as surprising as it would appear at first glance. In fact, the benchmarks that Launch House has set for 2023 demonstrate how appropriate the reference is.

The company’s success in social media can be attributed to the creation of something that’s been referred to as hacker home 2.0. When Launch House was started in 2020, its co-op property in Mexico resembled similar spaces that already existed in Silicon Valley. Entrepreneurs with promising business prospects were welcomed to reside together under one roof. The hope was that they’d forge genuine, mutually supportive relationships that could uplift the individual inventiveness of each entrepreneur.

During the height of COVID-19, communal housing seemed logical, and Launch House has since demonstrated that there’s still significant benefit in utilizing this approach by continually rolling out four-week residency programs. Launch House’s planned communities of creatives, builders, and founders grew as a result of these programs. Subsequently, the company’s founders decided to expand their offerings in Web3. In doing so, they redefined the concept of community and collaboration. 

The Latest Community Network

Launch House had progressed beyond the basic accelerator concept by the beginning of 2021, when limitations imposed during the worst of the epidemic began to loosen. There are now Launch House locations in Los Angeles and New York City, where members can benefit from the enterprise’s services in person. However, in Web3, users can also sign up for the online community housed on Gather, a 2D virtual workplace that’s financially supported by Sequoia Capital. Members of Launch House can come from all over the world and make natural connections in the environment of a virtual university. They can also take advantage of educational opportunities that were valuable enough to cause many founders to question the necessity of putting money into a four-year college degree that might not provide a good return on investment.

The Next Level

Launch House was able to genuinely establish a wide social network after making this pivot because it has a reach that extends across both physical and digital venues. This made the network accessible to people all over the world. That reach is significant, and it’s helped inspire other member-based success stories — like the creation of Showtime, which is a Web3 social network that was the idea of Launch House member Alex Masmej. Success stories like this have helped drive the growth of the Launch House community. But more than that, Launch House has lowered the barrier to entry to its premium membership model by signing away any right to share capital in members’ startups and by financing a subsidy program that cuts costs for founders from underrepresented communities. All this has greatly increased the community’s accessibility.

Ample Financial Backing

The Launch House team has had a very successful year in 2022, which may not come as much of a surprise given all of the innovations that have been introduced. Launch House initially raised $3 million in seed money, and this year it concluded a $12 million Series A round of funding. Additionally, it announced the establishment of its venture arm, House Capital, which will be supported by a fund in the multimillions of dollars.

Worldwide, regulators are stepping up compliance requirements. We take a closer look at what AML compliance really means – and how your business can avoid hefty fines.

Anti-money laundering laws in the EU are set to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, and they apply to all financial institutions, as well as non-financial businesses and professions – such as lawyers, accountants, and real estate agents. The EU’s 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD4) and 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) are the main legislative acts that set the AML requirements for companies operating in the EU. These directives require companies to implement a robust AML compliance program, conduct customer due diligence, and report suspicious activities to the relevant authorities.

Non-compliance with AML laws and regulations can lead to severe consequences for companies. Non-compliance can lead to severe consequences, including hefty fines, reputational damage, and even criminal charges. Financial authorities such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in the US have the power to impose heavy fines on companies that fail to comply with AML laws and regulations.

The AML compliance process in a nutshell

The AML compliance process is a multi-faceted approach that involves several steps to ensure that a company is meeting its AML obligations. To fulfill their AML duties, companies need to consider a number of different factors, including:

• Risk Assessment: The first step in the AML compliance process is to conduct a risk assessment. This involves identifying and assessing the money laundering and terrorist financing risks that the company may be exposed to. The risk assessment should take into account the company’s business model, customer base, and geographic locations, amongst others.

• Customer Due Diligence: Once the risks have been identified, companies need to conduct customer due diligence (CDD or SDD) to verify the identity of their customers. This includes collecting and verifying information such as the customer’s name, address, and identification number. This is often referred to as Know Your Customer or Know Your Business (KYC or KYB). Companies also need to conduct enhanced due diligence (EDD) on high-risk customers, including those who are classified as Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

• Transaction Monitoring: Companies need to implement a transaction monitoring system to detect and report suspicious activities. This involves identifying and analyzing transactions to detect patterns or anomalies that may indicate money laundering or terrorist financing.

• Incident Management: Companies need to have a robust incident management process in place to respond to any AML-related incidents that may occur. This includes documenting and reporting suspicious activities to the relevant authorities and taking appropriate action to address the incident.

• Ongoing Compliance: AML compliance is an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring and updating. Companies need to stay up to date with the latest laws and regulations and adapt their compliance program accordingly.

• Training: Providing regular AML training to employees is essential for ensuring compliance. This can help employees identify and report suspicious activities, understand their compliance responsibilities and adhere to the company’s AML policies and procedures.

• Auditing: Regular auditing of the compliance program is essential to ensure that the program is being implemented correctly and that the company is meeting its AML obligations. Auditing can be done internally or by a third-party auditor.

In summary, the AML compliance process is a multi-step approach that involves conducting a risk assessment, conducting customer due diligence, implementing a transaction monitoring system, having a robust incident management process, staying up to date with laws and regulations, providing regular training, and conducting regular auditing.

Non-compliance can be expensive – AML fines

Some notable examples of companies that have been hit with AML fines by financial authorities include:

• In 2018, Deutsche Bank was fined $630 million by the US Department of Justice for failing to have adequate AML controls in place. The bank was found to have processed $10 billion in suspicious transactions without properly reporting them to authorities.
• In 2019, Danske Bank was fined $234 million by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for AML violations. The bank was found to have processed billions of dollars in suspicious transactions through its Estonian branch without proper AML controls in place.
• In 2020, Standard Chartered Bank was fined $1.1 billion by US and UK regulators for AML violations. The bank was found to have failed to properly monitor transactions involving high-risk customers, including those linked to Iran and North Korea.
• In 2021, JPMorgan Chase was fined $2.5 billion by the US Department of Justice and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for AML violations. The bank was found to have failed to properly monitor transactions involving high-risk customers and had inadequate AML controls in place.
• In 2020, HSBC was fined $1.9 billion by US authorities for AML violations. The bank was found to have failed to properly monitor transactions involving high-risk customers, including those linked to Mexico, Iran, and Syria.

These examples show that even large and well-established companies are not immune to AML fines. Financial authorities are taking a stricter approach towards AML compliance and companies need to ensure that they have proper AML controls in place to avoid such fines.

Staying safe in an ever-changing regulatory landscape

To ensure compliance with AML laws, companies first need to adopt a risk-based approach. This means that companies should assess the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing activities in their business and design their AML compliance program accordingly. The program should include measures such as customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, and suspicious activity reporting. In addition, customer vetting for PEP and sanction list is key.

PEP screening is a process of identifying individuals who are or have been entrusted with a prominent public function, such as politicians, government officials, and their family members. These individuals may pose a higher risk of money laundering and corruption, and companies are required to conduct enhanced due diligence on them.

Sanction list scanning, on the other hand, is a process of identifying individuals and entities that are on the sanctions list of regulatory bodies such as the United Nations, the European Union, and the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). These individuals and entities are subject to financial sanctions and companies are prohibited from doing business with them.

One way for companies to ensure compliance with the new, stricter AML laws is by implementing specialized AML software into customer onboarding processes.

AML software can prove to be a crucial tool for companies to prevent, detect and report money laundering activities. Such software helps companies comply with AML laws and regulations set by regulatory bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the European Union (EU) and its national financial authorities.

Kyros – Your one-stop shop for AML compliance

One such tool is Kyros AML Data Suite. Kyros AML Data Suite is a complete SaaS (Software as a Service) software that helps companies fulfill their AML compliance requirements. Kyros is incorporated in Estonia, but was founded by a Norwegian serial entrepreneur and former attorney with extensive KYC and AML experience.

Essentially, Kyros is a cloud-based SaaS software, offering an online AML workbench to onboard, process and monitor natural persons and business customers. It integrates into your existing back office via API. Kyros offers allows for automated risk-scoring of customers, PEP and and sanction list scanning, KYC-authentication on demand, data enrichment of existing customers, live transaction monitoring, rule-based alerts and easy SAR/STR (Suspicious Activity Report / Suspicious Transaction Report) reporting. Kyros currently supports 200+ countries.

Kyros is the perfect tool for licensed cryptocurrency exchanges, casino operators, banks, EMIs, real estate agents, auction houses and many more. In effect, Kyros helps these companies identify and mitigate the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing activities – ultimately ensuring that they keep their license.

Competing or complimentary KYC or AML software providers include Trulioo, Veriff, Accuity, Fircosoft and LexisNexus. It is important for companies to carefully evaluate the features and capabilities of different AML software providers before making a decision.

It’s important to note that AML compliance is an ongoing process and companies need to stay up to date with the latest laws and regulations. The regulatory environment is constantly changing, and companies need to adapt their compliance program accordingly.

In summary, AML software is a crucial tool for companies to comply with AML laws and regulations. It can help companies automate many of the compliance tasks, make them more efficient and prevent money laundering activities before they occur. Companies need to adopt a risk-based approach, implement a robust AML compliance program, conduct regular testing and monitoring, and stay updated on the latest laws and regulations. Companies such as Kyros AML Data Suite can assist them in fulfilling their AML compliance requirements, including onboarding, processing, and monitoring customers and their financial transactions.