How to Start Your Digital Mailroom Services Without Spending a Penny?

For many businesses, especially startups the budget is one of the main issues. But there are some businesses that one can start without breaking the bank. 

Sounds interesting?

Read on as we are going to tell you about one such business that you can start without spending a penny. We are talking about starting a digital mailroom service.  It is a business that you can set up without any initial costs. 

Below we have highlighted the practical steps you need to take and the resources you need to start this business. 

But before that let’s quickly go through what is a digital mailroom business and how it works. 

What is a Digital Mailroom Business?

A digital mailroom business is about using technology to handle mail of clients from a centralized location. You can think of it as a modern mailbox service for businesses working remotely in another location and do not have a physical office.

These remote businesses will use your centralized address to register their business in your country and will use it as their mailing hub. 

For example, a business operating remotely from countries like India or Bangladesh might use your address to register their company in the UK or USA. This gives them a presence in these markets without having to physically be there. 

You will be responsible for handling all their incoming and outgoing mail document. They will pay you for this service. Because it allows them to maintain a professional image and meet legal requirements tied to business registration.

When you receive mail (probably documents) from a particular client you have to open it, sort it, scan it, and route it to the right person. 

In other words, you can say it is forwarding the physical mail to its original recipients in a digitized format. 

These types of services are specially designed for businesses working remotely, enabling them to efficiently manage their mail. Besides management, it also reduces the costs related to storage and paper management. 

5 Steps to Start Your Digital Mailroom Service Without Investment

Below we are going to tell you the 5 simple steps that you need to take to set up a digital mailroom service at no cost. 

1. Choose Your Target Market and Service Type

Small businesses working remotely need efficient digital mailroom services. As a small business, they often are on a tight budget and ready to work with startups. 

So, we will suggest you focus on these small businesses at the start. Offer them affordable packages to make them your potential clients. 

Begin your digital mailroom startup by offering basic services like:

• Mail Scanning
• Data Extraction
• Categorization
• Electronic Storage

Do not stick to one approach. Offer personalized services based on the specific needs of each client.

2. Set Up Free Scanning

After identifying the target audience find tools that are necessary for your business i.e., a scanner. 

You do not need to spend any amount on buying a physical scanner. 

You can use your smartphone to scan the documents. 

Consider using mobile apps like CamScanner.  This will help you scan the mail and convert it into a PDF file. It is very easy to use, and the free version also provides some basic features like auto-cropping and rotation. 

Some clients might want you to send the mail in editable form. 

If that’s the case then you can use online OCR tools. Many reliable options are available online for free like the Editpad Image to Text Converter. It will help convert the scanned document or image into a text-editable file for free. The good thing about this tool is that it allows batch processing, which is the basic need of your business. You can extract text from multiple image at once, saving time and cost for your new business.

3. Leverage Digital Storage Options

Having a digital storage space will be a necessity for your new business. Initially, you can go for free cloud storage options. For example, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Microsoft OneDrive. Each of them offers a complimentary amount of storage. 

• Google Drive: 15GB of free space
• One Drive: 5GB of free space
• Dropbox: 2GB of free space

Besides storage, these tools will help you in the effective organization of mail. You can create folders and subfolders for categorizing documents appropriately. Plus, you can give clients access to the files right away whenever required.

4. Create a Basic Workflow for Digital Mail Processing

To smoothen the working of your digital mailroom business you will need to create a basic workflow. 

Upon receiving a mail, the first step you will need is to scan it and make a digital version of it using the methods we described above. 

After scanning the very next step is to categorize them into records based on:

• Date
• Type
• Sender
• Recipient

For this, you can use the Google Sheets. They will enable you to build a tracking system to handle mail efficiently. 

Moreover, tools like Trello allow you to create cards. They will keep you updated with the status of mail like Received, Scanned, and Forwarded. This will enable you to point out any delay or any other issue in the processing on time. 

5. Market Your Service with Free Platforms

After developing a workflow, start marketing your digital mailroom services. Leverage free social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Each platform has its unique strengths, so tailor your content accordingly. 

For example, you can use LinkedIn to build a professional network. Share posts about your digital mailroom expertise. Make your business profile personalized to the services you are offering. Share highlights of how remote businesses can benefit from your service. 

For Facebook, create a business page where you can share tips on how to manage mail digitally. Promote your services and post testimonials from satisfied clients. 

Pinterest is great for sharing visual content. Design eye-catching infographics and simple guides about the benefits of digital mailrooms. 

Finally, use Twitter/X for quick updates and industry news. Use relevant hashtags like #DigitalMailroom, #RemoteWork, or #BusinessEfficiency to reach an audience interested.

In a Nutshell

There are certain business ideas that one can start without investment. One such business is starting a digital mailroom service. By following the steps, we have mentioned in this blog post above you can start your own digital mailroom business without spending a penny.