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Owning a Document Shredding Service
In response to growing concerns about identity
theft and data security, the
document destruction
business has been expanding rapidly
in recent
years. Both the Federal Government
and the
states have passed a series of
privacy laws
in recent years that have caused
sharp growth
in demand for shredding services.
Businesses
that require large-scale shredding
of sensitive
paper records tend to prefer
using outside
contractors for this service,
rather than
performing it in-house. Among
the largest
users of shredding services are:
- doctors
- hospitals
- lawyers
- banks
- investment firms
- insurance companies
- accountants
- auto dealers
There are two basic types of companies in
the shredding business: those primarily engaged
in document destruction, and those who offer
shredding in addition to paper recycling
or records storage. Moreover, there are two
ways to run a shredding operation: truck
the documents to a central location for destruction
or install an industrial-size shredder (such
as one that can destroy over 1,000 pounds
per hour) in a truck and do the shredding
at the customer’s site.
The primary advantages of a purely mobile
operation are the reduced costs for maintaining
a fixed work site and the ability to show
the customer that the documents have indeed
been destroyed.
To turn disposal costs into profits, sell
the shredded paper to a recycler.
Because there are few, if any, jurisdictions
in which the shredding business is currently
regulated, opening your own business should
encounter minimal legal hurdles. As
a selling point for potential customers,
consider having your business practices audited
and certified by security professionals from
the National Association for Document Destruction,
a trade group based in Phoenix, Arizona. |
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