What is self-storage?
Most businesses need to store equipment, saleable assets, documents and an array of other items for the long and short term. Whilst you could buy dedicated storage for these items, there is another way: self-storage. Here’s a break-down of the reasons businesses tend to need self-storage…
It’s convenient
Not all businesses operate Monday-Friday, 9 ’til 5. That’s why most self-storage companies allow access to the stored items for extended hours, 7 days a week. This makes it convenient to access your stored items at the time that’s convenient for you and your staff. Many sites also include services such as meeting rooms, document destruction and loading vehicles to make it easy for you to move items in and out of storage, as well as providing packaging on-site.
It’s secure
A self-storage company wouldn’t have a very good reputation if their clients kept losing items due to theft. That’s why most self-storage companies have 24-hour on-site security, ensuring the safety of stored items. This level of security may be better than what a small business can afford, making self-storage a more secure option. The offsite storage crates help to minimise the risk of fire, flood or some other mishap damaging your items, and because only you have the keys, no-one else can get in.
It’s flexible
Self-storage is similar to cloud computing because with either service, you can modify the level of service your business needs on a flexible basis. You can easily increase and decrease the amount of storage you need on demand, allowing your business to up-scale or down-size as required. Because there are flexible hire periods, be it a yearly leases or paying from month by month, and the notice period is usually very reasonable so you won’t need to pay for storage longer than you actually need it.
It lowers costs
Self-storage companies price themselves competitively with office space, meaning that your office can be used to generate income whilst your storage space is used to store excess items until they’re needed, reducing overall cost. A lot of companies provide a free service for moving your items into the storage, and some even give discounted prices if you pay for periods in advance, allowing you to really push costs down. Shelving and other storage options can sometimes be installed at cost, which is usually cheaper than buying your own shelves from elsewhere.
It’s useful.
Many companies need to archive data or paperwork in a physical format for long periods of time. If stored in an office, these archives would take up valuable space, reducing the amount of space available for actually running the company. Other businesses need to store products or equipment before sale, or valuable trade equipment which needs secure storage to prevent theft.
If you’re changing offices, it’s easier to store the contents of the old office in a self-storage unit than cart it immediately to the new site; moving into the new location is made smoother and less stressful. In a small business, you may find that during slow periods, stock may overflow and be difficult to manage. Temporarily using self-storage to hold these items can be better than cluttering up the sales space.
“Whatever your business, self-storage can be a valuable asset to use, allowing flexible storage of items and removal when needed”.