Joseph Carney 3m 729
The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
While larger businesses construct warehouses for inventory or simply open another location when space becomes limited, new and small businesses with smaller budgets need to find other creative ways to meet their storage needs. Renting a personal storage unit for your small business is a financially viable alternative to expensive warehouses, allowing you to conduct everyday business operations without all the clutter.
Frees Up Office Space
An obvious benefit to having an off-site storage location is the ability to free up much- needed office space. This is particularly important if your space is relatively small. Apart from the practical value of working in a clutter-free environment, opening up the space also has an aesthetic value. New and potential customers are more likely to work with a business with a clean and organized front office as opposed to one that looks like a hoarder’s paradise.
Keeps Important Documents Secure
One important advantage to using a storage unit for your business is for security. Small businesses in particular are highly prone to break-ins and robberies, so having an off-site and secure location for crucial documents, inventory, customer information, hard drives, and even emergency funds can sometimes be the difference between succeeding as a business and constantly playing catch-up.
Whether you live in Chicago or Scarborough, self storage facilities have a number of security measures in place to protect your important documents:
- Limited Access: Often, storage facilities are gated, and only accessible through a personalized passcode. Some of the higher-end facilities even have guards or guard-dogs on duty to make sure unwanted visitors stay outside the gates.
- Security Cameras: In case some potential burglars do make it onto the premises, you can rest assured knowing that your storage unit is likely under 24-hour video surveillance.
Provides Housing for Inventory
As mentioned before, a business storage unit provides a convenient and less expensive alternative to housing your excess inventory. Storage units come in a variety of sizes, ranging from a simple 5’ X 5’unit for small filing cabinets and other office supplies, to a more substantial 10’ X 30’ unit for massive inventory storage.
Another benefit of using a storage facility for inventory is climate control. Antiques, artwork, wine, electronics, and even paper goods or film would all be useless if they were spoiled by extreme temperatures or humidity. If you have documents or products that are sensitive to such conditions, you can set your storage unit to a constant temperature. And since these storage units are completely enclosed, they can protect your goods from mold, dust, rust, pests, and other threats.
Relieves Budget Constraints
While adding a warehouse to your office space is a reliable and permanent way to solve your business’s storage needs, it can incur a lot of costs. If you’re building a warehouse, you have to pay for a contractor; after the warehouse is built, utilities, insurance, staffing, and other overhead costs can quickly pile up against you. Furthermore, if you decide to close business or relocate your office, these costs will continue to accumulate until you can sell it.
As opposed to renting or buying a warehouse, renting a business storage unit is much cheaper to rent, and many of the costs you would encounter with a warehouse are not even an issue. And since you will pay for your storage unit on a monthly basis, you don’t have to worry about long-term leasing contracts, allowing you the flexibility to relocate or discontinue use whenever you want.
Shortens Renovation/Moving Time
Speaking of relocation, renting a storage unit makes the moving process so much easier, especially if your new space is not quite finished yet. Additionally, having an off-site location can also take some of the pain and inconvenience out of trying to maintain business operations during a hectic in-house renovation. In either case, temporarily keeping your office supplies off site can allow movers and renovators to do their job quickly and unimpeded.
Owning and operating a business comes with plenty of constraints—time, space, money, etc. Using a personal storage unit for your business is a great way to relieve some of these burdens, as well as provide you with peace of mind knowing that your supplies and inventory are safe and secure.
About the Author
Joseph Carney enjoys writing on home improvement, business, and health-related topics. He also occasionally writes for Migson Public Storage Inc.
(
