When you think of a self-storage facility you may be thinking it’s a place to store some home clutter or your home contents as you wait for your new home to be built.  THINK AGAIN.  Businesses, big and small, use a self-storage facility as part of their operations to solve long-term and short-term needs.

4 WAYS A BUSINESS CAN BECOME MORE EFFICIENT WHEN USING A SELF-STORAGE.

1. STORE YOUR BUSINESS DOCUMENTS

Archiving your business documents to support industry and government compliance can quickly lead to having to use valuable office space.  A small storage unit can help you uphold your compliance obligations and conserve valuable office space.  By setting up some shelves in your storage unit you can keep your business records organised in an orderly fashion.

2. STORE RETAIL INVENTORY FOR AN ONLINE BUSINESS

Are you a small online business without a physical store presence?  Are you storing your inventory in your garage or your home office?  Consider reclaiming these treasured parts of your home by relocating your inventory to a small business storage unit.  An added benefit of using a self-storage facility is that you can have your inventory delivered to your unit.  All leading courier companies visit the Hills Self Storage facilities on a daily basis.  Your deliveries can be received and dispatched from within the facility.  Think of this as your personal concierge service while you spend more time on promoting and growing your business.

What you should know: when you’re thinking of starting a small e-commerce business from home!

3. LOAD AND UNLOAD CORPORATE INVENTORY

Do you have a sales team that is always on the road?  Do they work at a distance from the main office or warehouse?  Consider an off-site storage solution where your team can quickly load and unload their stock, supplies and marketing materials and therefore improve operational efficiencies.  Businesses having sales teams functioning across multiple regions find this mini home base option especially useful.

4. STORE EXCESS OFFICE FURNITURE

Many businesses will experience growth but sometimes will also face some temporary decline in operations.  When this happens, your office furniture requirements will also change.  To accommodate for a smaller workforce and your surplus office furniture, a business storage unit is the perfect solution.  When business activity improves again just bring back your excess furniture to accommodate the new staffing levels.

There’s an extra benefit to storing your excess office furniture in a self-storage unit.  If your business relocates or expands into another office area your storage unit doesn’t have to move with you.  This will save you the effort and financial cost of having to move everything from your current location.

Vital Tips for Storing Your Business Documents Securely:

It is vital that businesses should back up their important documents in hard copies so that in the case of electronic data loss, they have nothing to worry.

Important Business Documents Can Include the Following:

• Records that confirm all your business transactions
• Accounting records and bank statements
• Legal and corporate records
• Records pertaining to attendance & leaves and medical compensation of the employees

Why You Should Use a Self-Storage Facility for Storing Business Documents

• It will enable you to use your office space for other essential work.
• Your documents remain secure and protected in a self-storage facility.
• A self-storage facility has 24-hour camera surveillance.
• Ongoing pest control is carried out in a self-storage facility to protect your documents from damage.
• Self-storage buildings and units are alarmed and monitored, which protects your documents from theft.
• Self-storage units are fully enclosed.
• They have security fencing and excellent lighting.
• They’re properly ventilated and insulated buildings.
• They undertake regular cleaning – i.e. buildings are maintained, clean and neat.

The Right Method for Storing Documents in a Self-Storage Facility

• You should select the right type of box for storing your documents.
• You should store essential documents that you would require access to, often at the front of the unit.
• All documents that you store should be totally dry before storing so that it doesn’t damage other items in the unit.
• It is recommended to store your boxes on shelving, this way your boxes will not be crushed and easily accessed. It is also a good idea to store cartons on pallets.
• Arrange your boxes by document type and year.
• Neatly label your boxes with the document type, dates and department name.
• You need to maintain a record of stored documents with date, the name of the department, type of documents stored and the location where the documents are stored.
• It is recommended to secure your unit with a quality lock and to keep the keys in a safe place with an authorised person.
• Restrict access to your storage unit by determining an appropriate procedure that needs to be followed for accessing the unit by anyone.
• If possible choose a self-storage facility that is situated near your office, which will facilitate easy accessibility.
• Select the right unit size for storing your business documents.

Final Words

The majority of self-storage facilities also provide multi video surveillance and have controlled access via individualised PIN codes. Secure storage has become an easy and viable option for many businesses across Australia. So, when assessing your business needs, consider the option of using a self-storage facility to free up some valuable office space or provide added efficiencies to your business operations.