There are many reasons why self-storage is a sound investment for small businesses. It can help to facilitate expansion without the huge costs typically involved, it can help to fulfill customer or client needs more efficiently and it can also provide a greater return on investment than if you were to keep your business at home or in a rented commercial space.
In this post, we outline the key benefits of investing in storage for small business, regardless of industry to help you decide whether a self-storage rental unit is the right choice for you and your company.
Flexible growth
Small business growth can tend to accelerate rapidly in the early stages, quickly moving from a one-man-band operating out of a home office, to acquiring staff and assets that soon rack up with no place to put them. Investing in self-storage is a low-cost, low-risk way to expand the commercial space you have over time without the risk that comes with signing a contract to rent commercial premises. By signing on the dotted line for a lease on a commercial property (whether three months, six months or 12 months), you may quickly find yourself in one of three situations:
- That you have outgrown the premises but have committed to a rental term
- It’s no longer fit for purpose as your product / service offering or circumstances have evolved
- Or, that you’re not growing as fast as you had anticipated and as such are now stuck paying a premium for wasted space – and this expense will be stunting your growth.
With self-storage, you’re able to swiftly grow or shrink the size of your commercial space on a monthly basis, or even exit, with just a two-week notice period at Storage World, so that is a huge worry off of your mind.
The best thing about this flexibility for a start-up business is at Storage World, upsizing or downsizing your unit can be done without any admin charges or fees, you will simply need to pay either more or less in line with the rate of your new unit.
Fulfil customers’ needs more efficiently
Because you have a completely flexible space for your business to operate from, by investing in self-storage you are able to more efficiently and effectively meet the needs of your customers or clients. Whether this is by being able to hold more stock, invite investors or clients to a professional setting for meetings or even have an area to fulfil orders by crafting and creating your items in-house, self-storage is a great way to take your sole-trader business to the next level.
Low overhead costs and better return on investment
A self-storage unit is a much more cost-effective investment than a private commercial rental space, as you’re not tied into a long-term contract and it is significantly cheaper, depending on the term that you rent for, too. A low-value investment but with all of the same resources as typical business premises means that any revenue gained will result in more profit because there will be less spend on overhead costs.
Not only will you be able to expand more quickly, with property costs proportionately aligned to revenue and achieve a better return on investment, but you will also be able to enjoy all the benefits of working in a great, convenient locations without the huge price tag. Storage World has facilities across Greater Manchester, with sites in the city centre, Middleton and a stone’s throw from Manchester Airport too, so whatever the nature of your business, we have the perfect location opportunity for you.
Security
Operating your business day-to-day out of a private premises, such as your home, rented office or workspace doesn’t come with the security to protect your assets and inventory with no extra cost. But when opting for a storage space for your business premises, robust security features as well as a highly-trained team of security professionals come as part of the package deal.
This means the likelihood of needing to claim on your expensive business insurance becomes a lot less, which also ties into the lower risk factor and greater peace of mind that storage as a flexible business solution provides.
You can rest assured that while you’re away from your business premises, it will be under the watchful eye of the expert team here at Storage World to ensure anything that you store is protected against theft and damage.
As a belt and braces approach, we do advise that storage insurance is taken out, in the event that an unavoidable event or damage occurs. This means your business and its assets are protected within secure units, monitored by security professionals, CCTV and covered by specialist insurance.
How can a storage unit be used for business?
There are so many ways that storage can be used for small businesses, whether for storage alone or as a high-standard business premises.
At Storage World, we host many businesses across our three sites, with over 200 employees regularly commuting to us everyday. Each of these businesses vary greatly in nature and include those using the site for office space, workspace and storage space, as well as more niche industries such as antiques, cuckoo clock repairs, online retailers utilising units as distribution warehouses and much, much more.
Interested in learning more about how investing in a self-storage unit can help you to take your business above and beyond? Get in touch with us today and we’ll be happy to tell you how our solutions can meet your specific requirements.
