As a business owner, you may sometimes feel as if your business is swamped by inventory, office equipment, and other tools, supplies, and machinery, and this can be overwhelming for even the most organized of businesspeople.
So, if you are struggling with storage within your business and you do not know what to do with all of your business’s assets and possessions, here are some top tips to help you to sort out the storage issues that are becoming evident within your company.
1. Get a Corporate Self-Storage Unit
One of the first options that most business owners look at if they believe that they are running out of space is self-storage units. Large self-storage units can help business owners to keep all their excess equipment and tools packed safely away outside of their premises until they have room for them or need them. However, when you are looking for a self-storage unit, you should make sure that this is climate controlled and damp-proofed, that your business’s assets will be safe and secure there, and that the company in question has great reviews from other businesses.
You may also ask other business owners that you know about the self-storage units that they are using to store their business supplies and equipment. You should also make sure that this unit is in an accessible location and that you can get 24-hour access to it, especially if you might urgently need some of the equipment inside of it. If you think that a self-storage unit might be the best option to solve your storage woes, you should consider looking at the services that StorageArea can offer your business in your local area.
2. Keep Your Storage Organized
However, while you might have ample storage in your business location, this does not mean that you are ever able to find what you need. Not only this, but you may be missing out on potential storage space if the storage solutions that your business owns are messy and disorganized.
So, it is important that you are constantly tidying, organizing, and clearing out the storage facilities that your business has so that you can make room for the most important equipment and supplies that you need to store and so that you can be aware of exactly how much storage space you have available at any one time. This will then ensure that your storage solution is worth it and that you are able to make the most of the storage that you have available rather than invest in more storage.
3. Use an Inventory Management App
Sometimes, even the most organized person can find it challenging to keep track of everything that they have in storage, especially if they own a business with a large warehouse. Therefore, to ensure that you know exactly what products you are running low on and what orders you need to put in with your suppliers, you should download an inventory management app.
This will help you to keep track of what is in your warehouse and the levels of stock that you have. They will also help you to prevent food and other products from use-by dates from going off while they are in your warehouse and can ensure that you always know where your stock is when it is between locations.
4. Hire Great Employees
It is not only your responsibility to keep your storage solutions tidy and organized, especially if your employees have ample access to them. As such, you should make sure that you hire great employees who respect your business’s assets and who are able to keep your equipment organized. You should also make sure that you hire enough employees in warehouses so that they have time to keep your warehouse organized and clean.
If you are struggling to keep your storage solutions tidy, though, you should consider hiring a cleaner or an extra member of staff to manage them. You might also cut down on the number of employees who have access to these storage solutions too to ensure that you always know where items are and who they are being used by. This will prevent your storage solution from becoming messy because it is being accessed by a huge number of people.
5. Pack Up Stored Items Well
Unless you want to return to the items that you have put away in a few months’ time only to find that they have mold and mildew, you should make sure that you have packed all of your stored items well, especially if they could be harmed by substances such as mold and dust or if the storage space will not be cleaned often.
This will ensure that you can keep them safe and protected, especially if they are fragile or vulnerable, and this will also ensure that you will easily be able to find them again when you need them, even if you have forgotten exactly where you put the item that you need. Thus, you should consider investing in high-quality packing materials such as cardboard and plastic boxes, bubble wrap, and Styrofoam.
6. Use Up Small Spaces for Storage
Every business will have small nooks and crannies on the premises that are not utilized as well as they could be. So, to make sure that your business can get the storage that it needs, you should convert these small spaces into usable storage, whether you decide to drill a cabinet into the space or install tiny shelves. This will ensure that you can get all the storage that you need without having to use up a large area of your business premises that could be used for another function, such as desk space.
Using small spaces will mean that you do not miss any opportunities for storage solutions in your business space and will mean that you do not have to invest in exterior storage options, such as self-storage units. You may even then be able to use self-storage units for bigger and more important equipment rather than smaller office supplies.
