When starting out in business there are many aspects to consider to ensure that it runs smoothly from the start. One of them is where to store the inventory of the business. While a formal lease arrangement is a traditional way to go, many businesses prefer a self storage rental.
Besides being cheaper and easier, having a secure storage area that is dedicated to the exclusive storage of business inventory provides the necessary assurances needed for the safety of the stock. There are many other benefits of self storage to businesses, which is why it is often the preferred storage option.
Many of these benefits are more than could be expected from a standard lease arrangement where the user is stuck with a long lease. The long lease is inhibiting for downsizing or growth where a self storage facility is able to provide a solution when required.
In the case of Stop & Store Penrith, which is a modern self storage facility on the outskirts of the town, the storage facility has a range of different self storage unit sizes to offer. This means it is possible to upgrade or downgrade unit sizes or take extra units in the same complex if required.
Loading facilities are designed to make it more user-friendly too. Support may be offered in this regard by the storage facility, making loading and offloading easy. Courier pickups are common, allowing for free-flowing uncomplicated distribution.
Business Use of Self Storage
The high levels of use by businesses of self storage for storing an inventory of many types indicate that it is a very sustainable solution. In addition, some business customers run their business operations from the self storage unit too, especially where value-adding is required. Here products may need to be assembled, prepared, and packaged.
Retailers may use extra space near their retail outlet to hold backup or promotional stock. E-commerce operations on the other hand may simply use the self storage unit to store and distribute their products through a courier network.
Moving stock around can be made easier using pallet jacks or trollies, and normally there is ample space to move around to do this at a storage facility.
Self storage is perfect for documents that need to be stored in a place other than the office. This is a good way to free up expensive office space to improve the comfort of personnel, rather than having to work in a cramped environment.
Self storage is perfect for tradespeople who want to keep their tools safe or anyone needing to keep their arts and crafts secure when not on display at a market. Simply store everything as and when they are not in use and collect them at the self storage facility nearby when needed.
Keeping Track of Inventory
This is a must for any business, no matter where the inventory is stored, it must be tracked at all times. Whether it is through manual old-fashioned pen and paper control, on a spreadsheet, or using a real-time inventory tracking software package, the system should be installed as soon as the business starts out. This will help provide the important information required about the movement of stock.
Keeping track of stock used to be done by having regular stock counts and reconciling actual to the theoretical to see if the controls are in place. While this could be by physical counts where the business closes for a short while to do so or is in the form of teams counting in cycles, it is always retrospective in nature. It means also that the business won’t know at any given time how much stock there is of a particular item unless someone goes and counts it.
The newer method is called perpetual inventory counting, where every item that is moved is scanned and the information, whether it is sold, transferred to another place, or discontinued, is recorded in real-time and stock quantities are known there and then.
It also helps control stock levels, regulating overstocking or low levels for planning purposes.
Storage and Inventory Control
As much as storage must be secure at all times, inventory control must be maintained to ensure that there is no wastage, loss overstocking, or running out of stock. Each one has a financial impact on the business, so a system must be in place.
Inventory consists of many categories of stock. For example, raw materials are needed for production, while components are stock items that make up finished products. Work in progress is a stock item that is not quite finished yet, all of which have to be taken into account.
Added to that are management, repair, and operations stock, which are used to make finished stock. On top of this are packaging or packing materials that the finished stock must be protected with when made to be market ready.
Periodic or Perpetual Inventory Control?
Having the data about the inventory of the business on hand and accurate at all times far outweighs having to look for stock and count it when you want to know something.
The amount of data that can be stored on a QR code is enormous, more so than the traditional bar codes. It is thus advisable to invest in a system that can code all the inventory items and ensure that the business records are up to date.
This makes offsite inventory storage even easier, as a self storage unit that is located down the road can safely store your stock, and you will know what is in the self storage rental at all times.
The Booking of Storage Rentals
Self storage is ideal for business use. Safety and convenience go hand in hand to provide a storage solution that is not binding on the business, and which has flexibility.
Even when storage is offsite, important controls can be maintained through an inventory control system. By having one in place, the safety of inventory should be assured at all times.
Access is only given to keyholders, and the storage facility itself takes security issues very seriously. To rent a self storage unit nearby you, in the Penrith area, call us and we would be delighted to assist.
Find us on https://www.stopandstore.co.uk/penrith-storage/
Or call us on 01768 800291.