The see-saw nature of business over the last year has been very testing for business owners. An economic squeeze forces business owners to tighten belts and keep overheads low. As important as these actions are for the survival of a business, so it is when the signs are there that the depressed economic cycle is likely to end and there is an opportunity to grow again.
Investing in business growth takes capital and trust in the future and confidence that you have the right product for the market. Reading the signs that growth can be achieved is one thing but doing something about it is another. Successful entrepreneurs are those that seem to have steel in their bones and a head for taking calculated risks. They see the upside that can be achieved and put milestones in place against which they monitor the growth progress.
This is all well and good, but what has this to do with self storage?
Well, as the upturn occurs, so will business opportunities present themselves. A good business will grow through increased contracts and sales from their customers. This is when capital is needed to fund increased stock and infrastructure, and increased human resources are required to take the business to new levels.
All this sounds positive, but it comes with some challenges too.
Running Out of Space?
As the business grows, more space is required to accommodate staff, and as stock levels grow, additional space is needed for storage. It’s a balancing act that needs to be performed, as staff need to be comfortable, yet at the same time, a business would not want to make too big a commitment to increase overheads.
Business owners will be mindful of the hardship they have gone through when they have had to pay for long term contractual space commitments when the hard time occurred.
This has encouraged them to start looking at storage space in a different way, and many have found that self storage is an excellent answer to not having to get into a long-term space arrangement.
Bringing new employees on board requires planning and often the purchase of additional furniture and equipment. Spatial allocation of offices requires thought and even possible renovation and conversion of areas that were used for other things. You may need to convert a storeroom, provide extra canteen space, move stock or archives out of the way to accommodate them.
Staff members need their space to be able to do their work properly and breakout areas for recreation and relaxation are needed. While you are “stealing “space from storage, you will soon realize that space is finite, and that additional business space is needed.
This is where the crossroads meet, and the million-dollar question is whether you move to new premises or make an alternate plan.
What Happens When a Business Runs out of Storage Space?
When we look at why adequate space is needed when running a business, the answer is straightforward:
Gearing up stock levels when your business is growing ensures that you can deliver orders to your customer’s satisfaction. Unfortunately, customers don’t understand it if you are out of stock, or a delivery is not done when promised. This often happens when there is bad stock management.
It all comes down to stock management. Good stock management is achieved when there is sufficient storage space for the stock. The storage space is also required to be well organized. To help staff do their jobs smoothly in a storage area, tools like stock scanners, stock management systems and mechanical handling like forklifts are a great help.
In this way managing stock becomes a breeze. Customers are happy, deliveries go out on time. Stock control systems help keep costs down, and they are geared to ensure that customer demand is met. Also, if raw materials are required for factory production, a stock control system is essential for the on-demand supply of parts and materials. A good stock control system builds in a buffer stock level that ensures that any unpredicted occasions where extra stock is needed, are covered.
Having enough space also gives an opportunity to allocate enough room for the ease to pick orders efficiently. For example, by having designated space for the company’s fastest-selling products ensures rapid turnaround of deliveries of top selling lines. End result: satisfied customers, good cash flow for the business.
When a business runs out of space, inventory management ends up a mess, orders go awry, stock can’t be found quickly, and stock records are inaccurate. This leads to overstocking of slow-moving products and out-of-stock situations.
What this causes is that it becomes a financial burden for the business, customers start complaining and orders get cancelled. All the good intentions of growing the business are not realized.
Space and Staff Morale
When space is at a premium at the office often the meeting areas are sacrificed for other uses. The problem with this is that staff are used to their meeting areas. By limiting them, you are also sending your customers a negative sign.
When meeting rooms are reduced there could be an overlap of appointments that have no space to happen. This is bad for staff morale, and could result in deadlines being missed, and meetings being curtailed.
Staff enjoy their “me” time at lunch and tea break, and it’s their chance to chill with their colleagues, and enjoy the comradery at work. If there is no space for these activities, it impacts negatively on staff morale.
We at Stop & Store Penrith are in a position to help growing businesses with their space problems. The big advantage with self storage is that there is no long-term binding contract involved. Getting storage space is made extremely easy for business owners. It can all be done online, even concluded the same day.
Simply contact us today by phone or email for a no obligation quotation on 01768 800291 and speak to our professional Stop & Store staff.
By going on our website https://www.stopandstore.co.uk/penrith-storage/ you can get more information.
We are looking forward to assisting you with your additional business storage needs.