While a recent Financial Times article claimed that British businesses were beginning to fall behind their European counterparts, it is important to put these statistics in context. In fact, the majority of small and independent businesses in Western Europe are relying heavily on borrowing, which means that economic growth may actually be more sustainable in the UK. The climate remains parlous, however, which means that independent owners must think creatively in a bid to maximise their advantages and offset their limitations.

How to Make Self-Storage Work for your Small Business

Take product driven businesses, for example, which must carefully manage their stock levels in order to maintain profitability. This dictates a pressing need for flexible self-storage options, which can be adapted to suit multiple budgets and changeable business circumstances. Consider the following ways in which self-storage can be used to drive your venture forward: –

• Effectively Manage your Stock Holding: Whenever you own a surplus of stock, it is important to remember that this represents committed capital. This cannot be realised until the stock is sold, meaning that it will have a direct impact on the profit margin of your business. While you should strive to keep your stock holding to a minimum requirement, this is difficult when you have a multiple, fixed storage locations that serve various retail outlets. Flexible and mobile self-storage options help to reduce business costs, however, as are affordable to lease and allow you to manage all of your firms stock within a single unit. In addition to this, having restricted storage will enable you to reduce the amount that you commit into purchasing unnecessary stock.

• Consider Location and the Shipment of Goods: If you own a single retail outlet or e-commerce store, the need for mobile storage units is less pressing. That said, having a traditional self-storage unit remains critically important for your business, especially when it comes to the internal transfer of goods. Given their abundance and availability, it is relatively easy to secure a self-storage unit that is within close proximity of your business. The type of short-term lease that is available on this type of storage also enables you to minimise business overheads, without forcing you to commit to a lengthy contract that restricts your future growth plans.

• Guarantee the Safety of your Goods: Once again, it is important to reiterate that purchased stock represents an investment of capital in your business. It is therefore crucial that this is adequately protected, and fixed or mobile self-storage units allow you to assume complete control of your physical business assets. This is primarily because you will have your own lock and key as the owner, and can therefore take responsibility for any duplicates that are made. The majority of proactive service providers such as Access Self Storage also offer security guards and CCTV for a nominal fee, which in turns provides considerable peace of  mind and additional protection for your business.

 About the Author: This post was contributed by Laura, who works as a British based blogger and researcher.