6 Unplanned Ways Your Business Benefits From Off-Site Storage

Does your business need off-site storage space? Many small businesses have always kept belongings in their own facility, so they may see little need to move these things to a rented location. But even if you’re not bursting at the seams, you have many good reasons to make a rented storage unit part of your business plan. The resulting benefits might surprise you.

Here are a few unexpected ways your company is better all around.  

1. Employees Gain Space

Most storage within small businesses is done on an informal basis. Employees might load up a box of files and set it on their office floors. They might stack things on tables or filing cabinets. Shared work rooms, like the printer area or break room, tend to be catch-all locations for little-used stuff. And work stations easily fill with tools and equipment that eventually become outdated. 

By removing some or all these items that have accumulated over the years, you clear space for people to work and enjoy themselves. Replace boxes, stacks, or equipment with things people need — a fancy coffee machine for the break room, a new tool box, or a dedicated and modern videoconference space, for instance. 

2. Work Areas Are More Organized

The more things that sit around in a work space, the less organized this space is. After all, having to search through years of old file boxes when you need a certain document is inherently less efficient and less organized than having only the current year’s records on hand. Separating outdated or overflow inventory from current inventory reduces the amount of time employees have to spend to find items. 

3. You Know What Is Useful

Do you know how often you use any old piece of equipment? How often stored documents are accessed? How long your old printer has sat around? A dedicated storage area is a good way to assess your real business needs and usage schedules.

One simple method of monitoring usage is to put a check-out list near the door of the unit and have employees record when and why they pull out items. This helps you really understand what’s important and what may be wasting space in your operations — so you can focus on the elements that add value. 

4. Cleaning Is Easier

Minimalism is a popular trend among homeowners for many reasons, and one of these is that it makes home maintenance much easier. Could your business benefit from this as well?

You can clear floors, tables, and shelves to give more access to your sanitation team and to make cleaning more thorough. If your cleaners currently maintain less-used equipment like extra desks or unused monitors, you pay for added time and effort. This not only includes weekly cleaning but also big, irregular cleaning projects like carpet cleaning or disinfecting a work area during flu season. 

5. You Can More Easily Get Rid of Stuff

An unused object in your warehouse tends to stay where it is. It could be hard to move. Staff might need to take time out to get it to a donation organization. And if you sell it, the showing and selling interrupts business. So many things end up sitting where they are — maybe even for years on end. 

When you remove that equipment or furnishing from the work area, it’s already gone as far as most daily operations go. It won’t interfere with work any further, no matter what the company eventually decides to do with it. You can sell it without bothering employees. And if you do finally need it elsewhere, you won’t interfere with other parts of your business operations. 

6. Your Business Looks Nicer

Finally, the appearance of your organization to the public is boosted when excess stuff is removed. Customers, vendors, and potential employees judge a business from the first seconds of coming on your property. What does your property say to people if it’s littered with equipment, piles of documents in boxes, or bins of seasonal decorations?

Make a great first impression by making your entire space clean and simple. Make it appear more organized and your operations well-managed. Give employees the space to work unencumbered and help customers better. And speed up their response time by reducing clutter and boxes. Make your operation, in essence, a more professional organization. 

Could your company use any of these less obvious benefits of moving storage off-site? If so, start by learning more about business self-storage options, including climate control, security, and various sizes of units.

North Star Mini Storage has provided business storage to the Twin Cities area for over 40 years. Visit one of our eight locations today to see for yourself how we can help you. We’ll work with you find the right storage unit for your unique business and storage needs.