Self-Storage Unit for your business, may be just what you need! Commercial real estate is expensive and to grow a company, you need room to grow into. For this reason, many businesses purchase self-storage units for business storage. Also, for this reason, many businesses choose to operate completely out of a storage unit that is equipped for their specific business needs. Many businesses can be effectively operated from a self-storage unit. This can be a great way to save on commercial rent, allowing you to invest your money elsewhere and enabling your business to grow more quickly than it otherwise would have. Approximately one in five self-storage customers use their unit for work or as a practice space.
Self-storage units can satisfy a variety of business storage needs. Client files, employee documents, Human Resources, and other related paperwork piles up quickly. If you don’t need these files on-site, then they are just taking up space in your valuable commercial real estate. If you are working out of a home office, it can be difficult to keep your work and personal lives separate. Work always ends up spilling into other areas of your house- your garage, basement, and sometimes even living spaces. A self-storage unit offers room to spread out, keep everything organized, and keep your home for the living - not working. Retail overflow is another great business use of a self-storage facility. Seasonal items discounted inventory purchased in bulk, and slow-moving items waiting for the right moment are all perfect candidates to store in a self-storage unit. Obtaining extra space to temporarily store items that can’t fit or don’t belong on your shelves daily can enable you to earn more money, and restocking is as easy as taking a trip to your local self-storage unit. If you are a skilled trade professional, mechanic, contractor, landscaper, or other similar professions, a self-storage unite can be invaluable to store extra equipment. This will clear space and provide a convenient location for extra or temporarily disabled equipment.
If you use a self-storage unit for business storage, consider security features, such as video monitoring, gated access, fencing, and more. A protection plan or insurance for valuable equipment and paperwork is a smart idea as well. Also, keep in mind how frequently you plan to access your unit and make sure to purchase a unit with easy access if necessary.
Several business types are ideal to operate completely from a self-storage unit. An eBay or other eCommerce business is the best-suited business type to operate from a self-storage unit. If you have one of these businesses, you are probably sick of using your home as an order fulfillment center. Boxes, items you’re selling, tape, and other necessary materials are likely taking over your life. With the right features, a self-storage unit can be used as storage, a photo studio, a packing center, and an office and computer space with easy access to load and unload bulky items. A photo studio, an audio production facility, or video production facility is another great business operation that can be run entirely from a self-storage unit. A modern, well-constructed storage unit can easily be turned into a studio for any of the aforementioned purposes- a video studio large enough for shooting and editing videos; a photo studio with quality backdrops, lighting, and a darkroom; or an audio production facility for mixing and mastering music, recording podcasts, or reading local independent news. If you are handy and make your living fixing things, a self-storage facility provides room to operate and space to store tiny parts and tools. If you are ambitious and your self-storage facility permits it, you can even open a small retail shop in your self-storage unit. This can be ideal for a business with a strong reputation, that doesn’t require a Main Street location for visibility.
It's important to ensure the business activities you plan to conduct are permitted at the self-storage facility on a regular basis. Each facility differs in what it allows. Not all facilities have units optimized for business use. Many modern storage facilities are equipped with the infrastructure to support business enterprises, even featuring business centers, where business renters have access to extra facilities such as a multi-purpose room, but others are not constructed for business use at all. Check with your local facilities to see what uses they can accommodate and what uses they cannot. Additionally, some local zoning codes don’t permit business uses in storage facilities. Some interesting examples of disallowed activities found to be conducted at storage facilities include:
· Artist colonies performing activities that require better ventilation than a storage facility provides;
· Unlicensed medical operations;
· Auto-mechanics who start fires in the unit while repairing cars (…and fires can spread quickly to adjacent units!).
So be careful and only conduct business operations out of a self-storage unit that is permitted by both the facility and the local zoning ordinances. If your business is allowed, operating out of a self-storage unit can be a great way to grow your business more quickly than you otherwise would.