With the clocks now turned back an hour and the nights really drawing in – winter is upon us and for some businesses this can mean increased stock holding for typical Christmas lines, such as cards, gifts or decorations or more general winter products from wool to water butts!

"Wool" photo courtesy of Darren Robertson/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

With increased stock holding comes the obvious question of space. Can you buy the bulk quantity to get the best price or is the quantity you buy limited due to the space you have available to store the items?

Of course this is not just a winter problem, this is seasonal. You may have space to store this seasons lines but what happens when you start buying in for the spring or summer and winter isn’t over. Then what happens to any remaining winter stock when summer starts?

You might be one of the huge numbers of people who now sell on-line and as annoying for some as it is – not all on-line business is carried out on a drop shipment basis! Some products or suppliers demand holding stock yourself. Working from home has its benefits but stock holding at home doesn’t – the car if it hasn’t already, is now relegated to the drive or the kerb as the Garage becomes the new product store. The only thing is the garage was never really designed to house anything other than the car and possibly gardening and DIY tools. Also, have you considered the security of the garage? While you may have alarms fitted to the main house, have the garage access points been alarmed too?

It’s not only stock holding which may be a problem, archiving accounts takes space for paperwork and while a filing cabinet may not take up that much space, the bigger the business the more paperwork that is required.

Self storage is not as scary as you may think; we are usually met with looks of amazement and relief when first time “storers” take a tour round the facility. We think they are expecting a murder mystery and haunted house tour – so when they see well lit corridors, bright doors, background music and CCTV all in a secure building they are very pleasantly surprised.

Photo courtesy of Master isolated images /FreeDigitalPhotos.net"Christmas Set"

Why not pop in and have a look round for yourself, whether it’s spring, summer, autumn or winter, whether you definitely need storage or possibly may need storage in the future whether it would be for a week or a year, we would love to dispel any myths for you and discuss any seasonal requirements specific to you and your business. But remember storage can be for life (if you need it) and not just for Christmas!!