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Making space for change in 2016

Focus on the small things in a business system or procedure – or the nuts and bolts – will ensure that those larger goals like increasing lead generation, boosting sales will just fall into place. One of those factors you need to get right when streamlining processes and systems is space and storage. And Need A Space are experts in space and storage.

This tends to be the kind of subject which is not always top of the agenda in business meetings. But without effective storage or space for work processes to take place, businesses collapse fast. Space and storage is one of those factors that always need special attention.

Taking stock of 2015

So as we near the end of 2015 and the analysis sheets are out and you are contemplating how you can make things work even better in the new year, make sure you take into account all those variables which will make the budget for 2016 go that little bit further.

Selling online

For instance, in the online world, companies who need to keep a great deal of stock could not function without accessible storage space. When was the last time you questioned how much you are paying for that storage? Is it still a good deal? It can be a highly competitive market, so check out you are getting a good return on your money.

Cheaper London storage

Is your business located in London and are you still storing your equipment and archives in London? Think again. By storing data that does not need to be accessible outside of London you will make a great saving. (At Need A Space we regularly provide storage space for London businesses).

Seasonal storage

Seasonal sales need a good strategy whereby you can store products over the down period. Again, revisit price listings, and locations. Check out size of containers. You may be able to save money by placing storage in fewer containers.

Selling with a wide catchment area

Are you a salesman/woman travelling throughout the country? Precious time can be wasted (and energy) transporting all of your wares with you wherever you go. By storing products in a central accessible location while you are away you are more flexible and ultimately you can save money at the same time.

Storage at times of renovation

Can you see a time in 2016 when you will need to be renovating your business? Don’t let the changes get in the way of normal everyday procedures and systems. Stock from rooms under renovation can always be stored in a professional storage location.

Taking on more stock

Hopefully, 2015 has seen your business really thrive which could mean that you will be considering taking on more stock. Often managers don’t make that move because there isn’t the space to put the new stock. Don’t stop your company moving forward – professional storage can work with you to keep your business growing.

Looking for storage space in Faversham Canterbury or Herne Bay? To learn more about how Need A Space self-storage can help businesses in Kent and the London area click here

Make the most of storage space in your retail business

When streamlining retail logistics there is nothing more frustrating than lack of storage space. Not only does it prevent on-site tasks being completed effectively, but it can sabotage in-house processes, and causes confusion where there was once clear boundaries.

What is perhaps a little bit of a paradox is organisations notice shortage of space the most when they are thriving and growing. As they expand there is an immediate need for more space. Here are some tips from Need A Space to make sure your retail business does not get brought down by its own success:

Retail storage space

The first thing to take into consideration is such factors as stock rooms not just as an afterthought – or an added extra you will need – but a central factor to the running of your business. Just because it is not particularly dynamic does not mean it will not have a dynamic effect on your overall business processes if things go a little awry.

To determine the size of stockroom you will need, is not easy. You will need to ask yourself “is the stock varied?”, Will it move fast?” “Which items are most popular?” which items will need to remain in stock for long periods?”. Monitoring your inventory will mean you can answer these questions better and consequently it will allow you to reorder your stock more productively. You will be able to see which stock is not moving (and therefore you can get rid of it) and increase supply on the popular stock.

Space Utilisation

This is about looking at the space you have and determining whether the capacity is being used to its maximum. For instance, supposing you have a mixture of 20cm high and 30 cm high boxes and you have a storage space with floor space and 20 cm high shelving. To maximise space in the room you need to consider increasing shelving space by 10 cm or taking away the shelving. This is about considering space in relation to what you wish to store.

What is the best way to store your unique products?

This again comes back to adapting your storage space to the products you sell. Don’t forget there are great accessories on the market which allow much more freedom in how you arrange your products. For instance, mobile shelving system can offer capacity increases of up to an incredible 95 per cent compared with a static shelving alternative.

Are you using that ceiling space?

Think vertically. Too often managers do not consider the enormous amount of space they have above shoulder height until they start getting in the really tall products. Use you shelving cleverly to maximise storage capacity.

Looking for storage space in Faversham Canterbury or Herne Bay? To learn more about how Need A Space self-storage can help businesses in Kent and the London area click here

How to pack your valuables when moving house

They do say that moving house is probably one of the stressful tasks you will ever undertake. Well maybe, but the rewards are far too great to cower away from finding that dream home – so with that in mind, here at Need A Space, we are going to play our part in making the practical task of moving your valuables out, just a little bit easier. If you need storage in Kent do not hesitate to contact us.

Here are our top tips for making that house move extra smooth:

Content insurance

You precious valuables are going to be most vulnerable on the road and believe it or not you can still get insurance cover for them at this time. So check with your insurance provider. – if they don’t do it – change!

Start early

Packing up is likely to take longer than you think so start as soon as you know when the moving date will be. You are likely to be living amongst cardboard boxes for a while.

Begin with a priority list

A list of all the things you are going to take is invaluable. You can prioritise what is most important, which boxes to place each commodity in and where it will go in the van. Also at this stage you can decide what needs to go and what doesn’t. It’s unlikely you will be taking everything and you can determine whether you will give to your favourite charity, contribute to the next boot fair or hit ebay.

Boxing up

Now you have a clear idea of what needs to go with you, you can decide how each item will be transported. The smaller items and appliances will be going in boxes so work out how many boxes you will need approximately. Be sure not to overfill boxes as you could (1) do yourself a nasty mischief when trying to pick it up and (2) a cardboard box may not be able to take too much weight and the bottom may break open.

Try to keep each box to a certain category so it will be easy to find when you are unpacking. For instance, you could have a box for a specific room or a type of item such as kitchen cutlery. Use padding in all the boxes (with newspapers, or bubble wrap) even when the items are not breakable and don’t forget to label each box. Take a look at the accessories we have at Need A Space to make your packing a lot easier

Easy access stuff

You need to make sure you pack the van so that the most important items (i.e. stuff you may need as soon as you get in such as heater, kettle, nightwear etc.) go in last so they are easily accessible.

Clear labelling

A very important point is to make labelling clear and place in the order you hope to retrieve the items when you get to your new home. Also label boxes as to whether they are likely to have breakables.

To learn more about how Need A Space self-storage can help businesses in Kent and the London area click here

Top tips for packing a removals van

We pride ourselves on being able to provide everything you are going to need to store your precious valuables and business assets here at Need A Space in Canterbury. As well as offering competitive prices for secure storage space, we offer help with packing materials, supportive staff, a fork lift tuck, mail boxes and of course a removals van.

But moving your valuables – especially when moving home – can be an awe-inspiring task. There is a skill to loading up a removals van so that you use your space and time efficiently and do not risk breaks, loss and damages. With that in mind here are our top tips for getting your removals to storage safe and sound:

Don’t try and do all of the lifting and loading onto the van yourself. If you are going to be dealing with heavyweight commodities make sure you have assistance from individuals who are able to deal with the weights involved over a long period of time. Don’t forget you will be moving out, loading, unloading and storing. This can be a long and tiring process and needs to be done in one hit where possible or you could have to pay more in van hire. Consider having individuals on the van for loading and others for shifting stuff out to the van.
In order to maximize your space, fill the front of the van first and work back.
Keep white goods such as fridges, dishwashers and ovens etc upright (make sure the fridge was de-frosted at least two days before). Spread the weight of the heavier items throughout the van.
To use ceiling space you are going to need to stack items. Always place the heaviest items on the bottom. Make sure each item is secure with a straps, tapes or cords.
Use softer items to protect more vulnerable items. For instance, you can use sofa cushions to protect mirrors. Other useful domestic items which can be used for packing if you are moving house are mattresses, blankets, and pillows.
Where items have drawers (i.e. chest of drawers), push them up against the side of the van and turn inwards to the van wall. This way the drawers cannot open. Save space again by filling the drawers with smaller items.
Label all your boxes and stack them so the heaviest boxes are at the bottom. Ensure all boxes are wedged or strapped in tightly.

Hope this helps! Please do not hesitate to ask our supportive staff for guidance!

To learn more about how Need A Space self-storage can help businesses in Kent and the London area click here

Top tips from Need A Space to keep your valuables safe and self-storage costs low

We are all going to need that extra bit of space sometime. Whether it is for business reasons, storing student valuables or for that big house move, self-storage can be essential for logistics whatever the reason. There are many different companies out there and they all offer varied benefits and fees. So if you are new to self-storage here is a list of the top tips to make sure that you are getting all you need at an acceptable price.

First of all you need a provider who is going to be relatively near at hand. You want to cut the time and effort of moving your valuables to an absolute minimum. It is a good idea to find out what catchment area a self-storage company serves. For instance Need A Space is based in Canterbury but it also serves Faversham, Herne Bay, and even London businesses.

Look out for special offers. Because there is so much competition out there it is likely a self-storage company will offer a special offer for the first few months that you are with them – or if you switch storage location (see our 30% offer)

Ensure you are only storing what needs to be stored. Suddenly having a lot of room to store all that stuff that has been getting under your feet can lead to you not choosing carefully what needs to be stored and what needs to be recycled. The bigger the storage facility the higher the fee – so choose well and you can use it again and again in the future.

Pay on time. Some storage facilities will affect interest rates on late payments. Consider paying by direct debit if the valuables are going to be in storage for some length of time.

Ensure that your valuables are insured. You may be able to adapt your household insurance or business insurance to cover this. The self-storage provider may also have insurance deals which can be quite useful but always get estimates.

What kind of support will you receive? Don’t forget as well as getting your valuables to the place of storage you also need to pack them, and move them form the vehicle to the storage unit. At Need A Space we offer have friendly staff for support and advice. We also offer use of a removals van, a forklift truck and various packaging extras.

To learn more about how Need A Space self-storage can help businesses in Kent and the London area click here

Cheap London storage in Kent

London may well arguably be the commercial capital of the world but when it comes to practicing business within London – costs can quickly go through the roof. That is why Needaspace offer a much cheaper option for self-storage while at the same time offering premium security, quality and accessibility.

Cheaper self-storage in Kent

Situated in the heart of Kent (located on the outskirts of Faversham and Canterbury) Needaspace self-storage facilities are within easy reach of the London catchment area which means we can cut storage costs enormously, saving managers huge amounts on their annual budget. Just take a look at some of our facilities:

Over 40,000 feet of self-storage space for start-ups and SME’s, to corporate business and global enterprise
Free moving van. We can supply a Luton tail lift van for a whole day to help with large removals and awkward bulky goods.
Secure mailbox to filter business communications or create an anonymous business mailing address.
Clean dry self-storage units for all your business archives.
Flexible working hours means you can access your stored items whenever you wish.
Forklift truck services
Parking bays and convenient loading bays
Friendly staff available for support and advice.
Unbeatable security which includes, CCTV, high security infrared beams, state of the art alarm systems and perimeter fencing.

Quality archive storage and cheaper rates

Extra storage is needed only too often in modern business. Documents need to be archived and if this takes place on the main business property it can take up a great deal of useful (and high rental!) property space.

Easy access, flexible opening hours

Businesses which have a seasonal element or use valuable equipment documents and tools for a minimal part of the year will need somewhere to house that paraphernalia somewhere which is secure, and accessible.

Currently we have many business clients who are based in London and have decided to use our storage facilities here in Kent to cut down on overheads such as storage. With all the facilities such as free van hire, forklift truck services and flexible opening hours, our clients know their items will be easy to store and accessible in business hours.

30% discount

For those businesses who already have storage – we offer a 30% off deal.

To learn more about how Need A Space self-storage click here

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Contact Details

Tel: 01227 751673 Mobile: 07841 260 500 Adrress: 1-5, Thunderhill Business Park, Hickmans Green, Boughton-under-Blean, Faversham ME13 9NT

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