7th May 2020
It’s been six months since Quick Self Storage opened, and what an unusual time it’s been. The self-storage industry has been calmly but steadily growing in the UK, and has continued through austerity and political upheaval. But even with a history of resiliance, the challenges of social distancing and lockdown as a new business were unnerving.
But even as shops, restaurant, the housing market, factories and almost every industry across the UK closed down for the short-term, we’ve discovered a wonderful business community here in Peterborough that has given us a fantastic welcome and plenty of support in difficult times.
Virtual networking for businesses
Over the last few months we’ve joined a number of online networking groups, including Peterborough Business Support Group, Peterborough Business Community group and Small Businesses Selling Page Peterborough.
Within each one we’ve met business owners, working together to give support through the crisis. We’re looking forward to being able to build on those relationships once restrictions ease.
Self-storage to help your business grow.
One of the great things about the self-storage industry is how adaptable we can be in helping businesses to grow. Here at Quick Self Storage, being part of the business community is one of our main aims. Almost every industry needs space, after all. Here’s just some of the businesses we can help.
Retailers – online and in the highstreets
We can provide space for stock. That means that sole traders, entrepreneurs, online retailers and eBay sellers who are setting up or working from home have room to expand. No more boxes in the spare room or balanced along your hallway. With some shelving in your unit, you can organise your stock so that you can find it easily, keep track of volumes and reduce breakages.
When you have a shop on the high street, every square foot counts. You need to have as much room to display goods to customers as possible. So, keeping excess stock in your storage unit gives you more options. And, with flexible contracts, you can expand or use your unit just for seasonal stock when you need it.
Saving money on your floor space
If you rent your office space you’ll be paying for every square foot – with higher costs for inner city and prime locations. The last thing you want to do is use up valuable floor space for storing paperwork or spare desks.
Self-storage units will not only cost-effective, we also have extra security in place, including motion sensors in every unit and forced door alarms, in addition to CCTV. If you are in an industry that requires you to store lots of documents, private information and customer details for any length of time, our units make great options for archive storage, leaving your spare room for an extra office or staff breakout room.
Tradesmen and sales
One thing that tradesmen have is a lot of valuable equipment. Sole traders and contractors are often fully equipped with expensive tools and costly materials. Salesmen across various industries carry samples such as carpet tiles, kitchen fittings, fireplaces – bulky and unwieldy items that need storing between client visits.
When you work for yourself, you need somewhere secure to store your tools and samples. Leaving them in your van overnight would be risky, as would a shed at home. Losing your equipment could be the end of your business. With your own unit, you not only have somewhere secure, you have the space you need to keep everything itemised and in order.
Estate agents and house removals
As every estate agent knows, dressing a house can make all the difference in a quick sale or gaining a higher price. Home owners may need help in understanding the value of decluttering and depersonalising their homes, but the more stuff they can move out of their homes and into storage, the easier for the estate agent to help them sell.
More and more homeowners are using storage to help in the moving process. For downsizing, for moving out of a property chain and into temporary rentals, for storing excess furniture when two households become one – we work with local estate agents to help them help customers find their perfect home.
Building relationships with local businesses
At Quick Self Storage, we want to support the community. We work with local removal companies who offer exceptional customer service, so we can recommend them to our clients. We’re building relationships with the fantastic companies we’re meeting through networking to get through the current crisis. And we’re supporting local charities such as Little Miracles and Peterborough4You to make a difference.
The current situation might not be one we expected, but we’re discovering a few silver linings, and the relationships we’re making within the business and Peterborough community is definitely one of them.
