24 Apr Is it Time Take Stock of Your Kamloops Commercial Storage Unit?
Renting a commercial storage in Kamloops can save your business a lot of space and provide a secure, climate-controlled environment for business and office items that are seldom used, yet still needed. In a perfect world, our business storage customers would have catalogued what they put in storage, but, because they’re busy, frequently this step is skipped. This can cause a lot of frustration for you down the road.
If, for example, months or even years after first moving things to storage, you want to know whether a desk, keyboard, office supplies, store stock, or important documents are in storage. How will you know if you don’t have a log or inventory spreadsheet? That means you’ll have to visit your storage unit, then open and unpack boxes to find what you’re looking for. As is too often the case, the item(s) you’re looking for will be found only after opening numerous boxes – or even the last box! The wasted time and effort can be easily avoided.
Valleyview Mini Storage recommends that its commercial storage customers take an inventory of stored items at least once and update that inventory each time an item is moved out or brought in. The easiest time to do this is when items are first moved into your storage unit, but you can do it any time.
Have a Yearly Storage Inventory Day
Depending on how many commercial storage units you rent and how many things you have in storage, it may take only a relatively short time to take inventory. Inventory day can serve several purposes: refamiliarizing yourself with what’s in storage, cataloguing your items, and identifying items to sell, recycle, give away or discard. If you’re like many business storage customers, you will have stored a number of items simply because you didn’t know what to do with them at the time. Inventory day will give you a chance to make decisions about these items.
Following is a quick and easy process for taking inventory:
- Open a box and remove its contents if needed.
- Label the box top and sides with a number or name. Numbers work well because not all boxes will contain the same type of items.
- Items that are not in boxes can be entered in a list in a spreadsheet, or on lined paper, and the approximate location in storage can be noted
- Add the box number to a number column in your spreadsheet.
- Put items back into the numbered box and enter a description of the items in your list.
| Box # | Item Name | Description | Location in Storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wireless keyboard | Mac keyboard | Back row, middle |
| Wired keyboard | Windows keyboard | ||
| Optical USB mouse | Windows mouse | ||
| Charging station | Universal USB charging station | ||
| PC and monitor cables, printer cables | |||
| No box | Tradeshow banner | Banner and banners stand in black nylon carrying bag | Back, left corner |
| 2 | 20 blue widgets | Blue widgets overstock for future sales | Back row, middle, second box tier |
While this process seems laborious, you only need to do it once. Whether you use a spreadsheet, lined paper or ledger paper really makes no difference. The point is having an inventory. Once it’s done, each time you remove an item from storage or bring items to storage, you update your storage list. This simple organizational tool can save you hours of work and frustration.
Questions About Kamloops Commercial Storage?
If you own a Kamloops business and have questions about commercial storage, contact Valleyview Mini Storage. Our staff can help you select the right storage unit for your business needs. Our storage facility is secure, video-monitored and climate-controlled. We’re open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days per week.