Warehouse

Choosing space to store your inventory

If you’re starting a small business or already have one up and running, you’ve probably decided where you’ll store your inventory and how you’ll fill orders for your clients. However, there comes a time in all small business commerce where storing inventory on-site isn’t enough. If this is the case, it’s time to look for warehouse space.

Choosing a Warehouse

When choosing a warehouse management system, you need to consider the following options:

  • How many orders do you process in a month? If the number is unnaturally high for one month running, you may not need warehouse space. If you are finding that you have a high number of orders all the time, a warehouse will be probably be beneficial.
  • Do you want to rent space or build your own warehouse? This will depend on how much money you want to spend on storing inventory.

If you decide to rent a warehouse, consider location and size. You want your warehouse to be close to your customers or in an area that facilitates shipping. Depending on your inventory and shipping needs, warehouse racking can be rented or you can rent a whole building. You may also consider using a warehouse fulfillment system, which works for e-commerce especially. In this setup, a warehouse company is hired to make sure that your orders and inventory are shipped and complete. You don’t need to buy, rent or build a warehouse – the company will rent you space within one of its houses.

Other Considerations

Think about your warehouse management needs. If your office is far from the warehouse, you may want to consider hiring a warehouse manager. This person will make sure that your inventory is safe and that shipping orders leave the warehouse on time and complete. However, this might not be an option for smaller businesses. In that case, you may want to consider using a security system with video surveillance.

Your warehouse will be managed by warehouse management software. This will allow you to track profits, inventory and specific shipping orders, as well as keep an eye on your warehouse supply so that you know when to ship in inventory from the warehouse.

Make sure to do your research when you look for warehouse space; if you find a space you like, you may be using that warehouse for quite a while!