Wednesday, October 15, 2014

From Little Things Big Things Grow. Helping to grow small businesses

By Ben M.
Storage King Northcote

From Little Things Big Things Grow.  Helping to grow small businesses
In my time at Storage King I have had the privilege to help and be a part of the success story of many small businesses. In the last few years we have seen the property markets soar all over Australia, which in turn has caused a rise in shop and warehousing costs. This has put a lot of strain on many existing small businesses and people trying to start up new businesses. The good news is that the answer to many of these rising business cost’s is self-storage.

One of my favourite success stories was with a young Dutch guy who came into Storage King one day to have a chat about how we could help him. He was looking to import 5 bicycles from The Netherlands. I said ‘no worries, we could even accept delivery of the bikes. He sold these bikes and then imported 10 bikes and so on. Within the year he had found a bicycle manufacturer and had 200 bikes, of his own design, made and shipped. We waited together on the day of the delivery in anticipation of his new product’s arrival, with 4 large storage units awaiting their new residence. A very momentous occasion for any new business owner and a privilege for me to share with him. The bikes arrived and we opened the first box to come off of the container. Inside the new, shiny bike looked great. We put it together and had a quick ride around.

 

As he sold the new stock, the storage units emptied and he was able to reduce the amount of storage units he had which saved him having to pay for warehouse space he was not using. When the next delivery arrived he could take out new storage units as he needed them. The flexibility of self storage helps any business manage their cash flow and expenditure to help save them money. This company now has sixteen different bikes in their range and is supplying shops all over Australia.

With many new businesses trading online and using their own homes as warehouse space, Storage King can help to free up their precious living spaces by providing flexible storage spaces. Also, for anyone looking to start a small business, the opportunities to start small with no long term obligation means a lot less risk at the start of your venture.

As I said at the beginning, I have witnessed many new businesses start and succeed with a little help from us and it is always very rewarding to do so.