Businesses in all sectors have had a lot to contend with over the last 12 months. Whether it’s adjusting to the ‘new normal’ under Covid lockdown or coming to terms with the regulations following Brexit, there are a lot of challenges.
For business owners who import or export and are working to tight budgets, storage can be a big issue. That’s where outsourced warehouse facilities can offer numerous benefits.
What is an Outsourced Warehouse?
Many warehouses are attached to a particular business or manufacturer and the facility is mainly used for this. Those that have extra space available, however, can benefit from renting it out to other businesses. This has several advantages for both sides including cost savings and convenience.
The Benefits of Using an Outsourced Warehouse
Warehousing solutions are important for a wide range of businesses but affording all that real estate can be challenging when it comes to budgetary considerations, particularly for SMEs.
Lower Costs
The key here is that your business can hire a set amount of space in someone else’s warehouse and only pay for what you need.
You don’t have unused space that you’re paying for and you can focus your budget more efficiently where it counts. This also helps you free up resources for other aspects of your business because you don’t have money tied up in a larger warehouse or its management.
Create More Space
Hiring warehouse space also has the effect of releasing room in your own business. You no longer have stock stored in pockets around your company premises (or even in your home if you are a startup). There are no staffing risks as the warehouse will have its own on-site.
Better Security
You also don’t have to worry about security. Assuming you choose the right outsourced warehouse to partner with, they should have their onsite security measures in place that gives you complete peace of mind.
Growing Your Business
Another big benefit is the potential for your business to scale up. If you’re constrained with space in your business premises but want to expand it can be difficult.
Hiring warehouse space, however, gives you the option to expand quickly simply by hiring out a bigger area. This is useful, for example, if you suddenly get a big order and need to store stock or your business is susceptible to busier periods such as Christmas.
Improve Logistics
Pick the right warehouse and you can also improve transportation times which can have big benefits for your business. For example, if you regularly ship via air freight, choosing a warehouse near or next to the airport that you regularly use can help significantly lower the logistics costs.
Many warehouses that are involved in outsourcing their space can offer add-on services such as inventory management and packing and unpacking goods for an additional cost. Others also offer specialist services such as dealing with heavy or dangerous items.
The big benefits of using an outsourced warehouse are the cost savings and the chance to get a trusted third party to handle a variety of different operational needs.
Equator Worldwide is a creative & effective freight forwarder that can release up a lot of your time, save you money on your shipping costs, enabling you to focus more clearly on the growth and development of your business.