Having your own warehouse is undoubtedly going to increase the opportunities for your business. It will make you send more and receive more. But how to open it without making any mistakes?
Setting up a warehouse should be well thought out so that it does not in any way interfere with the sustainability of the business. Hence a plan is needed, and you should start by asking yourself: what kind of warehouse to open?
This is because warehouses will differ from each other depending on the specifics of the work carried out there. The building will look different when only goods are stored there and differently when a lot of manual work, such as packaging, labelling or confectioning, is carried out there. Here we come to the size of the warehouse. If the goods will not be stored there on pallets which will be piled up for several meters – a lower building will be a more reasonable solution. This will be the case in the e-commerce industry. Of course, it also works the other way around: dealing with wholesale, you probably store most of the goods on pallets, then bet on a higher warehouse.
There are three basic options, we have given them in the header. Which one will be the best for you? Here, a lot has to do with the industry, as well as the financial capacity of your business. If you have money that you can easily invest, then buying a warehouse space is the best option for you. However, remember to think a little ahead when doing so. Think about what your business will look like in a few years. It may turn out that you buy a building now that will be too small in some time. Then you either buy the property again, trying to sell the previous one, or you lease a new unit.
Renting or leasing is an equally good choice if your business is growing rapidly and you need more storage space every month. Then buying a warehouse doesn’t make sense, unless you immediately bet on a colossus like the Amazon Logistics Centre in Łódź, which offers almost 70 thousand square metres of space. The point is that renting or leasing gives you a lot of flexibility and possibility of development without thinking about constant investment in new premises. Then you just move to a bigger one without any consequences. Your business doesn’t suffer.
Now you have to move into action! It doesn’t matter if you have decided to lease, rent or buy a building. You need to keep in mind a few things that will affect the functionality and performance of your entire storage space. The square footage and type of property are somewhat relegated to the background here, and come first:
Three places on the podium, and on the first place the team of employees. This is the heart of your warehouse, which makes it possible for the whole organism to function without any problems. Even when it has a broken arm or leg, it still manages! So remember to choose experienced, trusted people who can handle stressful situations. They should hold senior positions and lead the whole team. Then there will be no trouble even in harder times, like the one before Christmas.
You can help your heart by installing the right infrastructure in your warehouse. Enter, for example, the Warehouse Information System, which will minimize the risk of human error in the data on inventory, issued goods or goods that are about to enter your warehouse. Warehouse management will be easier and more pleasant. The system is not the end, do not forget about the carts, adequately large racks, or cold stores, if the type of goods requires it.
Remember also about effective safety features that can protect you from huge losses. It will be necessary to buy insurance that will minimize the damage after a possible fire or theft. Also take care of monitoring (both external and internal), insurance of goods against possible destruction or damage by employees. Then your warehouse will run smoothly and will be safe!
(photo: pixabay.com)
