It may not seem like it but storage is an important part of business and life. The need for storage is pretty much constant and there are different storage needs across the board. And with the many needs that exist come many opportunities and different ways to approach them. If you have a little (or a lot of) space and time you can consider going into the storage business with the ideas we will list below or perhaps you may feel inspired to look deeper into storage business opportunities.

Self-storage units

Self-storage is easy to set up and get going. It doesn’t require a very complicated system to operate either. You have a plot of land with what are carports that a person pays rent on to store their belongings. You can look at more creative choices such as repurposing shipping containers to use as storage units. Your job is to provide security for the belongings and access control. Storage like this is attractive to people who are moving, downsizing or have specialised storage needs. Word to the wise to include insurance in the cost of rental because you never know what’s going to happen.

Cloakroom

It could be me but this is something I’m not seeing as often as I used to. I feel this is rather disappointing as this is a need that people travelling genuinely have. I suppose we have to understand that in difficult times certain things are sacrificed. This business is best built by focusing on a specific use case. Look at long-distance travellers and people in transit, they all need this. There are likely more applications for this and with a little bit of digging, you can uncover more specific use cases that are waiting for someone to swoop in. The key to getting things right is to avoid cutting corners when it comes to the system you employ. Holding goods in trust comes with a lot of dangers and you must consider them all.

Warehousing

Warehousing is a major need in business and it’s getting a boost thanks to technology. Traditionally with warehousing, we think of huge quantities of goods being held in storage for a business and that is correct. Technology has stepped in to make warehousing management cheaper and more applicable to smaller units. Ecommerce giant Amazon’s fulfilled by Amazon system is built on this, they realised that the biggest bottleneck in eCommerce was order fulfilment. So you can offer warehousing for small manufacturers or specialised manufacturers.

Cold storage

Cold storage is important for business as well. Butcheries, dairy and even greengrocers use it. In most if not all cases they will have cold storage already built into their premises. You will also understand that with food items the chain of custody is usually tight to make sure of the condition of the food. The need that can be addressed in cold storage is cold storage transportation which is a need for many large and small businesses. Marketing will be key here but your most likely target market is offering transportation services from abattoir to butcher.

Specialised storage

Specialised storage needs differ with the market and you will have to look at the market to figure out the needs. An example is a self-storage with built-in climate control. It doesn’t sound like it would make much of a difference but consider someone storing valuable items that are prone to dampness like furniture. Such a person would appreciate a storage unit that maintains a temperature high enough to guarantee there is no moisture in the unit. You could specialise in terms of size, not everybody wants to take up a full storage unit so the ability to offer partial storage space could work with customers. Another specialisation could be mobility. Yes, think of a storage unit that could have wheels attached to it and ready to go. This is a very exciting area that can only be limited by your imagination and profitability.

A more creative mind than mine could certainly come up with more exciting ideas for storage based businesses.