The Home Business That Ate the House

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Just because you work out of your home doesn’t mean that you have to put up with unsightly piles of boxes jammed with files and an assortment of seldom-used equipment and inventory. My father's biggest complaint in the early stages of my mother's home-based business was not the time it took away from her family, not the money lost in unsuccessful ventures or the exhaustion she felt at the end of the night. No, his biggest gripe was the boxes of inventory in the corner of the family room, the stack of order forms on the dining room table and the cartons of product samples in the back seat of the car. Home business owners sometimes fail to notice that their businesses have overtaken their homes. Just because you work out of your home doesn’t mean that you have to put up with unsightly piles of boxes jammed with files and an assortment of seldom-used equipment and inventory. You can run a home business and manage to actually live in your home, if you know how to effectively utilize off-site storage to store typical office clutter. The list below, provided by the home office experts at Storage USA, one of the nation’s largest self-storage companies, offers: Five Easy Ways To Reclaim Your Home: 1. Manage inventory levels. Get more of your suppliers to provide what you need on a just-in-time-basis. Move the inventory that you buy in bulk or your slower-moving inventory to a self-storage facility near your home for as little as $25 a month for 25 square feet, which is about the size of a walk-in closet. Compared to traditional warehouses (which most home businesses do not have access to), self-storage is generally available for less money, with fewer restrictions and greater flexibility in terms of square footage and monthly lease terms. Some self-storage facilities, including Storage USA, will even sign for your packages, so inventory can be shipped directly to your storage unit. You won’t have to wait at home anymore for your deliveries to arrive! 2. Move files out of your home. Saving files and transaction records is a necessary evil in any business (for 7 years, says the IRS!) even if they are never looked at or accessed again. Storing files in a nearby storage facility allows for easy access when necessary (“Oh no, not an audit!”) and eliminates the need for additional office space. 3. Relocate product samples. If you are a sales representative or an independent product inventor/creator, you need a secure place to store samples. You can protect the quality and value of the sample by storing it in a special climate-controlled storage unit. 4. Get tools and equipment out of the garage. In case you forgot, your garage is where your car belongs. 5. Move spare parts out of the basement. A safe, dry storage unit won’t be as damp and destructive to your assets. And let the kids have the ping-pong table they’ve been clamoring for (Hey, it’s their house too). Storage USA has over 500 self-storage locations nationwide. It is currently offering a promotion of one month free at most of its locations. Features, which vary by facility, include climate-control, pest control, individually lit units, and 24-hour access. Extra-wide driveways and overhead rolling garage doors make moving in items a breeze. Packing and moving supplies are also available, and rental trucks are available at select locations. Storage USA is so dedicated to providing its customers with the highest level of service possible that it offers its Total Storage Satisfaction Guarantee. If, for any reason, customers are dissatisfied with their service due to a failure to deliver on its promise, Storage USA will refund up to the current’s month rent. For more information about Storage USA, to locate a facility, or to check out its current specials, visit: www.sus.com or call 1-800-STOR-USA.