Even in today's world of super-fast internet and digital files, there are still millions of businesses that need to use paper documents and that means they must find suitable secure storage for all of them. In many cases, that will be within their offices or business premises, which is fine to an extent, however, a far preferable solution is to store documents in a commercial storage facility. There are several reasons why this is so, nine of which we have highlighted below.
Reason #1 - Space Saving: By using commercial storage for storing documents, your business can save space in its offices and throughout its business premises. Instead of being used for storage, which does not itself generate any revenue, that reclaimed space can be used for more productive and revenue-generating activities, and can even allow for more employees to be recruited.
Reason #2 - Preservation Of Documents: Numerous business types will need to retain and preserve their documents, and in some cases that could mean for many years, such as a tax accountancy firm. Given that paper and the ink printed on it can deteriorate or fade, this is why the climate-controlled environment within a commercial storage unit is ideal for the preservation of your documents.
Reason #3 - Legal Compliance: Another reason why documents may need to be stored and preserved is to comply with the law or regulations that the relevant industry is governed by. Whether the reasons be legal, related to client or commercial confidentiality, or for data protection, if your business must comply with these obligations, then commercial storage is the logical option.
Reason #4 - Security: There will be few more secure locations for storing your business's documents than in a reputable commercial storage facility. Security measures you can expect to find that will protect your documents include CCTV, 24-hour surveillance, security guards, biometric locks, and gated access to the facility, to name but a few.
Reason #5 - Access Control: Whilst the storage facility’s security measures will protect your documents from external threats, you will also be able to set up access control to protect your documents internally. What this means is you can provide access to the documents only to specific and named individuals, each with their own security pass so you can track when they have accessed them.
Reason #6 - Improved Efficiency And Organisation: Given that some commercial storage facilities can offer large, storage units, it provides a fantastic opportunity to arrange your documents in as organised a manner as you wish. This means that the process of finding the correct documents whenever needed will be a far more efficient one for everyone within your business.
Reason #7 - Protection From Accidents/Disasters: Whilst no commercial storage company could ever guarantee 100% that their facility will never experience a disaster, the chances of any occurring are minuscule, and most definitely a lot less than something occurring within office premises. Fire and floods are just two that could befall your offices and destroy documents whereas storage facilities will have outstanding, state-of-the-art fire and flood protection.
Reason #8 - Business Expansion: Hopefully you have a successful business and, as such, the possibility of expanding your business might be something you are seriously considering. In doing so, that expansion might be hampered by the number of documents that are currently stored and will need to be stored in the future. Using a commercial storage facility removes that hurdle towards expansion completely.
Reason #9 - Cost-Effective: The cost-effectiveness of using commercial storage for your business documents occurs for several reasons. It could negate the need to rent larger business premises to account for your document storage. It makes your business operations more efficient and productive. It can also save you money in fines or even compensation as it ensures that you are fully compliant with regulations and laws relating to document retention and security.