Warehouse Features Archives

What Is the Ideal Warehouse Space Size for Your Business

The first step of your search for a warehouse space rental is to narrow down your options by size. Most small businesses don’t need to rent massive distribution center facilities with hundreds of thousands of square feet. Many find that a small, 250-square-foot warehouse space is more than enough for their business needs.

What you store and how you organize it will dictate the amount of space you need. For instance, if you have an online store that sells sports trading cards, you will likely need less room than a furniture seller. The former may require a small space whereas the latter might need a slightly larger storage area. However, even with large items in your inventory, efficient organization can let you make the most out of small warehouse spaces.

The use of the space in the warehouse is crucial in deciding what size warehouse space you need. Storing your inventory on the floor on pallets will require more room than if you use industrial racking to organize it vertically. Small warehouse rentals that offer racking with other moving and storage equipment will help you best utilize your space to store more. Find out if you will use racking to increase your storage and if the warehouse rental offers it.

Figure Out What You Need From Your Future Small Warehouse

Note exactly what you need from your ideal small warehouse rental space. This listing of features your business requires will help in your search.

For example, if you receive large deliveries, you likely will need loading dock access that can accommodate large delivery trucks. Even for smaller businesses that only send and receive a few orders at a time, package receiving saves time on trips to the post office to pick up deliveries.

Will your small warehouse space double as an office? You may require additional features found in shared office spaces, such as kitchens and meeting areas. Secure Wi-Fi is also essential for any area small businesses use as office space.

Once you’ve noted exactly what you need, start your online search for a “small warehouse near me” and find options that meet your requirements.

Call or Email That Best Small Warehouse Space Near You

Even if you think that you have found the perfect site by looking at the information on the website, contact the facility to request an in-person tour and get answers to your questions.

Directly connecting with someone at the facility will allow you to book a tour of the site. And it is best practice to schedule an in-person tour to ensure that you get the right type of small warehouse rental space that will meet the needs of your business.

Websites only post the best-looking pictures. You need to see the facility for yourself to understand the scale and scope of the rental.

The tour starts even before you arrive. Pay attention to the distance to the warehouse from your home, since this may become your daily commute. Also, note the size of the parking lot and dock areas. Both should have plenty of space and allow for regular use.

Inside the facility, warehouse spaces should allow for moving pallets of goods to and from the loading dock. They also should have enough space for you to store your inventory and have working space.

Ask the person giving you the tour your prepared questions and any more that you think of during the visit. These questions will help you to understand more about the leasing process, the terms of the lease, your requirements as a tenant, and much more.

Ask a Lot of Questions

During your call or in-person walkthrough of the property, ask plenty of questions. These should include information about:

Total lease cost
Lease terms and duration
Utilities
Who pays for which utilities
Access hours
Security
Requirements for using shared kitchens or meeting spaces
Whether you can find a manager on site for future concerns
Who pays for repairs

Other questions may be specific to your business’s operations. For example, you may want to ask about the number of outlets for running equipment if you own a small manufacturing company.

The questions you bring will allow you to see whether the rental space will meet your business’s operation, storage, and financial requirements.

Plan Ahead – You Never Know How Soon You Will Need the Extra Space

Even if you have a small business now and only require a small warehouse rental space, you do want to be pragmatic and plan for the future. Will the warehouse facility allow for scaling your warehouse up to another size? What is the next size available?

For small businesses that find they have outgrown their existing storage space, moving into a new facility will allow for the extra room needed to support continued operations. Medium warehouse spaces are great for ecommerce businesses that need extra space, service companies, and expanding small businesses.

When you search for “small warehouse space near me,” don’t forget to account for the need for moving into a large storage space in the future. Explore the various spaces available to see if you will have the option to stay in the same facility and scale up to a larger space.

Find the Right Small Warehouse Rental Space for Your Business at WareSpace

The best small warehouse rentals are those that fit your business’s needs. To find the right properties, you must ask plenty of questions to learn the specifics of renting the space. With WareSpace, we have small warehouse spaces that come with amenities to help you make the most of the facility as a storage and operations base. Learn more about our small warehouse rentals online. Then, book a tour or request more information.

To compete for tenants, many warehouse providers offer extra perks. These added features make rentable small warehouse spaces more functional, allow for more effective use of the space, and enable better business operations.

Don’t Get Stuck With Bottom-of-the-Barrel Warehouse Providers

During the first two quarters of 2022, the warehouse industry experienced supply shortages amid rising demand. Rentable small warehouse spaces became scarce as vacancies across the country reached a record low of 3.9%. However, those numbers are on the rise. As more space becomes available from new warehouse construction, businesses will once again have options.

Features Every Small Warehouse Space Should Have

Finding the best small warehouse space means choosing a place that is feature-rich. Your provider should include on-site amenities, the latest technology, adequate space for growth, and an efficient layout.

On-Site Amenities

Look for small warehouse spaces that offer free amenities — as in they’re already bundled into your rent price. Don’t pay extra for add-on features that come complementary with some warehouses.

The most useful on-site amenities include tools for moving products. Loading docks, industrial racking, and warehouse equipment makes it super easy to receive, move, and store their goods.

Other amenities provide operational support. Most businesses need a place for conducting administrative tasks, so make sure your small warehouse space offers conference rooms, lounges, and kitchens for collaboration and comfort.

Practical amenities support the protection of products stored in the warehouse. On-site security and limited access to individual warehouse units prevent the theft of goods from the facility.

Shared small warehouse spaces should also have management available to address any concerns or questions tenants may have.

Updated Technology

Rentable warehouse spaces that make the latest technology freely accessible are more desirable than antiquated spaces without tech perks. Whatever small warehouse space you choose should, at the bare minimum, include secure wi-fi. Secure internet access allows business owners to track sales and connect with customers across multiple devices.

Most warehouses also have other tech on hand, like network-connected scanners that integrate with Warehouse management systems (WMS) to track inventory in real time. Putting scannable barcodes on products keeps inventory counts updated effortlessly. The WMS can even automatically reorder items when inventory levels drop below a set value.

Room for Growth

Moving from a home-based business to a small warehouse space is the first step to expanding your company. Most rentable warehouse spaces provide options for growth by offering several storage size options — for startups, growing businesses, and more.

Changes in operations may require a business to move up or down in the amount of warehouse space rented. Your provider should offer the flexibility for you to do this with short-term contracts.

Efficient Interior and Exterior Layout

The interior and exterior layout of the warehouse should supply efficient movement of people and products. Outside, the loading dock area should allow shipping trucks to comfortably reach it. The area around the loading docks should include space for trucks to turn around, back into the docks, and pull out of the area, even when other trucks are present. Proximity to major highways is another desirable feature as it reduces shipping times.

Inside the warehouse, tenants should have easy access to the loading dock area for sending out products or picking up shipments. Warehouse equipment at the dock eases the movement of boxes or pallets from the docking area to the tenants’ storage spaces.

Floor plans inside the warehouse spaces depend on the items stored and the size of the space. Small warehouse spaces with racking should have enough room for people using material handling equipment to move comfortably and safely. The ideal layout of a small warehouse space is one in which the time needed to stock items or to pick products off the shelves is at a minimum.

Improve Your Operations with the Right Small Warehouse Space to Rent

Whether your business needs access to loading docks, industrial-grade racking, conference rooms, or 24/7 security on-site, you’ll find it all at WareSpace. Every one of our small warehouse spaces have all the same amenities, giving small and large businesses the tools that they need to succeed. Is your business ready for full-featured small storage space?

While you may want to push forward with moving into a small warehouse rental space as quickly as possible, you cannot rush the process. Deliberate research and examination of rental properties will help you to find the best space for your business and budget. Even before you start to Google “small warehouse near me,” take a close look at your business requirements for the space, or take a tour of the facility to get a better look. The more time you spend planning your search, the greater the chances are that your business will have the features and capacity to grow.