If your office is overflowing with important documents and business files, you need to seriously consider storing these important files in a self storage facility. Utilising a facility offering self storage in Crawley will allow you to get rid of the clutter in your office and increase the available workspace which should lead to enhanced productivity.

Location

Make sure the storage facility is near your business location. You wouldn’t want to drive for hours to fetch important documents when you need them. Also, the facility should be secure with CCTV surveillance, 24 x 7 monitoring and other security arrangements to ensure your business documents are always safe.

Get Rid of Duplicates 

Before you start packing files, make sure there aren’t any duplicates. It is common to have multiple copies of the same document. Duplicate documents will take up valuable storage space. So, identify the documents to be stored and recycle the duplicate items responsibly with the help of a document shredder.

Packing Your Files for Storage

Choose sturdy cardboard boxes to pack in your files properly. Make use of filler materials to make sure the files inside do not shift when you are moving the boxes to and from the self storage unit. Make sure you do not use newspaper as filler as the newspaper ink can transfer to paper and damage important documents. Also, use high quality packaging tape to seal the storage boxes securely.

When packing files, make sure you use airtight packaging to prevent mould or water damage. It is also recommended to create digital backup files by scanning documents and these digital files should be stored in a separate location.

Invest in Shelves

More storage units do not have inbuilt shelving. It is recommended to rent or purchase some shelving units. It will keep your documents safe and organised. It is also recommended to use cardboard or wood pallets to keep the document boxes above the ground. If you want some extra security, use fire safes or locked file cabinets to store documents in the self storage unit.

Design a Classification System

Distribute your files into 3 categories: inactive, archival and active. It will help in keeping things organised. All the files should be marked and properly indexed. Similar files should be kept together to make sure you are able to retrieve important files easily, as and when required. For example, invoices for a certain year can be stored together in the same box making retrieval easy. Label the boxes to make sure you don’t have to go through all the boxes to get that one important file.

Have a Document Policy

Not all the documents are required to be stored indefinitely. Therefore, it is important to create a document retention policy. For instance, employment related records are required to be kept for a certain number of years to comply with the regulations but there is no need to store them indefinitely.

Overall, storing your important business documents in a self storage unit comes with a lot of benefits. However, you need to take extra care to make sure your business documents are always safe and you are able to retrieve important documents easily, as and when required. Keep the above mentioned tips in mind when packing important files to keep things organised.