Residential or Business, When You Are Planning to Move…Consider Storage

Whether you are planning to move to the Ottawa area or from the Ottawa area, you need to consider storage as part of your move. Even a local student move can cost hundreds of dollars, and a long-distance household or business move can cost thousands of dollars. Expect to pay at least $100/hour for the most basic help and a truck, with charges for a minimum number of hours, plus time spent travelling to and from. Packing help is also no cheaper per hour. With those costs, storage is something that could make a big difference. The benefits of storage might even make you rethink your move.  

Residential Moving and Storage

Assuming that you are considering a particular mover for your residential move, based on reputation, accreditation, or personal recommendation, before you ask for a quote, consider:

• Do all your possessions have to move, and all at the same time?
• Will you be returning, as with going away to school or a job posting?
• What is the value of your possessions versus the cost of moving them?

We all have things that we have accumulated, even for good reasons, that we no longer need. We also have things that we want to keep, but just not with us all the time. Therefore, we might not need to keep the former, and the latter might not need to follow us, at least at this time, so storage might be the answer.

If your move might not be permanent, think about putting some possessions in storage, until you return, or are more settled. Think of this move as a stripped-down assignment—only the essentials need to be packed. Make it more like a journey, travelling light to another place, rather than like pulling up roots.

Also, consider the worth of your less-treasured items, then estimate the cost of moving those items. Probably not too much, but will they need to be moved again next time? If you sold them or even gifted some of them, you might be just as far ahead. Maybe storage could help bridge the time for you to decide.

Business Moving and Storage

Relocating a business is a serious undertaking, beyond the challenge of hiring reputable movers. However, while residential moves usually mean that you and your possessions are leaving, business moves offer options. If you are a home business or small business owner planning a move, consider whether relocating your business, even locally, will disrupt your customers and suppliers. Even online patrons like to feel that they have a connection to a business that has a local presence. The customer that you keep is worth more than the chance of another two.

Depending on your type of business, moving can involve a lot of hidden costs beyond the physical move. There can be write-down costs for clearance of some supplies, equipment, and furnishings, additional advertising needed (before and after the move), loss of contact with some customers and loss of goodwill, location shutdown and start-up costs, and so on.

A better choice might be to use local storage for current supplies, products, and equipment, so as to be able to continue to serve the existing area while establishing your new location. If that seems too demanding, you might even consider obtaining a local agent, which would provide you with an ongoing presence, sort of like a virtual branch office. Maintaining a presence in your original location would also give you the option to re-establish there, with minimal disruption, if your new location is not as successful as you had hoped.

You might find that with storage being less costly than additional commercial space, and fewer other costs and losses at the original location, you then have a viable business with two locations. You could even consider additional storage at your new location, allowing you to take advantage of bulk purchasing for the two locations. Having more products and services available, with two sites, could allow you to better meet customer requests and seasonal demand, and reduce delivery costs.

Similarly, if you have a seasonal or multi-season business, having the option to use storage to rotate in and out of seasonal products and materials could reduce the size (and cost) of your new location. This might allow you the choice of optimizing your working location (or locations) or even to be mobile, without the need for a lot of in-house space and stock. This could also produce a more compact, manageable, secure (and profitable) operation.

Rental Move

If you are a renter, moving to another rental, you might want interim storage, especially if there would be a gap between move out and move in. This could also provide security for any valuable personal effects. Also, perhaps several selective self-moves would be more economical and practical than a professional move. If moving to your first house, having most of your possessions in temporary storage can give you wide-open spaces for cleaning, painting, and planning for decorating.

Household Move

If you are a homeowner looking to sell and move, storage can allow you to stagger your departure during the sale period: from fixing up and home staging, to sorting and selling items, to final selection and packing for moving. If downsizing, you might decide to keep seasonal and seldom-used items in storage. Having a more compact household might even allow you to move sooner, or to a more preferable location or residence.

Storage Instead of Moving

So, now you know some of the many benefits of using storage before, during, and after a move. Consider why you are planning to move in the first place. If it is because your current residence or business is just too small, with not enough room for everything, maybe you need to consider storage instead of moving.

Whatever your plan for moving and storage, Acceptable Storage can provide a variety of solutions to meet your needs in the Ottawa area.