No matter the type of business you’re running, if you’ve landed on this page, there are high chances you are in a desperate need for a warehouse. Of course, while simply renting out a warehouse may work for some companies, a far better and more practical alternative would be to simply build one that will cater to your business’s specific needs.
Now, while building a warehouse may sound like a monumental undertaking, especially if you’ve never built anything in your life, the fact of the matter is that it’s really not that complicated. Particularly because you won’t be taking care of the whole process on your own.
While you will be in charge of coming up with the general design, choosing the best insulation for metal buildings and deciding on all the features your warehouse will have, you will also be in charge of hiring the right professionals for the job.
That being said, here are 6 practical tips that will help you build the warehouse your company needs in the most efficient way.
Evaluate how much space you currently need
First and foremost, when building a warehouse, you’ll need to at least guestimate how much space you currently need, in order to try and determine how big or how small your warehouse needs to be. Needless to say, it’s always better to go bigger, as chances are your business will outgrow your current needs sooner than you think. To get the best picture, consider the amount, size and type of the items that will be stored in the warehouse. By doing so, you’ll easily get the right picture regarding the size of your warehouse, as storing makeup, for instance, will probably require far less room than storing building materials.
Choose a location
Next, you will need to find the right location for your warehouse. If your company has enough land, you can choose to build your warehouse right where your business is situated. However, if not, then you’ll need to look for the most appropriate location. Ideally, choose a location that’s relatively or as close as possible to your business, so that you can easily pop into your warehouse whenever you need to.
Additionally, make sure that the location is easily accessible for various vehicles, to enable smooth transportation. Finally, make sure you build your warehouse on a piece of land that’s safe from landslides, floods and similar catastrophes, as the last thing you’d want is for your entire inventory to get damaged beyond repair.
Leave room to grow
As mentioned previously, every business should always leave enough room to grow, so the same naturally applies to your warehouse as well. Even if you don’t currently have a need for a huge storage space, chances are that the need will appear sooner than you think. So, instead of having to repeat the process of building another storage in a year or two, make sure you take care of it from the get-go. Depending on the type of warehouse you will be building, you can always choose to install interior removable dividers that will enable you to manipulate the indoor area how you see fit or as needed.
Find the right contractors
The next thing on your agenda should be finding the right contractors for the job. One way you can approach this matter is to turn to the internet for help. Research your options, check reviews, go through client testimonials and see if there are any contractors that will be a good fit for such a project.
Alternatively, you can turn to other businesses in the area that are similar to yours and see if they can share some recommendations, tips or even warnings. Knowing who not to hire can oftentimes be more important than getting a simple recommendation.
Inquire about your local building regulations
If you hire the right contractors, this step will most likely be taken care of by them. However, that shouldn’t stop you from doing your own research.
So, make sure you check your local regulations and requirements concerning such construction projects and see what your options are. This may even help shape your idea further as you’ll know exactly what you can and can’t build, so it may allow you to better adjust your design even prior to hiring contractors.
Get the necessary equipment
And last but not least, make sure you get all the necessary equipment for running a fully-operating warehouse. Here, you will need to think about the shelving, lighting, heating and on-site transportation, to name just some of the essentials. What’s more, you should also decide where forklifts and similar vehicles you’ll be using in your warehouse will be stored.
If you don’t intend on building a separate garage for these machines, make sure you have a place to store them in your warehouse, that won’t obstruct traffic in any way.
In the end, no matter if you’ll be the one building your warehouse or you’ll instead choose to hire a construction crew, you need to make sure you come up with the most optimal design. That way you can rest assured knowing that all of your goods will be stored properly once the construction is complete.
