Inflation might be down and reports of a return to a thriving economy all over the news, but business owners can never afford to rest on their laurels. Having learned some hard lessons in monetary efficiency over recent years, and reaped the benefits of a cost-cutting mindset, maintaining that attitude in the coming months will ensure a more profitable future.

The way you use the space available to you can either save money or waste it. Here are a couple of data storage ideas to make it work more efficiently for your business:

Cut Out The Paper Chase

Literal paper trails are no longer strictly necessary in many businesses. Whilst we still need an information trail, we don’t necessarily need to hang on to the bits of paper it is written on. So, if you haven’t moved some business operations into the cloud yet, now’s the time to do so.

Opening accounts with free cloud providers is a good way to get started and learn the benefits in a small, controlled way, although all but the smallest of businesses will soon use up free space offerings from the likes of Google Drive and Dropbox. Moving from free providers to a subscription base for cloud storage isn’t expensive, and don’t forget that as an operational expense it’s tax deductible. Larger businesses who currently run their own servers can reduce capital expense through subscription services such as Microsoft 365.

An added benefit of the cloud is that your employees can all access the information they need from a multitude of devices, making mobile business as efficient as office-based business. Sales representatives can, for instance, gain immediate access to online catalogues for demonstration or presentation purposes, or look up customer records before or during field visits to get a more complete picture of that customer’s history.

Maximise Office Space

Off-site physical storage is useful for record keeping and for storing items not used daily, or for stock if you sell physical items.

If you’re just starting to move operational procedures and records into the cloud, you can save physical space in the office by moving your paper records from previous tax years into secure self storage units. Not only does this free up working space, it adds an additional security layer should your office premises suffer damage, say through fire or theft.

Using self storage for business efficiency is still a relatively new and untapped idea, but most businesses have ‘dead’ storage areas housing equipment or documents that are rarely accessed, and this is space that could be put to more profitable use. The space that was previously occupied by filing cabinets could, for instance, house an extra desk, maybe for an additional employee or to rent out to a fellow small business owner or freelancer.

Getting rid of the dead spaces in offices by taking advantage of new storage facilities, both physical and cloud, creates a more spacious and uncluttered working environment. This in turn promotes creativity and enhances productivity, leading to a win/win business environment.