Author: Anthony Adams
Are you one of the many people supplementing their income by selling goods on Ebay and Amazon? Or would you like to be? Whilst starting off storing your goods at home is perfectly OK, more and more people are using self storage services for their home businesses. Why? Take a look at some of the benefits…
Claim back your living space!
If you’re currently storing your Ebay or Amazon goods at home, wouldn’t you love to claim back your living space? It can be hard to run a successful business if your surroundings are far from perfect. Although storing it home has very little financial costs associated with it, there are other, social, emotional and environmental costs and these can come at a heavy price. Why not consider using our self storage facilities? You’ll be pleasantly surprised at our prices and the feeling of getting the space back in your home is absolutely priceless.
Peace of mind
Whether you sell high or low cost goods on Amazon or Ebay, if you’re storing them at home you may have thousands of pounds of stock tucked away. Are you confident that your current home security arrangements are sufficient? If you have older children, are you confident that they are locking the door each and every time they leave the house empty? The other matter to consider is insurance. Storing goods at home could even invalidate your home insurance if you’ve not declared the fact to your insurer. Why not give yourself peace of mind by ensuring your stock is safe at our storage facility? You’ll enjoy the highest levels of hi-tech security all for one low monthly price.
Access 24/7, 365 days per year
The key to a good Ebay business in particular is ensuring you have the highest feedback score possible. That can sometimes mean going the extra mile and getting orders ready into the early hours. With our self storage services, you have access 24/7, 365 days per year with your own PIN code. With staff on-site all the time and with our enhanced security and CCTV, you can work with your stock when you want and in complete safety.
Flexible storage
One of the great things about having an Ebay or Amazon business is the flexibility that it provides you with. If you’re wanting to expand your business, you’ll need more room for stock, and that’s easy to facilitate at our premises. Need less space? That’s easily done too. Worried about entering into long term contracts for storage? There’s no need to, you can store with us for as long or as little as you need to.
Get your stock delivered straight to our storage facility
One of the big benefits of using our self storage service for ebay businesses is that we’re happy to accept your stock deliveries on your behalf. If you work elsewhere or simply don’t have the time to wait around for stock deliveries, our professional warehouse staff will do it for you, leaving you to free to do other things. Once we’ve accepted and stored it, we’ll contact you to let you know it has arrived. Simple, easy and efficient.
If you’re interested in self storage for your online business, get in touch today by calling 0121 250 5055 or email info@cookesstorage.co.uk
It’s that time of the year to start spring cleaning, and it’s a task many of us dread.
There are plenty of great ways to reduce the effort though, so we thought we’d save you some time and scour the internet for the best in cleaning tips using some natural home ingredients.
Sparkling windows
You can buy all sorts of cleaners that work specifically on the glass in your house. Or you can save some pennies, and use a simple solution of 50% white vinegar and 50% water. Wipe with a newspaper or cloth for sparkling windows.
Picking up pet hair
We love the furry members of the family, but we’re less keen on the hair they leave on the furniture. There are a number of ways to pick hairs up, including a trusty lint roller, but our favourite is to simply use a pair of rubber gloves. Just run your hands over your sofa, and the friction will cause the hairs to stick to the gloves.
Cleaning limescale from taps
Limescale build up leaves a white deposit on your taps, in kettles and washing machines. Scrubbing it away can take a lot of time and elbow grease – but we’ve found a simple trick that takes all the effort away.
Limescale dissolves in a mild acid, such as the citric acid of a lemon. So, cut a lemon in half, wedge it gently onto the end of your tap and leave it for an hour or more to loosen and dissolve any deposits, while you move onto another chore.
Freshen up your mattress
You may think that one of the hardest things in the house to clean is your mattress, but it’s really one of the simplest. All you need is some bicarbonate of soda, and a sieve. Sieve the bicarb over the whole mattress, and leave for several hours. The soda will draw out any dirt, moisture and odours, without damaging the mattress. Finally, hoover up the powder thoroughly and you’ll be left with a fresh, clean smelling bed.
Microwave your lemons
Another top tip using the lovely lemon – squeeze some juice into water and put it in the microwave for a minute. The steam will loosen any food stuck to the inside for an easy wipe, while the lemon leaves it smelling lovely and clean.
Clean out your drains
Our drains can become blocked with hair and soap, but there is an easy way to clean it out and keep on top of any build up. Pour half a cup of bicarbonate of soda down the drain, followers by 1 cup of white vinegar, and leave it for 30 minutes. Then flush down some fresh clean water and you’ll have lovely clean drains.
Fresh and fragrant
Finally, leave your home smelling beautifully fresh with these simple tips. Add a few drops of fabric conditioner to a dry wipe and leave it behind your radiator. As it warms the fragrance will spread across your room. And there – a lovely, clean and fresh home, ready for the year ahead.
We hope that you enjoy these easy at home tips, and enjoy a fresher cleaner life. Happy cleaning!
The home business lifestyle sounds wonderful to so many of us. Flexibility to take a day off whenever we want, working from coffee shops or sitting in the glorious British sunshine and meeting with clients – it all sounds so perfect.
The reality is often quite different. Many small business owners find themselves working far longer hours, with the divide between work and home life blurred. You may have chosen to be your own boss for the flexibility, but it’s still important to set aside work when the family come home.
Many of us don’t have the space in the home to have a separate office. Even if you set aside a small space in the living room, or under the stairs, for your desk, your work often overflows into the family living areas. Boxes of stock, paperwork, filing cabinets, samples – whatever type of business you are in, there’s always some sort of clutter that gradually infiltrate throughout your home.
Working from home can affect your health.
Overlapping home and work life so much can seriously affect stress levels and affect your health and wellbeing. You are more likely to pick up calls and emails outside of your work hours. Even when you put your work down, it’s visible in the home, causing your mind to dwell on and worry about work issues.
Stress can lead to time off work, making mistakes, depression and anxiety. Not only do these affect your business, but impact on your personal life and family as well. The more you worry about your work, the harder it will become to focus and get it done.
Tips for improving your work life balance
Set work hours
You may have chosen to work from home so that you can juggle your family commitments better – particularly coping with childcare. It’s still a good idea to set work hours, and manage the family’s expectations by clearly outlining the time you will finish and be free to focus on them.
Get dressed
Your initial image of working from home might be sitting at your laptop in bed, or answering calls in your pyjamas. Getting washed and dressed, ready for the work day, will actually make you feel more focused and productive.
Create a work space
Set aside a desk or table where you can sit and work everyday – preferably out of sight, or with your back to piles of housework and mess that can distract you. Working from home provides plenty of opportunity for procrastination – leaving you frustrated that the work hasn’t been completed.
Consider storage
Paperwork, emails and telephone calls can be managed with limited space. But if you do find boxes of stock filling your corridors, then consider self storage. With a little organisation you can manage the office from home, with regular time set aside to visit your storage unit for packaging and posting trips. It’s also a good place to keep old records that must be kept but aren’t needed on a daily basis, leaving you more room in your home.
Get out and about
Becoming lonely and isolated is another effect of working from home that can cause low moods. Try attending local networking meetings. Not only will you meet other solo workers in the same position and perhaps boost your business with great contacts – it’s good for your mood as well.
Although we can’t organise your work life for you, our storage units are perfect for helping small businesses grow. If you would like to talk about cost effective space, call us on 0121 250 5055 or email
info@cookesstorage.co.uk
Even the most organised of households will need to de-clutter once in a while, whether it be once a year or every couple of months. Everybody builds up a collection of things that they don’t need; from clothes that don’t fit any more to unopened birthday presents. If you want to de-clutter your home then here are our top 10 solutions to make it easier, quicker and less of a chore.
1. Do I really need it?
This is a question that needs to be asked for every single item you pick up, whilst de-cluttering. Do I really need to keep those cinema tickets from last year? Do I really need to hold onto that dress that I only wore once? It can be easy to convince ourselves we need to keep something, but asking yourself this question should help you think twice.
2. Make some extra cash
This is a great de-cluttering tip that everyone should use; sell the things you don’t need! If you’ve got a pile of old clothes, shoes, DVDs, books, pretty much anything you don’t want to keep any more, then sell it! You can use online auction sites such as eBay or organise a Sunday morning trip to a car boot fair. The extra cash can be put towards better storage solutions or just a treat for the family.
3. Put it into storage
Sometimes there are things that we don’t necessarily need to keep hold of right now, but we don’t want to get rid of them altogether. If this is the case then it may be worth considering putting those things into storage. Boxes of books, family heirlooms, pieces of furniture and even baby clothes can be put into storage for a time when you will need them again.
4. Double Purpose Furniture
As you have started to get rid of the things you don’t need, it’s important to find a place for the things that you do need. Double purpose furniture is a great way to de-clutter, without having to find somewhere for storage boxes to go. You can use old trunks for decorative purposes and to hide the clutter, or a window seat that lifts to reveal a secret storage compartment.
5. Vacuum Storage Bags
These clever inventions are perfect for keeping seasonal clothes out of the way, without taking up too much space. Simply pile in the clothes you want to keep, but aren’t going to wear for a few months, then zip it up and attach the hoover to the air hole. The vacuum will suck out all of the air, making a compact bag that can be stored away.
6. Bespoke Storage
If you’re serious about de-cluttering then why not have some bespoke furniture made? Everything from bookcases to chests can be made by a carpenter to suit your home, style and the amount of clutter you have to hide!
7. One Room at a Time
The problem many of us will have when de-cluttering is that we just get overwhelmed by the amount of work to do. We’ll try to get it all done in one day or we’ll get distracted halfway through one room by finding clutter in another. If you want a clutter free home without the stress, then make sure you only tackle one room at a time.
8. Avoid Distractions
It’s so difficult, when getting rid of clutter, not to go through it all and get distracted. You may stumble across an old diary or photo album that you just want to go through and reminisce. Distracting yourself with these things is only going to prolong the process, so put them in a pile away from the rest and have a look through once you’ve finished de-cluttering.
9. Memories Box
You’re bound to discover a lot of things along the way, that just simply don’t have a place in the house. These tend to be sentimental objects such as old photographs, event tickets and birth or marriage certificates. Create a memory box to store all these things in, so that they don’t get lost or damaged.
10. Get Everyone Involved
Finally, make sure you get everyone involved when you start to de-clutter the house; the children and the partner included! By doing this not only will it take less time, but it will be easier for everyone to learn the new organisation systems you have in place. Hopefully then, it will be much simpler for everyone to keep clutter free. Hopefully!
We’ve covered 10 of our favourite de-cluttering solutions for the home, although there are plenty more. What do you find to be the best way to keep a clutter free house?
As Christmas is fast approaching, we wanted to share with you our opening hours.
You can access your unit at any different times over the Christmas period, so please do check if the facility is open before arriving.
Reception Opening Hours;
Even the Cookes Self Storage elves need a bit of time to eat turkey – here’s when you can contact us or pay us a visit.
OPEN: Thursday 24th December; 10am – 2pm
CLOSED: Friday 25th December
CLOSED: Saturday 26th December
CLOSED: Sunday 27th December
OPEN: Monday 28th December; 10am – 4pm
OPEN: Tuesday 29th December; 9am – 5pm
OPEN: Wednesday 30th December; 9am – 5pm
OPEN: Thursday 31st December; 10am – 2pm
CLOSED: Friday 1st January
OPEN: Saturday 2nd January; Normal Operating Hours
Our Storage access hours as the same as our reception hours.
New bookings
To sign up for storage, get in touch before Wednesday 23rd December and we’ll make sure you’re sorted smoothly.
Don’t forget – although our office is closed, our website is still open so you can find information and reserve online at any time, whenever you need.
We wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Best Wishes, Cookes Storage Team
At Cookes Storage Service, the health and well-being of our customers and colleagues is our number one priority.
Following the latest government announcements regarding the national lockdown, we would like to confirm what this means for the self storage industry. This time around we are much more informed and have been able to react much faster.
Our self storage facility will remain open for use by essential services, those businesses that remain open and those individuals permitted to travel under government advice. This includes key workers, online retailers, construction and trade workers, teachers, home movers to name but a few.
Our opening hours remain unchanged:
Monday 9am – 5pm
Tuesday 9am – 5pm
Wednesday 9am – 5pm
Thursday 9am – 5pm
Friday 9am – 5pm
Saturday 9am – 5pm
Sunday 10am – 4pm
Social Distancing
In the reception, we have installed perspex shields for yours and our protection. When visiting a self storage facility you are required to wear a mask throughout the storage facility and observe social distancing, keeping apart 2m where possible.
One in, One out
With immediate effect only one customer at a time will be allowed into our reception areas. Whilst our reception areas are not high traffic areas, you may be required to wait until the area has been cleared by a previous customer.
Sanitising Stations
You will find sanitising stations throughout the storage facility. We kindly request that you sanitise your hands upon entering and exiting the self storage facility. Although we will be conducting thorough cleaning of equipment you are more than welcome to use sanitiser to clean any equipment that you use.
Specific changes to customer processes and services
- No payments by cash or cheque will be accepted. We continue to accept payment by card, contactless and direct debit.
- The process for new customer enquiries remains unchanged; customers can enquire via our website, call us or email us for a quote.
- Customer signup process including ID checks will take place electronically.
- Customers with extended access via pin code or a security fob can continue to do so as normal.
- Although we are still willing to accept deliveries on your behalf we will not sign for them and they will be left for collection.
- Packaging materials are available to order by email, over the phone or in person. Orders can be collected from the store or can be delivered to you at home.
Finally, colleagues and customers are reminded to observe social distancing and hand hygiene per the Government guidelines. Anyone with coronavirus symptoms should not visit our store. For more guidance please visit nhs.uk/coronavirus.
If you have any questions about our protocols please give us a call on
0121 250 5055 or email info@cookesstorage.co.uk