How to Start a Cold Storage Business

Starting Your Own Cold Storage Business

The cold storage business has been around since the 1800s, but during that time the only industry using it were the breweries and they mainly rely on the unsanitary practice of ice-harvesting. By the 1900s, the idea of cold storage has seeped into the meat packing business, until finally in the mid 20th century; these refrigeration facilities have been installed on trucks which were used to

transport perishable foods to long distances.

Nowadays most companies prefer to outsource their cold storage facility to relieve themselves of the trouble of having to construct and maintain their own cold storage facilities. This is where independent refrigerated warehouse owners can come in.

Steps to Start a Cold Storage Business

Here is a step-by step procedure that you can follow to start your own cold storage business:

Determine which industry or industries in your area need cold storage and how much of these need s have already been supplied. If you realize that there is still a demand that has not been supplied, and then fill that void. Make a careful study on how to go about your plans and execute them. You can seek advice from other people who are in the same business and get good ideas.
Once you determine that you can make it, you can test run by starting small. For example you can purchase a freezer van to be used as bait storage and cater to commercial fishermen and other small-scale companies. This test does not involve a very high financial threat. But take into consideration a slightly higher initial operational expense. This can be expected for all start-up businesses, because the operations are not that efficient yet.
Your test run should give you an idea if you want to go on full scale or not with the cold storage business.

Should you decide to continue, you can now try to secure a means to fund or finance your venture. You can choose to stick to your initial market base or expand to cover more.
A crucial part of the business is marketing. You need to recognize your base market as well as your competitors. So who is your market? The first could be the fishermen who were your sole market during your testing phase. You can expand your market by selling what your customers are selling. You can not only store merchandise but also package them and then sell them depending on what the demand is. This way not all your eggs are stored in one basket and you remain in a competitive edge.

References

How to Start a Cold Storage Business

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Monday, August 5, 2013