If your dream is to build your startup around a brick and mortar business, you’re likely worried about your initial cost. Your capital may not be able to cover the price of your office, whether you’re planning on leasing or buying space. Similarly, if you head an already-established business, you might be wondering how to expand to new communities without paying an arm and a leg to do so.
Enter shipping containers. These sturdy steel boxes are being repurposed in the most wonderful ways. Most notably, custom shipping containers are used for business establishments in place of traditional buildings.
In fact, some retail and restaurant establishments set up shop in a shipping crate park. Even Taco Bell joined the shipping container trend with a pop-up shop in 2015, and later a permanent shipping crate restaurant in California in 2017. Here’s why this is a good idea.
Eco-Friendly
There are millions of abandoned shipping crates around the world. Imagine this: If you were to put all of the abandoned shipping containers from around the world together in a row, they would circle the Earth twice over.
If you were to create a building from custom shipping containers, you would be able to choose from about 11 million crates that could currently be repurposed. It’s apparent that constructing durable buildings from materials that already exist in droves is better for the environment than using brand-new resources.
Also, the footprint of your pop-up container bar or retail shop is much smaller than that of a traditional building. If you choose to settle in a space that is specially designated for modified shipping container businesses, you’re able to take up even less space because you designate a smaller parcel of land to the project.
Socially Responsible
When you set up your business in a shipping container park, you are likely to join a community of local businesses. Not only is this helpful to your own brand, but you have a chance to help your neighboring brands as well.
Some shipping crate parks head a community marketing initiative: If a shipping container cafe owner wants to join the ranks of a particular park with this initiative in place, he or she must promote neighboring businesses on the lot as well as their own. Those neighboring businesses will, in turn, promote, the new shipping crate restaurant or cafe. This way, each business can benefit from being in this unique community.
Affordable
As previously touched upon, starting or expanding any business can cost a fortune. However, a building made from pop-up containers cost just a fraction to build. Furthermore, any shipping container modifications are less expensive than traditional building customizations or renovations.
Shipping container buildings require very little maintenance throughout their approximate 25-year lifespan, which further decreases your overhead expenses. When you build your shipping crate restaurant, you can pay your weight staff and other employees more than you would if your eatery was housed in a traditional building, for instance. With booming profits and more room for better budgets, you can hire quality employees and treat them to a job that pays decent wages.
Portable
Have you ever dreamed of a mobile business?
You don’t have to resort to running a food truck to make those dreams come true. You can run a physical business while living a nomadic lifestyle if you build your place of business from shipping crates.
Since shipping containers were designed to be portable, durable, and secure, they are ideal for housing a seasonal or otherwise mobile business. You can move your business yourself, whether it’s across the county, across the state, or across the entire country. There are companies that can move your shop for you if doing this on your own is inconvenient.
Kickstart Your Shipping Crate Business
Whether you’re about to launch a shipping crate restaurant, retail store, or mobile cafe, using custom shipping containers is a smart choice. Find out how to get started today.