Best Self-Storage Practices Made Simple: What You Need to Know

No one ever said that owning and operating your storage facility would be easy, but it’s an ever-growing business. Taking control of the destiny of your business by being the leading player in the marketplace is a smart way to take advantage of the market. To be the most successful you can be in business, you must follow best practices no matter your industry. But you’ve decided to pursue an industry based on self-storage, so those practices are specific to the industry.

Here is a guide to upholding the best practices for your company to help carve out a name for yourself and grow a successful business.

Facility
Of course, your business wouldn’t exist without a physical location, and maintaining your facility will be an ongoing process. You must keep an ongoing inventory of your storage units. Which ones have been sold versus how many are left vacant? You also need to keep track of vacant buildings and how often they are cleaned. Your business is in the business of selling storage space for people who otherwise don’t have that space for their belongings.

You want your facility to inspire confidence in your tenants. By maintaining your facility well, such as replacing lights, fixing issues, and keeping the facility in pristine condition, you will present a professional image for your business.

Staffing
Plenty of facilities are automated these days, and maybe that’s the direction you’ll be taking. That’s fine as a business model, and if your facility is well-equipped, saving the overhead of hiring additional employees will lower the expenses of your operation. Availability of staff, or the lack thereof, can affect pricing, and your potential customers might consider the budget more than the customer service.

Should you go the route of hiring staff for your facility, training is imperative. The industry isn’t a complicated one, but there are certain standards that your customer base is entitled to expect. Hiring the right people with the right attitude could mean the difference between smoothly running your business and constantly putting out fires.

Technology
This was touched on briefly before, but the use of technology integrated with your business could mean the difference between a manned and unmanned facility. Focusing your efforts on the growing trend of contactless self-storage technology will streamline your company in a lot of ways.

The Storage Group is a digital marketing agency that specializes in marketing for the storage industry. The engineers at TSG developed the first and only ClickandStor® Online Rental Suite. This online rental software does more than make the rental process easy for tenants and operators alike. ClickandStor® Online Rental Suite is the only self-storage management software that allows tenants to estimate size, pick out what’s needed, sign their lease, and move in immediately. For the management side, facility operators have access to all of their data and paperwork through this technology, making record keeping so much easier and reducing delinquencies.

The use of technology like ClickandStor®, and other, less-comparable ones can not only streamline your efforts but allow you to grow your business exponentially and without the limits of older technology.

One of the hardest parts of owning your own business has to be the advertising aspect. As an entrepreneur, your heart is in the business: what makes it tick, how to make your customers happy, and how you can grow it. But what you should be asking is how your business contributes to your local community.

Most of your advertising must be focused on the local level. By associating your business with the community through charity functions and community events, you are making a name for yourself in the community you hope to serve. Every town is different and will have different needs. By being active and participating in your community, you are putting your finger on the pulse of the town. By being active on social media, especially for locals in different groups and clubs, you are making your online presence just as valuable as your physical presence.

The Storage Group happens to know everything there is to know about digital marketing and software solutions for your self-storage facility. We know a thing or two about the industry because we’ve been champions of it for over a decade. With our advanced progressive web tools, the best engineers, developers, and customer service around, TSG is the leader in marketing and boosting your business.