Most Important Aspect of Self Storage

[Henry M.]

When hiring a management company or a manager, it is probably the single most important aspect of any business, especially in Self Storage.

Some owners are just glad to have a warm body hold down the office.

In the end, setting up incentives and keeping the drive alive will definitely produce better revenue than most of the competition.

Training and setting up realistic expectations is key to running a successful self storage facility.

Not all managers are created equal.

You have several types of managers:

· The "suck the life out of you" managers,

· The "Give away the farm" managers,

· The" bare minimum" managers,

· The "it's just a job" managers,

· The "average" manager,

· The "good" manager,

· The "great" manager,

· And the what I coin the H.L.O. manager, which is the elite. This is a High Level Operating Manager or "High Level Operator".

Most managers will fall in the 90% (good & under) category, then you'll have the 7% fall into the "great" category" and finally the 3% who will be in the "H.L.O." category.

Profit and revenue can be made with the average manager and up, but with the good and great managers, the store will make above average to good revenue.

However, if you get yourself a killer, such as an assertive, self-motivated, and ambitious H.L.O., then your revenue will go above & beyond expectations. This HLO is capable of going anywhere and is one that can run a store or even multiple stores.

So, a store's true success truly will depend on its manager.

An average manager will not hit budget often. If you have a good manager at a 1,000 unit facility, with units between a 5x5 to 10x30, Non-Climate Controlled... They may hit $80K to $85K, a great manager may hit around $90K- $93K, but an H.L.O. can get you in the upper 90's to $105K per month.

That's a tremendous difference between a good manager to an H.L.O..

What kind of manager do you have running your facility?

What incentives do you have in place to motivate your managers?

Do you have a budget bonus, net rental bonus, delinquency bonus, truck bonus, merchandise bonus, how about a surplus bonus (hitting above budget)?

What kind of training do you offer your management team?

How can you get the most and best out of your management?

What safeguards do you have in place to monitor your numbers on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis?

How much fees are being waived?

How many credits are provided?

How many discounts and promotions are given away?

I hope this gives a glimpse of the importance a manager is in any given facility.

Just my two cents.

"Big" Henry

Storage HLO

[Henry M.]

Originally posted by @Nathan Gesner:

I don't know the numbers but I have a 14,000 sq.ft. facility that I manage myself. I bought it in March with 40% occupancy so I'm busier than usual trying to fill them. I'm spending 4-5 hours a week on it, maximum. Everything is set up so renters can rent and move in without contacting me or coming to the office. I see no need to hire someone at this level.

And I would agree... It depends on your location and how your facility is set up. 

It is your business, and you have every right to run it how you should. ;)

Out of curiosity, what is your price per sq ft rate? Most that I have seen in our portfolio are going for about $1.25/sq ft.

Congratulations and I love you making that leap into ownership of self-storage.

Your Real Estate Ally,
"Big" Henry