How a Bigger Hammer Can Help You with Your Self Storage Business

If at first you don’t succeed, get a bigger hammer. There was a guy that worked in a tire shop. Sometimes, in order to get the wheels off of the vehicles, they had to use a hammer. If they couldn’t get the wheel off with the first hammer, they just got a bigger hammer. If they still couldn’t get the tire off, they kept getting a bigger hammer. If they couldn’t get the wheel off of the car with the biggest hammer, they went and got someone who was bigger than they were to use the biggest hammer.

So, what does this have to do with investing in self-storage? What is holding you back? What obstacles are you facing? Are you having problems with financing? If so, get a bigger hammer. If you can’t get financing, find a different bank. Or bring in more investors. Or find a better partner. Any of these options helps you to get a bigger hammer and try again. If you keep doing things the way that you always have, you will always get the same result. By pivoting and making a change, you will get a different result.

If you have a bad manager, get a bigger hammer. Figure out what the real problem is. Do you have bad systems in place? Do you need to change your systems? Is it a training problem? Did you train your manager to do things exactly the way you wanted them done? Or is the person you hired just not cut out for the job? If they aren’t the right person for the job, then how are you going to handle that? You need good people working for you or you are going to end up with a horrible property that you need to sell at a huge discount. That is definitely not your goal.

Are you having trouble finding or keeping talented people to work for you? Get a bigger hammer. If you can’t keep good people or get good people to work for you, then you probably need to come up with better incentives or offer better perks. A bad manager will do more damage to your bottom line than paying more for a good manager.

Are you struggling to find new properties? Get a bigger hammer! If you can’t find enough properties to fill your pipeline, work with bird dogs. Ask around, find people who wholesale properties and tell them what you are looking for. Let your real estate agent know what you are looking for so they can look for you. Don’t try to do everything yourself. By allowing others to help you, you create more time in your schedule.

If something isn’t working, don’t keep doing the same thing over and over again. Find a bigger hammer. Find a different way to approach the problem. See what you can do differently to solve the problem. There is a way to be successful investing in self-storage. This is a lucrative business to be in. You can make it work. As always, happy investing.