Creating Your Business Plan –The Fuel of Your Business – Networking!

Just like marketing, you need to be networking with other people and talking to current self-storage owners. If you just sit and wait for people to reach out to you, you are never going to get the results that you want. On the other hand, if you are constantly reaching out to owners, and talking to people who know people in self-storage then you are putting yourself in a position where you can potentially get great leads. So why do you need to incorporate this into your business plan? If you don’t hold yourself accountable, who will?

So, who should you start networking with? Start by making a list of people that can help you grow your business. Start with business relationships. You want to start networking with people who are in the business. If you are new to real estate, then start by talking to commercial real estate brokers. Remember that any time that you are talking to someone, they are interviewing you too. Be prepared. You want to make sure that you have role played enough that you will come across as professional, knowledgeable, and able investor. If they don’t think that you are capable of buying a property, they won’t waste their time on you.

Another group you should network with is commercial real estate lenders. These people often know who is interested in expanding their portfolio. This can be good for finding partners. They also know who might be interested in selling a smaller property so that they can move up. They are also a great resource for your own properties.

You can go to self-storage networking groups and network with the people who are there. These are typically other owners who are talking about what they are experiencing. Sometimes, you will find people who are complaining about all the problems they are experiencing. This is a great opportunity to talk to them about the ways that you can help them. Be sure to post answers and start discussions so that people get familiar with who you are so that they are comfortable with you.

Now that you have your business relationships written down, you need to write down your personal relationships. Don’t be afraid to talk to the people that you already know. You may be surprised by who they know. They may be able to introduce you to people who are in the business. These people in turn can introduce you to other people until you finally are talking to your next seller. The more comfortable you get talking and practicing on the people that you know, the better you will do with the people that you don’t know.

Make a list of everyone that you know from your nail artist to your religious friends to your work out buddies. You will be surprised at how many people your nail artist knows. See if you can leverage that relationship to network with all the other people that they know. Your personal trainer may train someone who is interested in expanding their financial investments. There are so many potential opportunities that you will never know about if you don’t ask.

Just like anything, networking takes practice. Start with the people that you know so that you can get better. You want to be polished and ready to answer detailed questions by the time you are in front of the people who you may be able to put together a deal with. Practice with the people who are willing to help you.

Now that you have made a list of who you are going to network with, you need to decide how often you are going to network. You don’t want to network so often that people dread seeing you coming, but you also want to be front of mind enough that they remember that you are interested in self-storage properties. Find a happy balance. Don’t wait any longer. Start today, as always, happy investing.