Do you wish to open a self-storage facility?
Do you want to start a self-storage business? A self storage company may provide individuals and businesses with storage space (such as lockers, containers, rooms, and outdoor space). People utilize self-storage companies when they run out of space, move to a new area, or simply refurbish their homes. Businesses and enterprises working in small facilities seek the services of self-storage providers since they are unable to retain their corporate assets or archives due to a lack of space. Self-storage services have become a need for everyone in today’s economy, when people are forced to live in smaller dwellings and businesses are compelled to operate in small offices. So, if you wish to establish this company, you have a good possibility of generating money.
If you’re unsure how to establish a self-storage business, the first step is to draft a comprehensive business plan that will serve as the framework for your company’s future operations and decisions. To help you with your self-storage business plan, we’ve created a business plan for a self-storage company named ‘Houston Self Storage.’
The Company
In the center of Houston, Houston Self Storage is a fully licensed and insured self storage facility. Short- and long-term self-storage services, as well as storage units of various sizes, will be offered by the company to fulfill the needs of its customers. Our storage unit business strategy is tailored to fulfill the demands of a broad variety of customers.
Management
Houston Self Storage will be a joint venture between industry veterans Mike Harvin and Jack Elisken. Because Jack has worked in the storage business and Mike has worked in the moving industry, they have the resources and abilities necessary to open a self storage facility. Both partners will share equal ownership and contribute equally to the venture’s finance.
Customers
Our target markets in Houston include the residential community, institutions and organizations, as well as the corporate sector. Depending on our target clientele, we are in the best possible location to launch a self-storage business.
The Company’s Objective
We intend to be Houston’s best self-storage business during the first five years of existence. Our major business objectives to achieve as milestones over the next three years are as follows:
We expect a net profit margin of $10k per month at the end of the first year, $15k per month by the end of the second year, and $25k per month by the end of the third year.
The startup’s initial expenses should be matched with generated revenues by the end of the first year.
To establish a second storage facility in a Texas city after six years of operation.
Owner of a business
As a joint venture, company owners Jack Elisken and Mike Harvin will control Houston Self Storage. Jack is a seasoned industry veteran who previously served as the General Manager of New State Warehouse for seven years. Mike is the proprietor of a moving company called Realtime Movers. Both partners will share equal ownership and contribute equally to the venture’s finance.
Why is the company being established?
To profit from the industry, Jack and Mike have decided to build a self-storage facility. Their plan has a high chance of success, given Houston’s expanding population and dearth of self-storage facilities.
How will the company get started?
It’s challenging to start a self-storage business since there are so many variables to consider. This sample self-storage business plan will help if you’re not sure how to start a self-storage firm.
Houston Self Storage will be located in the heart of Downton Houston, where it is much needed. With a total area of roughly 55,000 square feet, the facility is divided into many sections: 10-by-30-foot storages, 10-by-25-foot storages, 10-by-20-foot storages, 10-by-15-foot storages, 10-by-10-foot storages, 5-by-10-foot storages, and 5-by-5-foot storages. Financial experts for the corporation have projected the following expenditures for spending, assets, investment, and bank loans.
The table below displays the total assets, total funding required, total liabilities, total planned investment, total capital, and total liabilities for a startup.
Customers’ services
If well-planned and established in the right area, a self-storage firm may be highly lucrative. The services you provide to your customers influence your self-storage company’s profit margin, so plan your offerings carefully when researching how to establish a storage unit business. It’s also important to plan your services before building a storage facility since it helps with the design of the subsequent components.
Customers will be able to store their belongings for both short and lengthy periods of time at Houston Self Storage. We will supply storage units of various sizes to satisfy the various storage needs of our customers. In any of the storage units, theft and other sorts of damage will not be an issue. We will be available to supply you with services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We will keep our facilities clean and well-lit at all times, and we will provide rolling carts to make loading and unloading simpler for our customers. The categories in which we give our major services are as follows.
- Standard Self Storage Units: We will provide standard self storage units in various sizes to accommodate all of your possessions. Our storage containers are created to order to fit the specific requirements of our clients.
- Climate-Controlled Self Storage Spaces: In addition to standard storage units, we will provide climate-controlled self storage units that will maintain a steady temperature throughout the year. These storage cabinets are great for storing delicate items such as important documents, electronics, wood, and furniture.
- Packaging and Storage Supplies: For our customers’ convenience, we will also provide a variety of packaging and storage materials, such as packing boxes, tapes, and other essential supplies.
- Moving Services: We will provide moving services to our customers by loading and unloading their belongings at our storage facility.
Self-storage business marketing analysis
Note: This is a self-storage firm marketing study.
A comprehensive marketing research is the most important component of a successful self-storage business strategy, which is why the company’s founders employed marketing experts to help them at this point.
A viable storage unit business model can only be created up to this stage. After assessing the availability of existing self-storage facilities in Houston as well as current demand, marketing professionals and analysts supported them in identifying the best site for a storage facility.
The success or failure of a self-storage firm is totally reliant on its marketing strategy, which can only be devised after extensive market research. You must do a marketing analysis before even considering how to operate a storage unit firm. If you’re just starting out, you may use this self storage business plan template or other storage facility business plan templates online to do your own market research. When building a successful storage unit business plan, however, it is always a good idea to seek the counsel of marketing professionals if you are beginning a larger storage firm.
Trends in the Market and Industry
The first stage in the marketing analysis of your storage units business plan is to do a feasibility research of the current self-storage industry. A feasibility study assesses whether or not an industry is saturated, as well as whether or not a firm in that market will succeed. As a consequence, it must be taken into account while establishing a storage unit business.
The self-storage industry emerged in the 1960s in response to the increased need for commercial and household storage. The company has grown in size every decade since its establishment, with a larger return on investment than other forms of real estate investments. In the United States alone, the self-storage industry currently generates $38 billion in annual revenue. There are around 58,000 businesses in the industry, employing over 141,000 people throughout the country. The industry increased at a 7% annual rate from 2012 to 2017, according to statistics, and is likely to continue to grow in the future. People’s increased desire to live in rental properties, as well as an increase in the purchasing of leisure goods such as exercise equipment, wind-surfers, and skis, among other things, are the causes of this trend. In conclusion, the self-storage sector is feasible for new enterprises, given the ever-increasing population. As a consequence, with careful planning, you may be able to establish a storage unit business and make a lot of money.
Segmentation of the Market
In order to build an effective marketing strategy, we must first examine the market segmentation of our self storage business’s prospective clientele. A solid and effective marketing strategy can only be created if a firm has a complete grasp of its target market, which is why it’s essential to consider before building a storage facility. Our target markets in Houston include the residential community, institutions and organizations, as well as the corporate sector. Depending on our target clientele, we are in the best possible position to start a storage unit firm. Our experts have identified the following target demographic as prospective future clients for our services.
Residents of the area:
Houston’s residential community is our first target group. The residents of the residential area are of many nationalities and origins, with the majority of them being financially secure. As a consequence of the economic slump, which has affected every single person in the United States, people are living in smaller residences that are usually inadequate to hold everything. Most people have a collection of leisure things like gym equipment, windsurfers, and skis that they only use on rare occasions, so they store them in self-storage facilities to avoid overloading their homes. Another important aspect is that over 44% of Houston residents rent their houses and use self storage facilities to temporarily keep their stuff when they need to move.
Local Enterprises:
Small enterprises and startups situated in Houston are our second target group. Self-storage facilities are used by many businesses in the city, including retail shops, to temporarily keep their goods. Another important factor to consider is that many startups and even some established businesses operate in small locations, such as offices, requiring the usage of self-storage facilities to keep inventory and commodities.
Organizations & Institutions:
Self-storage firms are used by many institutions and organizations with limited space to keep their inventory and commodities.
A complete market analysis of our potential clients may be seen in the table below:
Business Objective
We intend to be Houston’s best self-storage business during the first five years of existence. The company’s founders intend to establish a second storage facility in Texas city after six years of operation. Our major business objectives to achieve as milestones over the next three years are as follows:
We expect a net profit margin of $10k per month at the end of the first year, $15k per month by the end of the second year, and $25k per month by the end of the third year.
The startup’s initial expenses should be matched with generated revenues by the end of the first year.
By offering exceptional services, we want to establish a standard of excellence in the industry.
Pricing for Packages
Service pricing is one of the most important factors to consider when developing a marketing strategy. It’s difficult to determine service prices since businesses must engage customers while still earning a profit. These two objectives cannot be achieved at the same time, thus the only alternative is to find a middle ground.
After examining our competitiveness and market expectations, we priced our services in the same ranges as our competitors. Our pricing strategy is predicated on reaching a MARR (minimum attractive rate of return), which would be unachievable if we charged less for our services.
Strategy
After analyzing industry trends, market demand, and potential customers for the firm, the next step is to create an innovative sales strategy. Before considering how to operate a self storage organization, sales strategy, like marketing research, is an important component of the model.
Analysis of Competitors
With over 58,000 self-storage companies in the United States, the self-storage industry is very competitive. We do, however, want to surpass our competitors due to a variety of competitive variables. Our first and most important competitive advantage is our strategic location, which is ideal for launching a self-storage company strategy. We are located in the city’s downtown region, which acts as the hub for all local businesses and is near to the residential area. Our high-quality services will be one of our primary competitive advantages, in addition to our location. Our storage facilities will be kept clean and well-lit, as well as safe from theft and other forms of injury. We’ll also provide moving carts to assist our customers with loading and unloading their stuff. Finally, we will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, ensuring that you will always have access to your stuff.
Strategy for Selling
Our experts produced the following unique strategies for marketing and selling ourselves after conducting a comprehensive investigation.
We’ll launch a large-scale social media campaign for our ad.
We’ll create a website that allows customers to see whether a storage unit that fulfills their requirements is available. Customers will also be able to make reservations via our website.
We will provide incentives for customer referrals to promote our services.
Monthly Sales
Our experts forecasted the following sales on a monthly basis, as shown in the column charts below.
Yearly Sales
Our experts forecasted the following sales on a yearly basis, as shown in the column charts below.
Forecasted Sales
Because of the great quality of our services, we expect our sales pattern to increase over time. Based on our market segmentation technique, our analysts predicted the following yearly sales, which are shown in the accompanying column charts.
The table below provides detailed information on sales projections, total unit sales, and total sales.
Personnel strategy
A company can only succeed if it is well-planned from the start. Before you explore how to open a self-storage facility, you must first develop a people plan, just like you would for other parts. The personnel plan not only identifies the staff the organization need, but it also analyzes the costs connected with their compensation. However, determining the number and kind of staff needed for a company before it even starts may be challenging, so seek HR counsel before launching a self-storage company.
Employees of the company
Jack will be the company’s General Manager, while Mike will be the company’s Chief Executive Officer. HR experts have determined the following staffing requirements for starting a self-storage unit business.
- 2 Accountants/Administrators are responsible for maintaining financial records.
- Four sales executives are responsible for marketing and new ventures.
- There will be 20 field staff in charge of the storage’s operation and upkeep.
- Clients will be assisted by eight movers in loading and unloading their items.
- For a pristine company at all times, there are eight cleaners.
- 2 technical helpers for managing the website and social media pages
- 1 Front Desk Officer to assist with receptionist tasks.
- There are six armed security guards on the premises.
All workers will be recruited based on tough testing methods and trained for a month before being onboarded to ensure the highest quality of service.
Employees’ Average Salary
The table below shows the expected statistics for employees and their salary for the following three years.
Plan your finances
The next step after deciding on the company’s strategy and personnel plan is to construct a detailed map of the company’s financial expectations. Before you consider how to start a self-storage business, you must first develop a financial strategy, just like you must plan for other aspects of your business. The financial plan should contain a detailed analysis of the startup costs, inventory, payroll, equipment, rent, and utilities, as well as how revenue will be used to cover these expenditures. So, if you’re wondering whether your self-storage business is profitable, you’ll find out when you make a financial plan. Before you start your own storage unit business, consult with a financial advisor to develop a sound financial plan. Houston Self Storage’s financial plan is as follows.
Important Premises
To forecast the company’s financial prospects, the following assumptions are employed. These assumptions are conservative and may vary, but only to the extent that the company’s fundamental financial strategy is not impacted.