3+ SAMPLE Self Storage Business Plan

What Is a Self Storage Business Plan?

A Self Storage Business Plan is a planning process laid out for the management of a self storage business. A self storage business involves renting out storage spaces to businesses or to individuals, usually in a predetermined period of time. These spaces can be in the form of lockers, rooms, containers, or any type of space that guarantees the security, safety, maintenance, convenient accessibility of the customers’ goods or products.

 According to a recent PR Newswire article, the global self storage market is expected to increase to USD 123.14 billion by 2026, based from a 2019 estimation of USD 78.21 billion. Of course, with that kind of prediction, it is expected that the self storage business will be one of the most appealing investments to be involved in, particularly in the real estate trade.

Forbes also stated in an article the four reasons why the self storage trade is being targeted by investors right now, and that is: having a strong return of investment, accessible financing, ease of maintenance, and the possible room for expansion.

Now, if you are thinking about starting your own self storage business, this is a great time to join the self storage industry, seeing the current market increase towards storage space rentals. You can start by talking to a real estate agent about your options for the best facility locations. You need to be in an area where potential customers can easily reach out to you. Real estate agents can assist you in finding the best location suited for your storage business, as well as with the budget that you have in mind. Once you’re able to do that, then you can start your self storage business by making a business plan.

Self Storage Business Plan: What do you need to consider

When making a business plan for a self storage business, there are different types of factors that need to be considered in order for the business to be successful. A good business plan template could save you a lot of time when planning for your business. These templates are available in different formats, depending on the type of business that you’re in. Usually, a business plan template itemizes the steps that you need to take to make your business grow and be successful. It can also contain safeguards and contingency plans for your business.

There are a lot of business plan templates out there in the market that you can choose from and that are ready to use. We also have several business plan templates which you can easily access and download on our website that you can use as a guide to create and customize your own specific self storage business plan. In this section, we are going to talk about the common factors or considerations that are usually found when making a self storage business plan.

Storage Location: One of the important things considered when planning for a business, in this case the storage business, is the location of the facility. Customers would like to store their products in a facility that is easily accessible for them in the movement of their products. Security and Safety: Like all kinds of businesses, customers would very much like to invest in a service where there is a guarantee of security and safety of their products. In a self storage business agreement, questions such as who has the key to the storage or how the management surveillance of the storage space or of the facility is being discussed. Rental Agreement: A rental agreement, or a rent contract, this is where the specificities of the contract are stated. Such as how long the clients will be renting the storage space, whether be it for long-term or short-term; payment terms such as security deposits, payment methods, security deposit, et cetera; ownership of the locks and keys; maintenance; and insurance, if any, are also discussed in this agreement. Storage Conditions: A storage business plan can also include the conditions under which the goods and products are kept. These include room temperatures, size of the space being rented out, number of products or goods allowed to be kept, overall cleanliness or maintenance of the storage, and many others. Legal Terms: These are the usual business legal terms and conditions typical of any rental contract agreement between an owner and a customer.

How to Make a Self Storage Business Plan

Planning for a self storage business shouldn’t be as complicated as people would think, since we also have available business plan templates you can customize for your own that are made ready for download.  These templates are convenient, easy to use, and very much accessible. Like all business plans templates, these templates highlight the common needs when planning a business. 

So, when it comes to planning your self storage business, it shouldn’t be that hard for you once you download our template. In this section right here, these are the usual steps taken when planning a self storage business.

Step 1: Write Down your Company’s Mission and Vision

All kinds of companies are presented and introduced to customers in the way of their mission and vision. It gives future clients an idea of what your storage business is all about and what your company hopes to achieve especially when it comes to their customers’ satisfaction.

Step 2: Have a Transparent Management Structure

 For transparency, customers would want to know whom they will be doing business with. It is important that storage business owners lay out its management structure of who is driving the business. Names and contact information of the owner and the managers should be displayed.  This is also important for marketing purposes so that interested clients can easily access contact information if they want to avail your storage services.

 Step 3: Create a Customer Target Market

Start by defining who your target customer market is. This will also depend on what kind of storage space facility you have in mind. Is your storage space made for wet products? Then perhaps your target customer market are those who are dealing with seafood products, as an example. Is your storage facility made for iced products? Then your target customer can be those that are in the frozen goods market.

Step 4: Marketing and Pricing Strategy

After identifying your target customer market, make your marketing and pricing strategy by identifying the market demands of your target customers. What are they specifically looking for in a storage facility? Is it the location of the facility? Is it the affordable pricing and cost of the rental services? Is it security and maintenance? Pricing strategy also comes into play through the rental cost of the storage space. Usually, the cost is determined on the measurement of the storage space, such as the price per square foot. All of these come into play. Next thing you need to do is to start making social media campaigns to promote and sell your services. The more you get the word out there, specifically targeting your customer market, the more you’ll see your storage space business grow more in demand.

Step 5: Products and Services Offerings

Once you have your marketing strategy in place, start planning your products and services offerings. Create service offerings that make you stand-out from your competitors. This could be in the form of discounts, freebies, and added value services. Highlight what makes your storage business unique and different. Another service you can offer as part of your storage space business is in the form of transportation.

As an example, you can offer transportation to pick up the products or goods of your customers to be transported to their designated storage space area. This will certainly be an add-on bonus for your customer satisfaction rating. So when creating your products and services, it is always important to keep in mind what your customers’ needs and wants are in a storage space service.

FAQs

What is a Self Storage Business Plan?

It is a business planning process where you itemize your plans and goals for a self storage business that rents out storage spaces such as rooms, containers, lockers, et cetera, to businesses or to individuals. It contains steps on how to market and maximize your self storage business.

Is it difficult to plan a Self Storage Business?

Planning for a self storage business is not difficult to do once you have a guide in place. In this case, you need a business template to make it easier and convenient for you. Basically, all you need to do is to answer the questions or fill out the information provided in the templates. This then can be your guide to start your business. With our ready to download templates, planning for a self storage business will be a cinch. We have all kinds of business templates that you can use as a guide to customize specifically for your storage business to make it easier and convenient for you.

Is it good to invest in a self storage business?

From the standpoint of real estate, storage space rentals are considered to be a current booming market.It has potentially a large income output, or ROI, requires less maintenance, and a good deal of guaranteed steady cash flow for business owners.

In order for a Self Storage Business to be successful, you need to have a good business plan in place. As with any kind of business plan, you need to highlight what your company can offer in a storage space business, keeping in mind your target customer market. Making a good business plan can be easily done after you have identified what your target customers are looking for in a storage service. Also having a good business plan template, specifically one customized for a storage space business, will definitely save you a lot of time in planning. See how simple and easy it is to plan out your storage rental business by visiting our website and downloading our ready-made, easy to use business plan templates!