Many franchisees want to take advantage of additional profits by building their own self storage vs. buying an existing self storage. This route also allows new franchisees to get started with less than half the cash capitol investment. The problem is they do not know how to started.
It can be a complex maze between finding the right parcel of land, banking, site plan design building design, obtaining multiple regulatory approvals, construction and pre opening marketing and preparations, with minefields, delays and cost overruns at every turn. Marc Goodin, our founder, has learned self storage by being in the trenches and is ready to help you jump over the minefields. He is a professional engineer who designed his first self storage over 30 years ago and many more since then, including 3 personal self storages he designed, built, owns and manages.
We have created the Storage Authority proprietary “Dynamic Ease Development Series” Finding Land Through Pre-Opening Tasks. This system along with our one on one guidance helps our franchisees get started faster, go around the minefields, save money and be ready to open with a modern premium facility, ready to rent up. Our Strategic Development Systems consists of an integrated step by step process where our expertise provides guidance and support throughout the land discovery and development phases.
Here is a partial list of items covered in our dynamic Ease Development Series.
Chapter 1 Introduction
A Building Your High Performance Team
B First 30 Days
C Development flow charts
D Chapter 1 Worksheets
Storage Authority Competition Review.
Storage Authority Developer Secret Shop Review.
Storage Authority Partial Designer and Vendor List
Think Retail $17.95 on sale for just $12.99 and sell more locks than your competition sells at $9.99.
Chapter 2 Land
A The Basics of a Good Location
B Typical Basic Land Requirements
C Hiring a Quality Broker to Assist You with Finding Land
D Additional Ways to Find Land
E Initial Land Review Prior to An Offer or Feasibility Study
F Making the Offer & Due Diligence
G Feasibility Study
H Chapter 2 Worksheets
Example letter for contacting a land owner.
Questions for first meeting with town planner & staff.
Individual land parcel info worksheet.
Site drive by worksheet.
Initial zoning review worksheet.
Land offer worksheet.
Chapter 3 Purchasing an Existing Self-Storage Facility
A Seven Primary Steps of a Real Estate Transaction.
B Investigating an Existing Facility
Chapter 4 Banking/Lending
A Loan Options
B Loan Considerations
C Often Over Looked Expenses
D Chapter 4 Worksheets
Loan request sample
Chapter 5 Design & Regulatory Approvals
A Finding Design Consultants
B Site Plan Design
C Regulatory Meetings
D Building Design
E Security Design
F Video Surveillance Design
G Chapter 5 Worksheets
Additional Site Plan Design Items to Consider.
Additional Building Design Items to Consider.
Site Details
Owner to do during the Design process.
Chapter 6 Bidding and Construction
A Finding a Contractor
B Construction Specifications & Bidding
C Construction Review
Chapter 7 Pre-Opening Preparations
A 120 Prior to Opening
B 30 Days Prior to Opening
C Pre Opening Marketing
D Chapter 7 Worksheets:
First product order
Managers book table of contents
Business cards & marketing cards
You may even have experience in some or many or these items but you will be surprised how many items are just different in the self storage world and because of that our assistance will make a huge difference. For example you may have a good relationship with your bank and getting a bank loan may not be a huge concern but there are a couple of standard bank loan clauses such as requiring a Debt Coverage Service Ratio ( DCSR) of 1.3 in the loan. This could be risky as self storage start empty and may not meet this prevision in the beginning. But even a good loan request presentation will make you look very professional and experienced in self storage and this along with the Storage Authority Franchise program you may get you a better loan.
Our well timed reminders and explanations will often save you money and give you the proper time for coordination which means fewer delays. You may have many of them on your check list like, wetlands delineations, maximum impervious surface zoning check, sight line check, soil borings, existing water service pressure test for sprinklers, site sign design, photos & reports for regulatory meetings etc. etc, etc, it easy to forget one or two or several get the wrong results or over pay if a clear explanation is not provided. Just for your engineers we provide over several dozen items for them that are often overlooked and typically multiple dozens more as we review their plans. And of course the better your plans are the more accurate your constructions bids will be with fewer problems and cost overruns.
One major area we provide detailed guidance on is your site layout. Often this saves multiple weeks in the process and gets you a better layout and even more square footage.
The best way to learn more about our proprietary “Dynamic Ease Development Series” Finding Land Through Pre-Opening Tasks and our various systems and platforms is to complete our online application to become prequalified for a franchise as soon as possible and start discussions with your franchise director. We look forward to explaining more about how this optional development service will help you build your premium facility for less money and in less time with confidence.
We are ready and excited to help you succeed!
And while your questions may intialy be about development soon your questions will be open and sales, marketing and operation. The good news is we are ready to help you Crush Your Competition!
You Can Do it!