The topics of this month’s issue are storage law and insurance. What these subjects have in common is protection: How do you protect your business and yourself? While it is necessary to understand the law and have comprehensive insurance, nothing protects you more than a business plan.

For years, self-storage operators faced little, if any, competition. Today, more money and sophisticated operators are entering the industry. Competition has become an issue in virtually every market. The reality of new business requires more careful, strategic planning.

A plan protects you in many ways. It forces you to do the research essential to be a successful company. It gives you time to think things out before you find yourself in the throes of business. And once your plan is in place, you can go back to it as a “litmus test” for any decision you make. The problem is, most people never write a comprehensive plan. It’s not easy. It takes time, and you have other obligations. But it is an important step that will separate you from the pack and enable your business to thrive over the long term.

Recently, I was speaking to someone with years of experience in this industry. He made a comment that struck me: “Most people enter this business with an idea, a bag of money or a plan,” he said. The goal of this article is to pull all three together.

Begin at the End

So where do we start? Most people are taught to write a plan from beginning to end—to start with a mission statement, then focus on the product, market, competition, sales plan, marketing plan and financials. But many people either don’t make it to the financial section, or have sold themselves so much on their own idea they believe the financials are irrelevant. The ironic thing is sophisticated investors will flip right to the last page of the plan to look at the numbers. The rest is just filler.

Here’s a tip: Begin at the end. Create your vision and move straight to the financials. Work diligently on your financial plan. Figure out how your business pencils out, and the numbers will dictate how the rest of the plan lays out for you.

Build a Team

One of the most important aspects of your plan is the assembly of your team. Focus on your own core competency, then surround yourself with people who are great at doing everything else. Initially, you may want to hire consultants to reduce your costs by staffing on a project-by-project basis.

Here’s the key: Whatever the situation calls for, create an environment in which everyone wins. Be honest, upfront and fair. Be truly committed to helping everyone on your team benefit. This will attract people who work harder and are more committed and loyal than anywhere else.

A few of the people you may need to add to your team include a corporate attorney, real estate attorney, accountant, broker, title officer, escrow officer, banker, private or institutional investors, market and feasibility expert, tax planner, auditor, entitlement expert, architect, construction team, etc. Do your homework.

Get references, and call them! Make sure your team is complete. When opportunity strikes, you will be ready to attack.

Think Scale

If your goal is to grow your business, create systems that enable you to add scale rapidly and operate more efficiently as you grow. Use technology to streamline processes as much as possible, and fine-tune with each deal. This could mean standardizing your sales pitch or putting together market-analysis, acquisition- analysis or development analysis tools.

Know Your Market

Some things never change. In self-storage, nothing holds truer than this: A good location is the most important factor in determining the success or failure of a facility.

Unfortunately, people still jump into markets without any true understanding of market conditions. This usually results in one of many problems—difficulty getting land entitled, poor unit mixes, slow lease-up periods, market saturation or a softening in overall rental rates. Therefore, it is absolutely critical to get a market study and feasibility report completed prior to entering any market. Your market analyst should be a key part of your team.

Take It to the Bank

Once you have put together your plan and built your team, it is time to begin developing relationships with banks. A good banker could become one of your greatest sources of information, and may be able to provide quality referrals to consultants and other service professionals. Don’t be afraid to ask bankers to help you look at a deal and analyze it. They are part of your team, and their job is to help get your deal done.

Put the Word Out

There is tremendous competition in virtually every facet of the self-storage industry. How are you going to market yourself and stand out from the competition? No matter your business goal, it is crucial to be creative and produce a marketing plan that helps you to stand out. Once you have found your angle, tell anyone and everyone about it.

Be Patient

Finally, be patient. Don’t let your passion to build your business blind you to the fundamentals. Stick to your plan and be persistent, and the right path will unfold.

Scott Duffy is the founder and principal of Self Storage Capital Group Inc., an emerging owner and operator of public self-storage facilities based in Santa Monica, Calif. Mr. Duffy is an entrepreneur and investor whose background includes more than 15 years of management experience with media and technology firms, including FOX Sports, CBS Sportsline and NBC Internet. He has also worked with best-selling authors and speakers Anthony Robbins and Jim Rohn, conducting workshops throughout the United States and Canada in sales training, customer service and personal development. For more information, e-mail [email protected]. 

There is little argument that records storage can be the highest yield storage space you manage. This article discusses the objectives and expense variables that ensure high revenue yield.

The most important element of records storage and service revenue is the conversion of rentable square feet to cubic feet, as the basis of rental is always the cubic foot. Following is the most common rule of thumb to estimate gross revenues:

1. Calculate your total available square footage.
2. Calculate the total cubic footage by multiplying square footage by the height of the space.
3. Calculate total available cubic footage (that space not consumed by racking and walkways) by multiplying total cubic footage by .45.
4. Calculate your potential monthly storage revenue by multiplying your available cubic footage by 35 cents (the average per-square- foot rate).
5. Multiply your potential monthly storage revenue by 1.65 to account for the collection of service fees. This is your potential monthly total revenue, or gross revenue.

Although I recommend this model for revenue projections, I consider it conservative. The reality can be a much higher yield per cubic foot, or an increase of as much as twice the 35-cent rate. (This is based on several factors, which are explained in a previous article titled Price and Yield Differences, Inside Self-Storage, May 2003). Net profits can be managed to high levels depending on how you leverage existing assets such as space, people and outsourced resources.

Now, lets look at three ways of maximizing storage yield: creative selling methods, maximizing minimum-service levels and innovative management options.

Creative Selling Methods

Full-service records centers fear you! Some say we have awoken the sleeping giant. Self-storage facilities across the United States may actually contain as many boxes of records as industry giant Iron Mountain; the problem is most facility owners do not realize records are being stored in their space. So how do you convert part of your self-storage facility into a maximum-profit/minimum-effort records-storage business? Creative selling is the first step.

The key to great results from creative selling is to understand the services you provide and how to maximize margins while minimizing effort. The approach I recommend is called the Services Guidebook. This tool is like a football teams play book. The components of the guidebook include service name, service definition, pricing strategy, resource requirements, value to the client and compensation strategy. Selling methods can vary with up to seven levels of selling that you determine. You can review the selling levels in the October 2003 issue of ISS.

Maximizing Minimum-Service Levels

Lets turn our focus to service margins. Valuable services are the key to long-term client relationships, high margins and maximized yield per storage unit. The base service is, of course, storage.

This represents the annuity portion of the business, since records grow at a compound rate of 13 percent or more annually, net of destruction. According to industry studies, boxes remain in storage for an average of 16 years. Retrieval services can be outsourced so margins can be managed to about 40 percent. Other levels of service can average from 50 percent to 90 percent margins. The higher you raise the service levels, the greater the yield per cubic foot of storage.

Services can be managed to nearly a virtual environment in which all activities are outsourced with a residual profit. This must be carefully planned along with the development of the Services Guidebook, resource requirements and margin-management planning.

Innovative Management Options

What do you want to do with your records-storage business? Some owners only want to have a high-yield, minimal-service facility; others want to offer full services and compete in a broader marketplace. Regardless which of the many operating and marketing plans you choose, you will need to manage them to those results.

I recommend innovative management methods. What does that mean? The word management is defined in most 101 classes as getting things done through people. I have broadened this to include several concepts and techniques: effective use of technology, strategic outsourcing, batch processing and personnel abatement. Management now can be defined as getting things done through resources, processes and technology.

If you want to get there from hereno matter where there isyou need a road map. Road maps come from those who have been there before you. Our road is one less traveled. Seek assistance from fellow travelers.

Operating-Expense Management

The most common question I hear from those investigating records storage is, How do I plan for my expenses? We can easily target sales volumes based on market size, selling strategy and service levels. However, targeting expenses requires an operating plan that includes the service guidebook, outsourced resource availability and your technology choices. Management of these is, of course, essential. Management of anything requires an understanding of the goal, business processes and measurement methods.

The road map is the best analogy I can offer. Before you take a trip, you must know where you are and where you want to goa starting and an ending point. The next question is, how do you get there? Of course, the choices may be several, including planes, trains and automobiles and other options. The final question is, why do you want to get there? The answer may range from a quick business meeting to a leisurely vacation.

Now that you know these things, you can plan your trip. You look to those that have been there before you. You find a road map that delineates the distance, travel methods and time to the destination. You set your goal perhaps to get there quickly for a meeting and return as fast as you can. The road map helps you meet the goal. It also will tell you if you are off course and how to get back on. If you dont have a road map, you will get lost and miss your destination. Its as simple as that.

Regular columnist Cary McGovern, CRM, is the principal of FileMan Records Management, which offers full-service records-management assistance for commercial records storage startups, marketing assistance, and sales training in commercial records-management operations. For assistance in feasibility determination, operational implementation or marketing support, call 877.FILEMAN; e-mail [email protected]; www.fileman.com.

Now that spring is almost here and the long winter months almost past, it is time to take a deep breath and relax a little. This is the time to begin thinking about your facility manager, if you are an owner, or your own sanity, if you manage your own site.

Being a storage manager is not an easy job. I get such a laugh out of those people without self-storage experience who call me to be placed in a managers position. The first thing they say is, It looks like such an easy job. All you have to do is chat with people, rent a few units, collect the rent, and just sit back and watch the time go by. Plus you get a free apartment! If these people only knew a site manager wears many different hats: salesperson, collections agent, lien-sale expert, maintenance person, security guard, office manager, supervisor to relief staff and psychologist to tenants. Not to mention most on-site managers are a team or married couple, and it takes a very special and talented person to work and live with a spouse 24/7.

When you live and work at a property, it seems you never really have any time offno real private time. If youre lucky enough to find a relief manager, you have to train him and have confidence that 1) he is capable of performing the job and 2) he will actually show up, on time, on your days off. When you live on site, even on your day off, you inevitably get stopped on the way out to run errands, go to lunch, etc. Your tenants or relief manager will often stop you to ask questions or ask for help. You almost want to sneak out of the house and run as fast as you can before they see you.

When you live in this type of environment, it is easy to experience burnout, especially if you dont make the time to get away and relax. When was the last time you took some time for yourself, got away for a long weekend or went on vacation? Now is the time to think about it because, as we all know, the summer months can be very hectic in the self-storage business. People are buying and selling their homes and need storage; college students are going home for the summer and need space; and commercial businesses are picking up and need room for merchandise or supplies. If you rent trucks, that is a whole other issue.

Owners and managers need to sit down shortly after the first of the year and make some plans. Most companies give managers vacation time. The length of time will usually depend on the length of employment with the company, but at the very least, managers should get a one-week vacation each year, perhaps two weeks. I suggest one week every six months rather than two weeks per year. First, its easier to have relief managers work seven days straight than 14; plus its good to give managers a break twice a year. Long weekends should also be encouraged.

Owners need to realize the value of their management staff and understand that living on site can be stressful. They should demand that managers take time off and get away from the site. They might even want to treat their managers to a vacation or long weekend, all expenses paid, for a job well done or achieving goals they have set together. It is a small price to pay to have good, relaxed, alert managers. Just knowing their owners appreciate them helps motivate managers more than you know.

Even if your managers dont live on site, they still need time away from the day-to-day operations of the facility. Facility managers are in the trenches daily. They have to deal with people who are moody and tired from the stressful task of moving or other lifechanging event. This is not always easy.

Self-storage managers are a unique breed. Most enjoy what they do. They like the fact they can live and work at a property, and most love working together with their spouses as a team. But now is time for owners and managers to make those vacation plans. Everyone should have something to look forward to so they can re-energize those batteries and avoid burnout. They will return to work with a fresh, renewed outlook on their jobs. The manager, relief staff, owner, tenants and facility will all win if this is a top priority in the new year.

Pamela Alton is the owner of Mini-Management®, a nationwide manager-placement service. Mini- Management also offers full-service and operations only facility management, training manuals, inspections and audits, feasibility studies, consulting and training seminars. For more information, call 800.646.4648.

How many times have you driven into an area looking for a car wash only to be frustrated by not quickly finding it? Whats worse, when you finally pull into the driveway, you realize you drove by the place one or two times before recognizing it. Now you wonder why you didnt stop for directions or maybe buy that GPS system.

Be angry at yourself all you want, but the truth is the owner of that business is as much at fault as you are. Think about itwhy didnt you recognize your destination? Was it lack of signage, poor visibility, unappealing presentation or just lack of overall site identification? When it comes to operating a businesswhether dedicated storage or combined with a car washput yourself in the shoes of your customers. Ask yourself: Is my site clearly identified, user-friendly and welcoming to my customers?

Guest Relations

The Disney organization is one of the smartest, best-run companies in the world when it comes to managing customers. As a matter of fact, Disney has been so well recognized as a leader in this area, Disney University was created to share what the company knows. At Disney, the title customerservice representative doesnt even exist. Associates at Disney are in the guest-relations business.

Disney is as much about entertainment for adults as it is for children. If you havent been to a Disney theme park, do yourself a favor and book a flight. When you arrive, pay attention to everything from travel signage to the park to instructional information. And by the way, take lots of notes! Or think about taking one of the many courses offered through the university.

Although Disneys budget is significantly larger than yours, you can emulate much of what it does in the course of its everyday business practices. Think about street presentation, theme and design of your buildings, signage and, above all, ingress and egress. Make it easy and safe to transition on and off your site. Take a look at how guests are greeted once on the property. Is your greeting professional, welcoming and non-threatening? Are your employees uniformed? Is it easy to recognize your management? Is it easy to do business with you? Do really treat people who enter your domain as guests?

You might be thinking, this Disney stuff is all well and good, but how does it affect me? Let me ask a few questions: Are your numbers down in units as well as sales dollars? Is your employee turnover getting worse? Are you seeing your regular guests less frequently? If your answers are all no, one of three things is happening: 1) youre exceeding all expectations; 2) you have no competition; or 3) you are in total denial and chocking up the downturn to everything but what you see in the mirror.

The Drill

When an owner complains his business is doing poorly, he will often say he is at a total loss to come up with a rational, logical explanation. I have received calls from owners who say this blankity-blank car-wash business is not living up to their expectations. They attribute this to: 1) the economy; 2) their equipment provider; 3) their lender; 4) the phase of the moon; or 5) take your pick. Every time I receive one of these calls, I put the caller through the same drill. First I tell him to take out a note pad and right down these simple instructions and questions:

Walk out of your driveway and down the street 200 to 300 feet in each direction, then record your impressions. Can you easily identify your business? Remember, a vehicle traveling at 30 mph is traveling at 44 feet per second. Think of how little time a potential guest has to recognize you. If your property has 100 feet of frontage, your customer only has 2.5 seconds to recognize your business and acknowledge he needs you. Thats not much time to make a course correction, is it?

Once you have walked to and from your site, enter the property. Can your guests understand whats going on and how to proceed? Are instructional signs easy to understand and placed where your guests can read them? If you are struggling with answering these questions objectively, ask your neighbor or, better yet, enlist several secret shoppers and let them critique your presentation.

The car-wash business is no different from any other retail business. You have to make it interesting, fun and entertaining for your guests. You also have to meet or exceed your guests expectations or you wont get them to return. For years, I have told people entering the car-wash business that all you have to do to be successful is clean cars quickly and safely in a clean, pleasant environment. It is that simple! The challenge is you have to accomplish every component of that goal and do it well.

Execution is criticalit starts on the street and continues from the time your guests enter your property until he leaves. Think about the care you take the first time you invite guests to your home. Your business is no different. First impressions are lasting impressions. Are you broadcasting to passing motorists that you want them to be your guests?

Fred Grauer is the vice president of corporate accounts for MarkVII, a car-wash equipment manufacturer located in Arvada, Colo. He has made a life-long career of designing, selling, building and operating car washes. He can be reached at [email protected].

At the Car Wash is a monthly column written exclusively for self-storage operators interested in providing a mixed-use development including a car-wash facility. If there are particular topics you would like to see addressed, feel free to contact the author or e-mail [email protected].

The self-storage industry in the United Kingdom and Europe has become more retail in its approach. In line with this change, self-storage lifts have undergone an aesthetic overhaul. Though the mechanical aspects behind the scenes remain very similar, computer technology has been adopted in many current lift designs.

Twenty years ago, the first self-storage lift was installed in a building in London. This lift was a basic, 2-meter-cube lift car of galvanized steel, with manual shutter gates built into a steel structure. These days, with the focus on customer appeal, owners need to consider aesthetics as well as mechanics.

One of the major considerations for a self-storage owner purchasing lifts is the type of service he wants to offer his customer base. Does he need a durable, heavy-duty workhorse lift, or one with the features of a workhorse but presented in an attractive package for marketing purposes? The latter appears to be the current choice in the self-storage community, especially for larger operators.

Will the lift be hydraulic or electric? This is usually decided by the number of floors served by the lift and the overall travel between floors. The majority of lifts in the self-storage industry are twin-ram hydraulic for moving goods and passengers, and electric (traction) for moving goods only.

One area of misconception regarding lifts is travel speed. Unless a lift serves a number of floors, the travel speed is, to some degree, irrelevant—it will nearly always take longer to load the lift than to travel between floors. The most commonly specified lift speed is around 0.4 meters per second above two floors, and around 0.3 meters per second for two-floor lifts. There are some exceptions to this but not many. It is a common rule that speed means money when purchasing lifts.

The lift-floor area is a possible source of confusion when discussed with the manufacturer. The floor area dictates the capacity of all goods and goods-passenger lifts. The manufacturer must work within the tables in the European Lift Directive 95/16/EC (passenger lifts) and the European Machinery Directive 89/392/EC (goods-only lifts) for the lift to be Conformite Europeene (CE) marked and placed in service. For example, a lift car with a 2-by-2-meter floor area will have 2,000-kilogram capacity, depending on the lift-car door design.

Once these basic design features have been decided, the type of door becomes the next concern. The trend has gone from shutter gates to automatic panel doors, which look better. But in the self-storage industry, the type of goods moved in the lift can cause problems. Shutter gates are robust and will take the odd knock with some resilience. Automatic doors are less durable and can incur more damage from a small knock. The use of trolleys can cause all sorts of problems, since a lift door never opens or closes fast enough for some customers.

Maintenance and Inspections

Lift damage normally results in a call to the service provider, and the costs can be considerably more than most operators envision. This should be considered when budgeting for annual lift maintenance.

Following the process of researching competitive manufacturers and deciding on the right product for your facility, the lift is installed. You look forward to many years of continuous service. You set up an annual maintenance contract. Then your insurance inspector does his biannual inspection and requires lift-guidelines (LG) inspections be carried out. But two questions need to be answered.

First, what are LG inspections? These annual five- and 10-year inspections are conducted under Safety Assessment Federation regulations, lifting operation and lifting equipment regulations, and provision and use-of-work equipment regulations, as recommended by your “competent person.” Second, who is a competent person? Normally, this would exclude your service provider. Under most circumstances, it will be your insurance inspector, who should dictate your lift-testing regime and indicate what form of LG test is to be carried out.

Lifts are a very simple concept. But specifying the right lift can be a major area of concern for any self-storage operator. Get it wrong and the lift is always there in the background, a constant reminder of the error. Obtain advice from a trusted consultant and pick a manufacturer that can meet your needs under the relevant CE marking regulations.

Mike Carp is the sales manager for LTR (Lifts) Ltd. He has more than 30 years of sales experience in the engineering and materials-handling industries and joined LTR in 1993. The company, formed in 1981, supplies all industries with heavy duty goods-passenger lifts and is the largest supplier of lifts to the self-storage sector in the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.ltr-lifts.com.

What is branding and what does it mean to self-storage operator? Before we answer this, I'd like to share an observation made by one of my company's marketing specialists. He said some storage operators approach their market brand in much the same way ranchers in the old west used branding to identify their cattle. In other words, it denotes ownership and nothing more.

However, in todays competitive self-storage world, brand should not merely be the reproduction of your name or logo on a sign or packaging. It should be the manifestation of a well conceived marketing plan. It defines who you are to your customers. It represents substance, not fluff. A well-established brand differentiates your property from the competition. Good branding is something that is planned and developed over time. It tells your story.

When developing your brand, it should identify all the details about your property that matter. If you want to communicate that your facility is secure, make it that way, then incorporate strong visual images into your logo or use colors that denote strength. If you want customers to understand your facility is professionally managed, keep your property and office area well-maintained and merchandised. Potential and current customers are always assessing the smallest details to determine who you really are. That is your brand.

I have spoken with some operators who wont consider putting products in their sales/retail area unless they are privately branded, meaning they are branded with the individual facility or company name, not a national distributor. On the other hand, I have spoken to operators who wont carry anything but commonly branded products.

Whats the right way to go? Either way is fine if the emphasis still remains on quality. However, a poorly designed private-label program will not advance your brand. It can even detract from it if the packaging graphics are poorly printed or products are low-quality. Youd be better off using a nicely designed and well-merchandised stock program. (Incidentally, contrary to popular belief, a good private-label program usually costs more than a stock one.) If you chose to go with a name brand, make sure it is well-known to the average consumer, not just the self-storage operator.

Name-brand companies have invested a great deal of money in advertising a products quality, and your retail sales and image can benefit. If you need guidance to help you develop your brand, put on your consumer hat. What do you like when you visit a store or buy a product? I believe youll discover your likes or dislikes are not that different from your customers. Whatever you do, make your branding significant to the values embraced by your business. There are no longer any cattle roaming the range.

Roy Katz is president of Supply Side, which distributes packaging as well as moving and storage supplies. The company has developed merchandising programs for many leading companies including Storage USA, the U.S. Postal Service, Kinkos and Mail Boxes Etc. For more information, call 800.284.7357 or 216.738.1200.

This article provides a brief overview of the various rules, regulations and laws that affect situations in which your customer is no longer your customer and third parties get involved.

Bankruptcy

There are four types of bankruptcy. The first is commonly referred to as Chapter 7, which is broken down into two categories: corporate and personal. The other types are Chapter 11, also known as debtorin- possession, and Chapter 13, which is a personal reorganization. The concept of the different types is vastly different, except the two Chapter 7s operate primarily the same.

The most important thing to note is once you have any sort of proof even if its just reasonable suspicionof a bankruptcy filing on behalf of your tenant, you must take no action with respect to this customer. What has happened is a federal judge has ruled that any action against this entity/persons life or business is automatically stayed. This notice includes the telephone call from the attorney 10 minutes before your auction is scheduled to commence. As it is often said in criminal law, certain things cannot be undone, and it is better to inconvenience the facility operator than have a bankrupt partys goods be lost forever.

This is what is commonly referred to as a 362 Stay, referring to the Bankruptcy Code of the United States. It is extremely important to note this is federal. While bankruptcy judges are not necessarily at the same hierarchy as other federal judges, they are appointed by the President. What this means is when the Bankruptcy Court has spoken, there is no judge or individual who can alter the process. This is frustrating for a variety of reasons, not the least of which may be the personal relationship you have with the customer. Unfortunately, in the case of bankruptcy, the property is frozen and no longer that of your customer.

Briefly stated, in the case of a Chapter 7, the trustee takes over the affairs; in the cases of Chapters 11 and 13, the United States trustee oversees the affairs of the debtor. While it may seem the trustee would wish to take possession immediately so the property can be liquidated to pay off creditors, the opposite is often the case. In a Chapter 7, the trustee is paid a flat fee and then a percentage on property recovered for liquidation and, ultimately, payment to creditors. However, if the trustee does not feel the property of the debtor is even worth examining, the process becomes extremely difficult and frustrating.

Most bankruptcy law firms operate on a large-volume basis. Accordingly, it is difficult at best to get the attention of the trustee, who is usually an attorney. The proper measures to take are to immediately notify the Bankruptcy Court that you are holding property of the debtor (contents and value unknown) in a room the size of which can hold a certain amount of goods. You must also notify the trustee, whose name, address and phone number will appear on any bankruptcy filing. These contacts can be any number of well-documented, well-timed, methodical phone calls. Then, in a week or two, contact the court and the trustee in writing. You should document every attempt you have made to contact the trustee prior to judicial intervention.

If the tenant contacts you, entry to his unit is not permitted, nor is any alternate-contact access. Remember, the property no longer belongs to the debtor. There will be many passionate pleasthese must be ignored. Of course, the unit should be over-locked immediately.

From the moment you are notified a bankruptcy filing exists, there is debt owed to you by the tenant. But going forward, you are seeking a different type of payment, known in the Bankruptcy Court as an administrative expense. An administrative expense is usually paid 100 cents on the dollar, whereas any pre-petition debt is customarily paid on pennies per dollar.

There is one caveat. Any payments made to you within 90 days of the filing of the bankruptcy petition can be considered by the trustee as a preference, i.e., preferential treatment was given to you over another creditor. This could be extremely onerous, as payments made to you up to 89 days prior to the filing, even if they were for back payments, can be completely overturned and recaptured by the trustee.

To recap the Chapter 7 worst-case scenario, lets say a customer pays you for three or more months of arrears 85 days before filing bankruptcy. He is now almost three months past-due again. You have already paid your auctioneer and inventoried the property. The bankruptcy notice comes in virtually minutes before the auction. You fail to contact the trustee for some period of time, and accordingly, you are somehow denied administrative expense as a result.

Aside from following the few simple guidelines above, you can become more aggressive in a bankruptcy. The bankruptcy rules permit going to the court to request relief from the automatic stay. The motion is a fairly easy one. It spells out the facts. You make allegations that you were preserving the assets of the estate and indicate to the judge that the monthly charges go up ad infinitem unless you are allowed:

1. Payment for the months in arrears from the date of bankruptcy filing as well as going forward.
2. Continual payments until removal or abandonment of the property. Although aggressive, this approach is usually effective, as the last thing a trustee wishes is for the judge to be told by an independent third party that he is not acting expeditiously and costing the bankruptcy estate money.

A Chapter 13 filing is usually done by a pro se litigant (meaning, on ones own behalf). Common to these filings is a request to reorganize debts and give me some breathing room. Conversely, as the Chapter 7 is an outright and immediate liquidationsubject to some rare exceptionsthe individual ceases to exist in the eyes of the business world.

The Chapter 11, being the most complicated, is reserved for corporations. In its wish to stave off creditors, the entity does not cease to exist, but changes its form and operates as a debtor-in-possession. All of the previous debts are frozen, but the company continues to operate on its own, under the auspices of the United States trustee, paying ongoing debts on a C.O.D. basis. You cannot take any action to enforce the previous debt; however, the company must file a plan of reorganization and operating statements in a limited period of time.

Again, the most recognized way to protect yourself is to file a 362 motion relief from the stay as quickly as possible. There must be, however, good faith efforts on your part to get paid for administrative expenses and have the goods examined by the trustee prior to filing the motion.

Most jurisdictions do not permit corporations to appear in court without an attorney; however, rules of appearance are somewhat lax in certain jurisdictions. Same clients pay for the preparation of an omnibus motion for relief from the stay, customizing it so facts can be inserted and it can be used again. More often than not, pro se corporations have been able to file their own motions and appear before the Bankruptcy Court to plead their own cases, with some success.

Death

Many of the generic rules above are applicable in the case of a tenant death. There can be only one authorized person recognized by the probate/surrogates court that can handle the affairs of a decedent. That person is appointed by the surrogates court in what is known as Letters of Administration or Letters Testamentary. This is a letter issued by the court, with its raised seal, designating a certain individual to be the only person who may enter the deceased persons unit. In many instances, there are limitations on this, such as a limit to only take inventory and not remove contents.

The right of an authorized party to gain access to a deceased persons unit is usually not a recognized procedure; however, co-contracting parties (whether they be husband and wife, etc.) are usually granted access. The issue of power of attorney is often raised, though it should be noted a power of attorney ceases to be valid when the person giving the power dies. Furthermore, there are no alternates or substitutes. Some of the more aggressive pleas have come from people who have no right to receive the property. Although no one wishes to maintain a unit in default, when the customer is so insistent, there must be something of value in the unit.

There are instances where no letters from the court are issued and a Hold Harmless Agreement may suffice. This agreement should specifically identify the relationship between the parties; explain why the person wishes to take the property, i.e., for a keepsake or a need to transfer personal effects to another party; and state that the person accessing the unit is the only next of kin. There should also be a provision that if you get sued, the person who accessed the unit agrees to be sued by you, and further agrees to indemnify you as well as pay your attorneys fees. The agreement is substantially safer if handled through attorneys at both ends. If the appealing party is willing to go to such lengths, and you are able to contact the surrogates court or Department of Health for a death certificate to verify no other letters have been issued, the agreement may suffice.

Other Claimants

There are numerous other instances in which the general rules for third parties apply. These might include a situation in which a corporation is no longer in business, and yet the proper signatories are on the account to access its unit, or one in which an employee who has left a company never gave power to any other party to access the companys unit.

Another common circumstance is a divorce, in which a spouse may not have been on the contract but requests access. Or the spouse may be on the contract, and the alternate party wants to now deny access. Remember, verbal modifications to an agreement are completely ineffectual for example, a husband calling and saying, Do not let my wife in the unit even though she is on the agreement. These sorts of statements should not be recognized.

In all business transactions, but particularly ones involving third parties, caution must be used to avoid potential liability. Before acting, always ask yourself what could be the potential harm to your business if you act too quickly, take time to consider options, or work with a lawyer. As a general rule of business, reasonable prudence should dictate.

Kenneth M. Piken is a practicing attorney who has been in law for more than 25 years and is the senior partner in the New York-based firm Kenneth Piken & Associates. The firm encompasses all aspects of law, with a concentration on real estate and logistics matters. It has participated in or handled virtually every Appellate New York case affecting self-storage operators, all with favorable results. Mr. Piken was general counsel for the New York Self Storage Association for more than 15 years and participated in drafting and lobbying a New York lien law. He has lectured throughout the country and written articles involving self-storage in every major trade publication. For more information, visit www.pikenlaw.com.

Insurance is an excellent investment for your business, but it can become costly if you do not do your homework. Your self-storage operation has technical, legal and financial aspects not found in other businesses. Since your storage facility is unique, you will want coverage designed to meet your special needs. There are specialists who cater to the industry with the resources to provide you tailored coverages at affordable prices.

Self-storage owners should consider an insurance specialist that can provide a business-owners policy tailored to the industry. While most standard policies provide coverage for your building, business-personal property and business liability, a self-storage policy typically offers coverage to help guard against issues and hazards that only surface in self-storage.

Customers-Goods Legal Liability

Customers-goods legal liability is one such coverage. When you own a self-storage facility, you act as a landlord, not a warehouseman, because you never take possession of your tenants goods. You are not responsible for those goods, since you are simply renting space. However, there are certain situations that can create legal liability on your part. For example, by providing a building in which to store goods, you represent protection against the elements. If customers property is damaged by water because you did not properly maintain your roof, he may feel you were somehow negligent in honoring that representation.

If you are found legally liable for damage to tenants property, your customers-goods legal-liability insurance coverage will probably pay the claim. It might also provide defense costs, even if a claim is found to be groundless, false or fraudulent. It also includes coverage for damage done to customers goods stored in the open. This coverage is not normally available in the standard insurance market and usually cannot be added to the business-owners package policy. It is available only through self-storage insurance.

Business-liability Insurance

Business-liability insurance provides protection against lawsuits claiming someone was hurt or property was damaged on your premises. It provides protection against personal-injury lawsuits involving libel, slander, physical eviction or false arrest of a third party. It also protects against advertising-injury lawsuits involving plagiarism of advertising copy or layout; infringement of copyright, title or slogan; or false advertising. These may not seem like bodily or property damages, but that is how the courts have interpreted them. If you are found liable, business-liability insurance pays those sums you become legally obligated to pay.

Every self-storage owner needs to protect his income against business interruptions. If you should sustain a direct physical loss from a fire or other covered cause, chances are good you will also suffer an indirect loss of income. Indirect losses refer to the lost profits and the fixed expenses that continue from month to month, whether or not your facility is operating. You are also likely to incur extra expenses as you attempt to resume your normal business operations.

Business-Interruption Insurance

Business-interruption insurance, also referred to as business income and extra expense insurance, is designed to reduce your risk in the event of a loss. It protects you against reduced income and increased expenses that result from damage to your buildings or business-personal property. It allows you to retain key employees by maintaining their salaries and benefits. In addition, it encourages prompt settlement of building and business-personal property losses. It helps you to retain your tenants and can restore you to the same position you were in before the loss occurred.

Business-interruption insurance is usually included in most business owners policies as a standard endorsement. However, when you consider business-interruption losses can easily exceed direct-damage losses, the importance of this coverage becomes clear.

Sale-and-Disposal Legal Liability

Sooner or later, every self-storage owner will be faced with the unenviable task of evicting a tenant for failing to pay his rent, reclaiming the storage space and removing or disposing of the tenants property. Sale-and disposal legal-liability coverage provides protection against conversion: the act of wrongfully taking, selling, using or destroying the goods of another party.

Nearly every state has specific statutes governing the sale-and-disposal process. However, if the procedures are not followed to the letter, or if there is an error in any step of the process, self-storage operators are left vulnerable to lawsuits claiming loss of or damage to stored goods. Due to the incredible diversity of goods commonly stored and the wide range of values of the property, the penalty for conversion can be extremely high.

Choosing a Company

When it is time for you to purchase a policy, you will want to work with a quality insurance company with a strong financial rating. The rating indicates the companys financial ability to pay out future claims and benefits. You can research a company or agencys financial rating through organizations such as A.M. Best, which provide an independent opinion of a companys strength based on a series of financial evaluations.

If you are new to the industry, you can contact your state self-storage association for insurance information and referrals. The national Self Storage Association is a great resource if your state does not have its own organization. Also, refer to industry trade magazines; they will more than likely have information regarding insurance programs. Most self-storage insurance specialists will work with your local agent.

Universal Insurance Facilities Ltd. offers a comprehensive package of coverages specifically designed to meet the needs of the self-storage industry. For more information, or to get a quick, no-obligation quote, write P.O. Box 40079, Phoenix, AZ 85067-0079; call 800.844.2101; fax 480.970.6240; e-mail [email protected]; visit www.vpico.com/universal.

Many of us have had at least a few jobs in our time. If your last employment change was in the past few years, you may have noticed some rules of the game have drastically altered. On the one hand, technology such as the Internet has made our choice of position, location and employer more varied. On the other hand, the process of capturing that perfect position seems to have become more difficult due to a more competitive and technically savvy pool of applicants.

Once youve decided to contact a prospective employer, it seems you need to have not only an answering machine, but your own fax machine, cell phone with voicemail, e-mail address and even a website. After all, most companies dont want to receive phone calls anymorethey just list a fax number or e-mail address in their ad, or provide a website where you can apply online. If a company does contact you by phone, you have to accept the call, regardless if youre dripping wet from a shower or eating lunch. Lets hope the phone companies dont introduce camera phones anytime soon!

The Formal Interview

Youve been contacted by the prospective employer. The company liked what it has heard or seen and has invited you to come in for an interview. This could take place at the location of the position or, if the person you are replacing is naive about his pending release, a neutral location.

The meeting is crucial. It is where you are not only going to be judged, but can be the judge yourself. Where does the interviewer meet you? How much time does he spend with you? What types of questions does he ask? What does he tell you about current or previous employees? Finally, what is his attitude like? Does he handle the situation tactfully and, more important, professionally?

Make sure you have the essentials, and you will do fine. I cant tell you the number of times weve interviewed someone who came to the meeting unprepared. When an employer is taking time out of his busy schedule, you need to be ready to wow him. For starters, have a clean, fresh copy of your resume. This not only shows you understand the importance of such a document, but you have thought enough about the impression it makes to bring it personally instead of faxing it, which can render it illegible.

I recommend wearing clean, comfortable dress clothes. You do not want to dress in a way that is out of the ordinary or uncomfortable, but do not wear sneakersunless youre interviewing to be a coach or gym teacher. Do not wear your Grateful Dead t-shirt, even if it is Jerrys birthday. If its raining, take your umbrella. It doesnt impress anyone that you can do the 50-yard dash from your car. In other words, look prepared for anything.

Now youre in the room with your interviewer and he asks all the traditional questions. But what happens though when he throws you a curve ball? Ive read and heard such questions as:

• What would you like to see yourself accomplish in our company?
• What would you like to contribute to make us more successful?
• Do you have any questions for us?

This last question is your cue to pull out your prepared list of two or three questions specifically designed for that company, position or location. You can contact the chamber of commerce in your area for information on the business. Go online or to the local library to find industry-specific information. Have something to show you are interested in the company, not just the paycheck. I have asked interviewers questions like: What is your rapport with the competition? Do you have any plans for selling the business or expansion in the near future? How long have you worked here? Have you had a positive experience with this company?

The most important thing is to relax, explore your options and keep a sense of humor. I recently went on an interview of my own. The interviewer asked, Is there anything we should know before we run the background check/criminal history? I just smiled and said, No. Ive never been caught! Think Ill get the job?

Feel free to write to us with your most memorable interview stories. As part of the next column, we will print the best ones. Until then, good luck on the search.

David and Tina Fleming are the founders of Fleming Management Services, which specializes in facility operations, profit maximization and liability management. Mr. Fleming has more than 10 years of practical experience in managing self-storage properties. He is a columnist for Inside Self-Storage, a contributing author to the Self-Storage Telegram and a regular speaker at industry tradeshows. For more information, call 610.724.1002; e-mail [email protected].

Inside Self-Storage featured part I of Winning Women in its December issue. We recognize there are many amazing women working in the self-storage industry. Some are company owners and presidents; others work in less prominent but equally important roles. ISS works with many of them in the course of producing its magazines and expo events.

We regret there is not space to honor them all.

That being said, we encourage you to acknowledge and appreciate the women who hold key roles in your organizations, especially those pioneers who flouted the trend of self-storage as a predominantly male-run industry. We applaud them. Following is another group of wonderful women who have broken down barriers to become well-respected industry experts.

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Bonnie T. Reddick
President and Owner
Sentinel Systems Corp.

Age: 61

Bonnie T. Reddick began her career more than 43 years ago in retail in Salt Lake City. When her family moved to Colorado in 1970, Reddick began a career as a bank mortgager. In 1984, she and her husband, Dave, purchased Sentinel Systems Corp. and began their self-storage endeavor. Based in Lakewood, Colo., Sentinel introduced its signature software, WinSen, in 1993. The company employs 25 people.

SENTINEL HAS SEVERAL WOMEN IN KEY POSITIONS. IS IT TOUGH FOR WOMEN TO RISE TO EXECUTIVE LEVELS IN THIS INDUSTRY? WHAT CHALLENGES DO THEY FACE?

The challenges I see are not gender specific. They come in running a business. Developing new products and services while creating a positive work environment are continuing tasks that require constant vigilance. Balancing the daily dynamic of managing people with leadership and vision for the company is critical.

ARE YOU SEEING MORE WOMEN CHOOSING SELF-STORAGE AS A CAREER?

I have noticed many more women choosing self-storage as a career because of several reasons. I do not see the industry as being one that limits what women can do. Gender barriers that exist in other industries are not the norm in self-storage. I do believe women are taken very seriously by their peers in our marketplace.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE KEYS TO MAKING SENTINEL ONE OF THE LEADING PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE COMPANIES?

At Sentinel, we operate with the same focus every day, regardless if business is great or a little slow. We take pride in the stability and longevity of our company, which is a result of the way we do business.

WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED TO BE A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS OWNER?

One of the biggest challenges is blending the personalities of our employees. Ive surrounded myself with bright, hard-working people. I have a staff of committed professionals I consider part of the family. I also have a financial responsibility to our customers to manage the process of company growth. Too many times, we have seen companies act irresponsibly during boom years, only to be forced to scale back when times are lean. We want to make sure we have the people and the plan in place to provide for our customers now and in the years to come.

WHATS THE FUTURE FOR SELF-STORAGE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE?

Technology keeps moving at a breakneck pace, but the future of self-storage management software will continue to provide a focus on flexibility, personalization and ease of use. Advancements in technology have provided us some wonderful ways of easily accessing and sharing information. I envision a marketplace that will continue the shift away from conventional rental and payment methods and move toward a less labor-intensive way of running a facility. Storage customers growing trust in technology will act as a catalyst in this movement.

Another important point is the development vision of an organization should be guided by their customer base. Every day, we hear of a new idea or a better way for our customers to run their businesses. There are some really incredible ideas out there, and we have always tried to listen when our customers give us suggestions. It would be a really wonderful position to be in to grant every wish that is out there, but there is a fine line between the fundamental and the frivolous. The future of self-storage is maintaining the balance between the two and continuing to move forward.

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Carol Krendl, Owner
SkilCheck Services
Age: 43

Carol Krendl is the owner of SkilCheck Services, a Stockton, Calif.-based company that provides thirdparty management, mystery shopping, consulting and other services. Krendl was the corporate trainer for National Self Storage, where she designed a 10-day manager-training program emphasizing marketing and sales, legal issues, and rental agreements. She left the company in 1989 to form SkilCheck. The company now has 17 employees. Krendl also conducts public and private seminars, and has written a plethora of training curriculums.

ARE YOU SEEING MORE WOMEN BUILDING CAREERS IN SELF-STORAGE?

Not particularly. We have a lot of men in this industry. I have seen a few more women in certain positions in self-storage where, in the past, these positions were typically reserved for men. There are few women developers, but more women in management.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE KEYS TO BECOMING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS OWNER?

I really have something I enjoy about being a bossI want to constantly improve, and I have great customer-service skills. You really have to want to create something and have something that is a little above and beyond, and be willing to put in the effort. Theres a lot of responsibility.

HOW IS THE ROLE OF THE SELF-STORAGE MANAGER CHANGING?

I no longer hire resident managers. The property runs more effectively and efficiently when you have people who have a life outside of the facility. It can be a tough job living there. Sometimes the quarters are very small. It really opens the job market when you dont have to hire a husband-and-wife team. There are a lot of people in this industry who think thats the only way it works. But I can assure you, I am very successfully doing it at other properties. At all of the properties Im managing, we have four to five employees. We have longer hours.

WHY IS MYSTERY SHOPPING SUCH AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF A SUCCESSFUL SALES PROGRAM?

Generally speaking, salesmanship is the most important aspect of a managers job, especially in this kind of competitive market. With the economy down, sales is obviously important. We rely heavily on the Yellow Pages. Every time the phone rings, the manager has to be at his optimal sales level or he will lose the sale to someone else. People generally call multiple facilities before they actually rent. They usually visit only one facility. Once they are there, the closing ratio is huge.

The cool thing about mystery shopping is every time the manager picks up the phone, he will think, This could be the shopper. This keeps his sales skills up. Ultimately, you can really see how mystery shopping affects a facilitys bottom line.

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Donna May, President
Joshua Management Inc.

Age: 53

Donna May is the president of Joshua Management Inc. in Bulverde, Texas. She holds a bachelors degree in business administration with an emphasis in real estate, and is a licensed real estate broker with self-storage listings in the neighborhood of $20 million. She has been a guest speaker at Inside Self-Storage conventions and a contributing writer to industry trades journals. May has also been a partner in nine self-storage projects. Joshua Management has opened 13 new facilities and manages 16. The company has 34 employees.

ARE YOU SEEING MORE WOMEN IN SELF-STORAGE MANAGEMENT?

Self-storage is a much more visible business venture than it used to be. As it has become more a part of mainstream commerce, more women have entered the field. Real estate investments, in general, used to be a maledominated career choice. But over the last two decades, women have taken great strides and, in some markets, significantly outnumber their male counterpartsparticularly in familyrelated investments such as apartment building and self-storage facility management.

AS A HIGH NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS ARE WOMEN, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ADVANTAGES OF HAVING A FEMALE MANAGER?

As construction has become more sophisticated, more amenities that appeal to women have been incorporated. Things like enhanced lighting, see-through doors in climate control, convex mirrors to view around corners, air fresheners, and intercoms to the office are all intended to make female customers feel comfortable and safe in the facility. Although male managers can relay these benefits to their female customers, a woman-to-woman presentation is intuitively more comfortable. Men talking about safety issues can sometimes seem condescending to women, and they may hesitate to ask safety-related questions to avoid the appearance of vulnerability. Having a woman manager on site allows conversation to flow freely about the aesthetic and safety advantages of the facility. Sixty to 65 percent of our sales are to female customers.

HOW CAN MORE WOMEN BUILD A CAREER IN SELF-STORAGE DESPITE IT BEING A TRADITIONALLY MALE-DOMINATED INDUSTRY?

There are only two female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Similarly, in self-storage, the farther up the ladder one goes, the more difficult in becomes. But, as more women enter the industry as store managers, it becomes easier for females to attain mid- and upper-level management positions. There are also many successful female-owned management companies that promote womens achievements, and many selfstorage associations have female board members. The stepping stones are there. Ultimately, it is the drive of the individual and the investment she is willing to make in her career that determines how much she can achieve.

HOW IS THE ROLE OF SELF-STORAGE MANAGER CHANGING?

Self-storage is becoming very competitive in many areas of the country. Managers today have to employ all of the skills of running a successful business to compete. They must understand the financial concepts of business management as well as master the day-to-day requirements of leasing and sales. They must be aware of their marketplace and competitors and know how to sell their product in that environment. They must be aware of the changes in the demographics in their community and customer base so they can make their facility as appealing as possible to their potential clientele. Changes in the ethnicity, income or gender of customers may necessitate a change in management style. Since there are more facilities to choose from, selective marketing and/or advertising have become especially important.

WHAT DO YOU SEE FOR THE FUTURE OF THE SELF-STORAGE INDUSTRY?

There are so many factors that influence our industry, it is very difficult to predict the future. The explosion in the number of self-storage facilities has created an unprecedented environment. Certain things remain steadfast. A demographically good facility location (population, income, accessibility, competition) is paramount to its success. And a well-managed business with great tenant service will always draw more customers than a listlessly managed facility. The industry as a whole is becoming smarter and more business-like. Managers are becoming more professional. As long as we continue to adapt to the demands of mainstream business, the self-storage industry will prosperperhaps not quite as lucratively as it did in the early years, but as a solid business investment.

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Mary Briggs, President
Kevin Howard Real Estate

Age: 57

Mary Briggs is a former elementary school teacher with a bachelors and masters degree. She left education in 1986 to form Kevin Howard Real Estate with her brother, Kevin, who was already working in the self-storage industry. The duo started with three facilities in 1986 and now owns and/or manages 54 properties in Oregon and Washington. The company has 10 full-time employees in the main office and on-site resident managers at each facility. Mary is also a broker in Washington and Oregon.

ARE YOU SEEING MORE WOMEN CHOOSING CAREERS IN SELF-STORAGE?

Somewhat. In our organization, most of our administration and area supervisors are women. We do have several men now in these positions, but when we first started, nearly all of our employees, except Kevin, were women.

WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS OWNER?

Because of the increase in competition, a selfstorage facility needs to have professional management. Its becoming more and more difficult for mom-and-pop operations to succeed in the industry because of the increase in competition. A company needs to offer a full range of services. A good website is necessary. We keep abreast of new trends and ideas in the industry, and we have the ability to try something new.

HOW CAN THE INDUSTRY ADDRESS OVERBUILDING?

From our end, we get calls almost every day from people who have a piece of property or have their eye on a piece of property and want to develop it. We try to show them the economics of building a facility in an area already overbuilt. We try to help people build wisely.

WHAT IS YOUR PREDICTION FOR THE FUTURE OF SELF-STORAGE?

The overbuilding will stop. In the Northwest, it is becoming more difficult to find property that economically warrants putting a self-storage facility on it. In the past few years, more industry buildings have been converted to self-storage, and that will likely continue but on a smaller scale.

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Tammy Ross, Owner
Cutting Edge Self-Storage Management & Consulting

Age: 40

Tammy Ross and her husband, Stephan, began their careers in the self-storage industry in 1985 as resident managers with National Self Storage. They then joined Executive Self Storage and moved to Florida to oversee the companys East Coast operations. In 2000, the couple formed Cutting Edge Self Storage Management & Consulting. Based in Salt Lake City, Cutting Edge provides third-party management, consulting and feasibility studies. The company currently manages 15 properties across the country and has 35 employees. The Rosses are also developing three properties they will own and manage.

ARE YOU SEEING MORE WOMEN IN SELFSTORAGE MANAGEMENT?

Absolutely, and it is exactly what the industry needs. Intelligent, strong women are becoming much more prevalent in all areas of the self-storage industry. When I first began working in self-storage as a resident manager in 1985, there were very few women in positions of power in the industry. Now, you are not only seeing women working in the marketing and operations side of the business, but also in development and construction. I see this as an exciting and necessary change to the industry.

AS A HIGH NUMBER OF SELF-STORAGE CUSTOMERS ARE WOMEN, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ADVANTAGES OF HAVING A FEMALE MANAGER?

With a female presence in the office, you create a softer side to management. Women tend to take pleasure in a beautiful and clean atmosphere at a facility. They handle high stress situations well and are wonderful with collections and phone calls. However, there is a trend emerging where men are showing more interest in office work and women are beginning to venture out and enjoy the development side.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE OBSTACLES YOU OVERCAME TO MAKE CUTTING EDGE MANAGEMENT SUCCESSFUL?

In late 1999, my husband and I were working for different self-storage management companies when we were faced with the situation of leaving the industry or venturing out on our own. After much deliberation and discussion with some of the leading experts in the industry, we decided to form Cutting Edge. We were and continue to be very fortunate in making the company a success, largely due to the amazing 14-year education we received working under many industry leaders. One of the biggest hurdles we encountered was just getting the word out that we had gone out on our own and were looking for new clients.

HOW IS THE ROLE OF THE SELF-STORAGE MANAGER CHANGING?

The role of the self-storage manager has morphed from caretaker/office manager to one of an outgoing marketing and retail sales approach. The old saying, If we build it, they will come, no longer applies to storage. Now it is, If we build it, we must give them a reason to come.

WHAT DO YOU SEE FOR THE FUTURE OF THE SELF-STORAGE INDUSTRY?

The future of the industry is turning to state-of-the-art everything to compete with the sometimes overbuilt markets we are forced to survive in. The Internet is becoming a vital aspect of our business as the generations of tomorrow and our future customers use it for all of their needs. They dont rely on Yellow Pages for information, and they seldom use the newspaper.

I also see things becoming much more focused on customer service. As our lives become busier and we become much more convenience-oriented, I predict changes such as more on-demand delivery of portable-storage units and 24-hour automated payment and rental kiosks.

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Nancy Martin
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Chateau Products Inc.

Age: 40

Nancy Martin has a degree in retail merchandising from Chamberlain College in Boston. She joined Chateau Products Inc. in 1995 after 15 years in retail management. Bradenton, Fla.-based Chateau is a supplier of locks, and retail and packing supplies.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE OBSTACLES YOU OVERCAME TO MAKE CHATEAU SUCCESSFUL?

When I joined the company, Chateau was already very successful. I added my retail merchandising and sales background, and the business kept growing.

ARE YOU SEEING MORE WOMEN IN SELF-STORAGE MANAGEMENT?

Since I have been in the industry, the majority of self-storage managers have been women.

AS A MAJORITY OF SELF-STORAGE CUSTOMERS ARE WOMEN, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ADVANTAGES OF HAVING A WOMAN MANAGER?

A woman understands the customer service a woman wants.

WHY IS SELF-STORAGE BECOMING MORE OF A RETAIL-ORIENTED BUSINESS?

Most self-storage facilities have great exposure to the busy traffic areas, so they make a natural, convenient destination point for a moving and packaging store. It is easy to drive up to the door and load your car, and it is easy to find parking. Some self-storage managers will help load the boxes and supplies into the car for the customer.

HOW IS THE ROLE OF THE SELF-STORAGE MANAGER CHANGING?

Self-storage managers are becoming experts in sales and marketing to generate traffic into their stores; merchandise and display their products; manage the inventory; and lead the product sales through knowledge and good people skills. The self-storage manager is the most important part of the business, and the majority of managers are honest, hard-working citizens. I have enjoyed our customers tremendously over the last eight years.