Self Storage, a simple service that lets customers rent a room of the exact size they need for just as long as they want.
It's such a great idea, a brilliant service and potentially fabulous investment and yet only 20% of the UK's population have even the vaguest idea what it is.
As we all know it's not how big it is, but how you use it that counts. Self storage customers solve their storage problems in an incredible variety of ways. Household customers use self storage when they move home, redecorate or extend, when they divorce, when they inherit a houseful of valuables or when they just want some more space at home.
Business customers use self storage when they're expanding and need more space, when they need to cope with seasonal stock, create more space for their paperwork, when they need to downsize, as place for reps to store samples, hotels to store conference furniture, when working from home begins to take up too much space, etc etc.
In today's world who needs a permanent office, shop or warehouse? In many cases all you need is a computer, mobile phone and an idea that drives your passions and some storage space that grows as you conquer the planet. Self storage companies can act like an incubator for many start-up companies. When I was a student I used to struggle home with my stuff on the train or bus, or if I was lucky persuade my father to drive 150 miles for my scintillating company - I usually got the bus! Now students rent a small room (usually with their parents' credit card) store their belongings over the holidays and saunter home for a well earned break.
Investors, are you looking for a business with predictable cash flows, capital appreciation, a growing diverse customer base, one where demand is likely to outstrip supply, and with strong defensive qualities? Why not investigate the self storage market? I did and then swapped the cushioned existence of corporate life for the excitement of self storage.
In America 80% of the population have used self storage and it's become an integral part of people's lives. The same will happen in the UK; it's only a matter of time!
