Checklist for Starting a Self Storage Business
1. Set up a business
bank account. A business bank account has many benefits, including keeping your personal and business
finances separate for tax purposes and giving you a resource to acquire financing for your storage unit business.
2. Find a location for your mini storage business. There are websites that
advertise self storage for sale, like SelfStorages.com. Not only can you find out about self storage facilities for sale, they
offer lots of information for learning about the storage industry. Also, the Self Storage Guide Forum is good place to learn if you are starting a storage unit
business for the first time.
3. Meet with an accountant to discuss tax strategies and ways to maximize
your business tax deductions. Local business
owners you know can often be a great source of referrals if you don't already have an accountant.
4. Register your business name with the
county clerk. You may also want to incorporate your company. Are you better off
forming a C Corporation, or would you be better off in an LLC or Partnership business? Find out here
which one will maximize your business profits and how you can get started easily online.
5. Find out insurance requirements from a local insurance agent. The IIABA
(Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America) can help you find a reputable agent in your area.
You can also use insurance network websites to get business insurance for free.
6. Get a business phone line. You may be
surprised to find out how cheap it can be to set up a toll-free 800 phone number, a multi-line phone
system, VoIP or add an additional phone number to your existing service.
7. Order business cards. Often overlooked, business cards can be a very
efficient and low cost advertising method. See how you can design your own professional business cards online. Design your own
marketing materials online using professional templates. See also: how to design your own logo.
8. Get a website for your storage unit business. A website can help you
sell your storage service by displaying rates, giving contact information, showing facility photos,
offering discounts and providing detailed information that potential customers want. Save money by
creating your own website with simple online
design programs, or outsource the job to an affordable website designer.
Storage Unit Business Plan and Start-up Guide:
If you've never written a business plan before, you'll appreciate viewing some sample business plans,
especially those of other storage unit companies.
You can see a sample plan here for a self storage business which is being converted from an existing
building: Self Storage Business
Plan. Once you've reviewed a sample business plan, you can use the same or similar plan structure and
modify the plan by inputting your own storage business details
Although you don't need
specialized skills or qualifications to start a storage unit business, you want to have some knowledge of
the storage facility business. An easy way to get the information that you need and get questions answered
is to pick up a storage business start-up guide at your local library or bookstore.
You'll get insider information which will
help speed up the start-up process and assist you in bringing in revenue faster. Being a business owner
myself, I know personally that this simple strategy can save a business from failure. The last
thing you want is an empty storage facility with no customers.
Start a Self Storage Business 
Marketing a Self Storage Business
Get Free Press
Besides advertising in your local yellow pages and placing ads in newspapers and neighborhood mailers, you can
save money by writing a brief press release or "letter" to your local paper announcing the grand opening of
your new business.
If you can offer a special discount or hold an event and tie it in with your grand opening, publications
will find this more newsworthy and are more likely to publish news about your storage company. Your press
release can be short and simple, and you can find press release samples you can follow on this page:
How to Get Free Press.
Set up a simple website for under $50/year to
advertise your storage facilities. Help people find you in the search engines: get listed in 20 search engines for free or in
300 search engines for $4.
Local Search
is becoming more and more popular. People are many times using online search instead of the traditional yellow
pages to find local businesses. Local Search sources that are affordable and receive substantial traffic
include: Google Local, Yelp, Super Pages and Insider Pages.
29 Ways to Find Customers Who
Need Storage
If you can't find customers to use your storage services, your business will never survive. The good news is
that finding new clients doesn't have to be hard: simply use the techniques that the experts have
learned. Small Business
Marketing Strategies
Postcard
Marketing
Do a postcard mailing to introduce your storage service to potential customers. Using low-cost online services
makes this an easy marketing task. First, decide on a special offer or hold a grand opening sale. Second,
design your postcards online using professional postcard templates with VistaPrint (you can get 50% off here). And third,
get targeted leads from a lead generation company like Resource Nation.
Self Storage Business Resources: