by Kim Kilpatrick
November 18, 2010 11:29 AM
Regardless of the economic times it can be very challenging to find a business that you want to invest in or start. With everything becoming more and more specialized these days, choosing the wrong business can cost thousands of dollars not to mention wasted time. Factor in an unstable economy and the task becomes even more daunting.
The trick in picking the right business is in not just choosing a profitable one, but one that will thrive even in a down economy. Self Storage is just such a business. The human factor easily provides the demand. People lose jobs and are forced to move, often into smaller homes. Couples get married and/or divorced. Soldiers get deployed or transferred.
In the self storage industry there has been plenty of growth for reasons much like the aforementioned ones and more. At the beginning of the decade there were approximately 28,000 self storage facilities across the nation. Now there are more than 50,000. Estimates from 2009 peg the gross revenue for all self storage facilities to be in the vicinity of $22 billion.
With that kind of profit potential it is clear that the potential for expansion is there. However, like any business, if you go in without the right knowledge you are predestined for failure. While business is business no matter what you do, the act of successfully running a self storage business requires management to have the right skill set.
That is where the Self Storage Training Institute comes in hand.
Education is widely considered the key to success and the SSTI can give prospective owners/ managers the knowledge set they need to really maximize profits and minimize expenditures. Whether it is the right sales techniques, managing your revenue, marketing, customer service, or the legal challenges involved in starting, running, and maintaining a self storage facility the SSTI can prepare you for the challenges that lie ahead.
The SSTI offers a Qualified Storage Manager program, a 12-part course that will cover the many different aspect of running your self storage facility. Long-time veterans of the industry, many with more than 20 years of experience, teach many of the courses. Through the courses you can grasp a better idea of how to market your self storage facility, not just through traditional methods but online and in the community. Other courses cover facility maintenance, insurance, lien-sales, technological issues, and the all-important rental.
With the courses all online users can access the courses at their own speed making the process user friendly. Armed with the proper training and the certification to prove it a piece of the $22 billion stands ready to be taken.
Sources used:
SSTI; Self Storage Training Institute.
Self-Storage a Safe Bet in a Troubled Economy; Nov 8.
2010 SSA Fact Sheet; Self Storage Association.