Typically when a person is going into business they are concerned about the success of their own enterprise. That of course only makes sense; you go into business in order to make money for yourself and not the other guy after all, right? In the case of the self storage industry other businesses have begun to grow because of them.
One of the keys to success in any business is the first impression. That does not come when a perspective client Googles your facility or sees an ad in the newspaper. It comes when a customer pulls into your parking lot for the first time.
People like to say that you can’t judge a book by its cover, but it is exactly what we do. How something looks is exactly what we base our first opinions off of. If the grounds are well kept, the buildings nicely painted, and nothing in apparent disrepair we assume the best. If your business appears to be in a run down or dilapidated state with trash strewn about then don’t be surprised if you don’t get a lot of walk in traffic.
Keeping up with the grounds can often fall to whoever your manager is, but what do you do when it is time to repaint the buildings? What if there is a leak in the roof or your air conditioning and heating unit goes out? What if the hinges on several doors don’t work or you need a few units fumigated after someone moves there ‘stuff?’
Most people would have a few different people in their rolodex to cover each different maintenance need that a self storage facility could need. However, while this may allow you to shop around and find the best price possible it takes a lot of time away from other things that could use your attention.
What if all you needed to do was call one number no matter what your self storage facility needed?
There are some businesses that are starting to pop up that cater to the maintenance needs of self storage facilities now. With the industry being as competitive as it is there is more and more of a need for maintenance issues to be dealt with sooner rather than later.
Having to take the time out to call a number of different places to find someone that is available and can do what you need within your price range can take too long. The last thing you want to do is lose customers because you couldn’t get the place looking good.
That’s where guys like Andy Abreu come in. He is the president of Accent Building Restoration, Inc., a company that specializes in handling maintenance issues for self storage facilities.
“Self storage is still all about confidence for the consumer and they won’t store at an unkempt property,” he says.
Abreu had worked with Public Storage in Southern California when he was with Sherwin Williams, helping them with their paint specifications. After the earthquake in 1994 he decided to form his own company in order to help people repair the damage and rebuild their homes and businesses.
All the while though, he remained in contact with the people at Public Storage.
“Public Storage kept leaning on me to help them with work in paint specifications, but I told them that instead of just doing that, I also wanted to do the painting for them,” Abreu says. “Around that time (the late ’90s) they also had started looking at doing major upgrades to their Southern California properties. So we got caught up in an entire wave of renovating and upgrading.”
Abreu soon realized the need there was in the self storage industry for more efficient maintenance; a one-stop shop. So back in 2000 the company started to focus on the self storage industry. His company has now gone national and self storage facilities account for 75 percent of his business.
Sources Used:
“One-stop shopping for Maintenance.” SSA Globe News; 04 January 2011.