by Winnie Hsiu
July 6, 2011 4:48 PM
For businesses like the self storage industry there are going to be certain costs that are going to be incurred no matter what. If you’re starting from scratch, there will be construction permits; if you’re buying a used facility you might have to remodel. Once all the major expenditures are out of the way it comes down to advertising, employees, and utilities.
To make money you need to spend money; how much you spend is up to you though. Of course when you want to do what’s needed for your self storage facility to be considered high quality, but you don’t want to be forced to charge an arm and a leg because you spend a bundle on advertising. However, if you don’t spend enough on advertising you may not have any tenants at all.
Employee benefits and salary are another way to possibly cut cost, but that may not be the smartest place to cut cost. The manager of your self storage facility is the face of the company. If it is not a friendly, helpful, knowledgeable one that does not scare people it can be hard to fill your self storage facility up. When it comes to employees you basically get what you pay for.
That leaves your utilities as the best place to really cut cost. So does that mean you should shut the light out unless you see a tenant drive in? Leaving them on all the time can be expensive after all.
Lighting is actually the one place that self storage facilities can cut the most cost without reducing the quality of the product being offered. Many facilities, especially in the New Jersey area of late, have been switching to solar energy to save on utilities. As good an option as that it, be making a smaller change (but on a large scale) you can save a bundle of money as well.
Take Safe Haven Self Storage in Mount Kisco and Elmsford, NY, for example.
Recently, both self storage facilities announced they would be changing out all the light bulbs in their units and around the facility to go with energy efficient LED lighting. Xeleum Lighting, LLC will be completing the lighting makeover during the third quarter of 2011.
“Once we saw the energy audit and ROI analysis, the decision to proceed with the conversion was obvious. Our LED lighting investment is repaid in energy savings in less than two years and, thereafter, the cost for lighting on our monthly electric bill is reduced by over 80%. And because of the very long life of LED lights, we also anticipate substantial cost savings from our not having to purchase and install replacement lights anywhere near as often as in the past,” said Kristian Pariseau, Safe Haven Director of Operations.
An 80 percent savings just from changing to a different kind of light bulb; looks like paying attention to the little things really can pay off!
Sources Used:
“Xeleum LED Lighting Selected by Safe Haven Self Storage.” Business Wire; 06 July 2011.
“Going Green Becoming a Common Thing for Self Storage Facilities in New Jersey.” Self Storage Industry News; 02 July 2011.