First of all, don’t trust anything I say. All things related to Storage, “you” can validate. You need to own the info since it’s your money.
Second, start small and make your big mistakes early.
Why Storage Why Me?
My background is as a CPA/Controller/CFO in Small and large corporations. Primarily in the manufacturing arena. Have a great wife and son. Everything is/was good in the world. I don’t have a great Pasta recipe to start a restaurant. Not handy with machines. Not a salesperson. Don’t want to fix toilets at 10 pm on a Saturday and replace the soiled carpet on a Sunday. I am diligent, great at managing projects, good at Finances, care for my clients, and most importantly can “Take a licking and keep on ticking.” Do you have similar skills? Being a business owner is hard. Developing a new Storage site is harder. Everyone sees “money” when they see a storage location, they don’t see the Risk or hard work to get there.
Creating a Business
The first time I thought about having a business was at lunch with an Engineer friend/colleague. Both of us come from the world, do good in school, work hard and life will be good. Both of us are at the top of our professions. At the lunch, he mentioned one of his friends got a call from his son who was an Engineer in Colorado. “Dad, I’m thinking about buying a Snow Removal company.” The friend thought his son had gone nuts. He had achieved the dream. I did well in school, worked hard, and had a good job at a firm. At the time a lot of technical and engineering work was going overseas. Manufacturing was under attack in the US by Free Trade (which is good to a degree). The son said, “They can’t move the Snow, I’ll always have a job or business”.
As I kept working in the corporate world, I started to go through:
- buyouts
- bankruptcies
- rapid growth
- headquarter movements
- investment firms
- family businesses selling
This started me thinking the old days of working 30 years at a company and having security didn’t exist anymore.
The travels to one of my companies were past an intersection next to an Interstate. It had huge stumps left from a tornado and cattails because it was low. Made a low offer on the 2 acres and purchased it. Cleaned it up. I got any free dirt in the area I could get. Built it up about 5 feet. Then I had to decide what to do with it.
There are no houses near it.
Although it is next to an Interstate interchange, there is no reason to get off there. Came up with two ideas. Self-storage and a special type of restaurant/entertainment location. I decided to go with Self Storage. Being an Accountant I wanted all of the numbers to help me to come to a 100% decision to invest, but only got to about 65%, couldn’t quite get enough information, then decided to take a leap of faith. The key was I could take the financial hit and it could not be a total failure. There are a lot of resources out there, that I did not seek out or know about. Keep searching for information. At some point, you will make a decision to move forward. Again, “Start Small and make your big mistakes early.”
Today
Six years later we have 8 locations. Six locations in 4 small towns (610 units), less than 5,000 population. Two new locations in a 1mm metro area. One location in Phase one with 229 units, Phase Two and Three will have 200 each. The second location in the same town is in the groundwork stage for 330 units. A lot of mistakes made and lessons learned. Good luck with your projects. ClarkStorage LLC
Clark Storage – Why Storage, Why Me? Best and Most Secured Storage Units in the Area
Our family business objective is to provide you with the best service and facilities in a secure location. As you get to know our facilities, you will note they were selected for your ease of access, location, and security. Please let us know how we can continue to improve your storage needs and fulfill your high expectations. We have storage units in Council Bluffs, Glenwood, and Pacific Junction. Contact us today. We are also offering a Move-In Referral Program, click here for more information.
