Operations

Holiday Giving Guide: Five Ways To Give Back To Your Community And Strengthen Your Team

November ushers in the beginning of a very familiar season. On top of turkeys, treats, and together time, the holidays also ignite an undeniable...

The #1 Thing Businesses Get Wrong During a Recession

It seems like the question on most business owners’ minds at the moment is, “are we headed for a recession?” Regardless of the answer...

Crucial Provisions: Settling Tenant Disputes In The Age Of Social Media

A self-storage facility, like all businesses, is subject to the risk of dissatisfied customers. Unfortunately, with the use of social media, the megaphone for...

Kalternborn Enterprises & Rancho Storage Center: A Conscious Self-Storage Model

“You either love self-storage or you don’t,” states Kari Kaltenborn, president of locally owned and operated Kaltenborn Enterprises & Rancho Storage Center. “It just...

Strenuous Staff: Dealing With Difficult Employees

Everyone has them, the employees who are difficult. Maybe they’re late each day, call in excessively, or they aren’t filing reports nor making bank...

A Preference For Plastic: Can Self-Storage Operators Make Their Facilities Cashless?

As more and more facilities move to contactless rentals and unmanned facilities, one of the lingering questions has been whether it is legal for...

The Supply Chain Challenge: Businesses Bolster Inventories, Woo Suppliers To Keep Customers Happy

Businesses are grappling with recurring supply chain issues in the wake of a rebounding American economy, shipping disruptions caused by the Russia-Ukraine wear, and...

Trust Begets Loyalty: Returning To A Positive Experience

Is it just me, or has customer service become more complicated in the past few years? Customers and employees are expecting much more from...

Building Your Brand: It’s the DNA of Your Business

Close your eyes and imagine a Jeep. What do you see around it? People typically see Jeeps in the great outdoors, maybe in the...

The Supply Chain Challenge: Businesses Bolster Inventories, Woo Suppliers To Keep Customers Happy

Businesses are grappling with recurring supply chain issues in the wake of a rebounding American economy, shipping disruptions caused by the Russia-Ukraine wear, and...

The Occupancy Objective: Don’t Leave Money On The Table

There are so many urban legends that just will not die: the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, and aliens at Area 51. Another modern myth,...

Focus On Commercial Tenants: Adding Profits To The Bottom Line

The self-storage industry has developed dozens of specialty products over the past decades to add an element of product diversity and accommodate the needs...

Rental Rate Pressures During COVID-19

Unfortunately, as we sit here today, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. As a result, issues that many self-storage operators had thought were...

Spotting Impaired Workers: Employers Tackle Costly Drug Misuse

The employee’s request had a certain degree of logic. He had just received a prescription for medical marijuana from a naturopathic physician. Could he...

Information Influx: Making Dollars And Sense Of Data

The dictionary defines data as “facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis.” In this digital world, in which facts and statistics are...

Workplace Violence: How to Reduce the Risk of Tragedy

It’s a nightmare scenario that haunts every business owner: A troubled individual’s simmering anger boils over into an act of workplace violence. The mass...

Neighborhood Start-Up: An Industry Disruptor or Passing Trend?

Neighbor Storage Inc. started with the simple premise that people with extra space in their homes, garages, sheds, or driveways, as well as owners...

A Decade Of Growth: The Ascent Of Storage Asset Management

On May 20, 2020, Storage Asset Management (SAM), the largest privately owned third-party self-storage management company in the United States, celebrated its 10-year anniversary....

Urban Exodus: Should Storage Shift To The Suburbs?

In March 2019, when the initial threat of COVID-19 became evident and mass lockdowns were ordered, almost everything stopped, including many transactions in the...

Hammer Time! Are Live Auctions Going, Going, Gone?

In 2019, Casey Jones, owner of BC Cole Auctioneers in Phoenix, Ariz., was thinking of adding an online platform to his auction business, but...

Starting Out Strong: Five Magic Questions You Must Ask

I’m talking about our telephone and walk-in greeting process and the questions and command of the situation that determine how things will proceed. Your...

Mastering Online Meetings: Industry Embraces A New Reality

The pandemic brought changes to the way most companies do business, and the self-storage industry is no exception. One challenge to be addressed was...

Lease It Up! Tackling Tenancy Troubles In Tough Markets

Owners and operators who were part of the first- and second-generation wave of self-storage may have lived by the “build it and they will...

Fair Assessments: How To Appeal Property Taxes

Studies have shown that property taxes are the most hated taxes in America. Why? There might be several reasons, including the question of why...

Improving Collection Rates: Valuable Tips From Industry Experts

Self-storage facility operators have a long to-do list to keep up with, including facility maintenance and upgrades, safety and security, reconciliation of what’s actually...