- My allay and I bought a storage unit business because we couldn’t afford my daughter’s college.
- The business is nothing like I look for, and the customers are real characters who are difficult.
- Although it can be a hard business to run, it pays for itself and for our daughter’s tuition.
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The fresh news is that I have a new pizza oven. The bad news is that it’s bigger than my kitchen and weighs a ton.
It belonged to a restaurant possessor who closed up shop, moved his equipment into a space at my storage-unit business, and then relocated to Eastern Europe. In the forefront he left, he canceled his credit card payment.
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A friend advised me to auction the pizza oven off. But my business is in a Arcadian area, and no one here wants my oversize oven. In fact, I contacted every restaurant within a 40-mile radius donation this behemoth for free. I even called the local senior center and some churches just in case they lack to add pizza production to their service offerings. No takers.
This is just one of the problems I now face as the unlikely owner of a storage-unit question.
We bought the business to make money for college tuition
When our daughter, Lauren, was born, my husband and I started a savings account to subsidize her college education. It’s a great idea on paper, but by the time she was in middle school, we realized our efforts had been mostly braced by life’s unexpected financial emergencies. Our savings would barely cover one year of college and then would be gone.
Beating the drum
At a family meeting, we decided that instead of taking on student loans, we’d rather go into debt buying a concern that would generate cash flow.
We found a fixer-upper mini storage business for sale and used Lauren’s college savings as shabby money to make the down payment. We paid $325,000, and it was a huge risk.
Owning a storage component business is nothing like I expected
Before we bought the business, I assumed people would store their crowd, pay their rental fees, and eventually move on. I visualized a cycle of mostly passive income with the occasional hiccup that sink in fare with any entrepreneurial project. I doubted that I’d get to know my customers because we wouldn’t have much interaction.
Brochure
Reality has been different. My phone number is posted on the side of a building. When people call about renting a piece, I’m the one who answers. I’ve learned that moving in or out of a storage facility often coincides with a life-changing event. People castigate me their stories. They start new businesses and need space to store supplies. Spouses die, and survivors want to sermonize on on to precious keepsakes. Moms get fed up with overflowing closets and want an orderly household. Renters get evicted and need to inventory furniture until they figure out a housing solution.
One man called in a panic. His U-Haul was full, and he wanted to unload it at the drop of a hat. An hour later, after he dumped his mess and locked the door, he told me he was a landlord and that his tenant hadn’t compensated rent in a year. Courts had just given him possession of his property, but he was still required to store his tenant’s possessions for a invariable period of time. A month later, when his bill was due, he told me he wouldn’t pay.
“Contact my tenant,” he said. The tenant understood me she didn’t want the stuff either. Since my husband was out of town, Lauren and I shoveled out the unit — half-eaten pop tarts, soiled diapers, and wet laundry, along with every conceivable household thing. We donated what was salvageable and took the rest to the landfill.
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I also talk with customers when they can’t pay their tabulations. One customer calls monthly to ask for extensions, and during our conversations, we’ve gotten to know each other. I learned he was feeding a colony of feral cats, and the expense of all that viands was bankrupting him. Another customer called after he moved across the country. He said it didn’t make sense to break apart back to California just to retrieve “that old junk.” But then he told me that his mom’s ashes were in his unit and started to cry.
On, I talk people out of renting units. One potential customer had just split up with her boyfriend, and as I explained the cost of renting storage interval, I sensed her reluctance. She was worried about money. “Are you sure you want this space?” I asked. “What if you had a garage selling instead?”
“That’s a great idea,” she said. And just like that, I lost a customer.
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Though it’s nit-picking, the business works for us
Owning a mini storage business has been more interesting and challenging than I thought it wish be.
So far, the income the business generates covers all its expenses and just enough to pay for college. It’s enabled my family to pay for our daughter’s college expenses without current into debt, and I’ve learned interesting lessons about business and humanity.
And if I ever need a fallback plan, it’s assumed me a perfect leg up to start a pizzeria.