While owning a self storage business can be quite profitable, don’t make the mistake of thinking that monthly rental fees from people with too much junk is the end-all of profit potential. There are dozens of additional ways to generate income that you might not have considered. Here’s a sampling to get your gray matter percolating.
1. Boat and RV storage – recreational equipment like this takes up a lot of space around in a person’s yard, and there might be a market in your area to offer a place to put it. All that’s required is extra space and a relatively low cost pole barn structure with a roof to protect the vehicles from the worst of the elements.
2. Rental truck business – A natural spin-off from your self storage business is to provide rental trucks. People who have need of a storage unit are often in the process of moving in or out of an area. Explore the possibility of a national, widely recognized franchise.
3. Records storage – Adapt one or more of your storage units to hold computer or paper records. It would need to be completely remodeled inside for the new task, but allows for yet another add-on profit center to your existing business.
4. Wine storage – There are more wine connoisseurs out there than you might imagine and not all of them have a place to store their selection. Outfit one unit or more as temperature controlled wine cellars and you have another profit center.
5. Retail sales – Keep a supply of packing supplies, boxes, and other items commonly needed for moving. Americans show an amazing dedication to one-stop shopping. The more needs they can satisfy in and around the vicinity of your self storage business, the better for your pocketbook.
6. Ebay sales – Ebay offers an excellent opportunity for anyone to make extra money, but the truth is that listing items and monitoring auctions can be time consuming. It would an easy matter to provide a service that sells items for people on Ebay in return for a percentage of the sale.
7. Coffeshop – Who doesn’t like to sit down for a nice ‘cuppa joe’ in between inserting stuff into or extracting it from their storage unit? The bottom line is make good coffee and they will come.
8. Cell tower lease – This is about as passive an income stream as you can imagine. Cell phone providers (obviously) need a place to put their towers. It might be worth your while to see if a carrier in your area is in the market for a bit of real estate. You’ll have to sign a long term lease but will earn a nice monthly check in return for doing absolutely nothing.
You’re probably beginning to see a pattern here. The number off profit center add-ons to your existing self storage business is only limited by your imagination. Can anyone out there think of any biggies we missed?
The Commercial Investing Center Team
Flickr / deege@fermentarium.com