February 6, 2020
The more stuff people buy and keep, the more places they need to keep it all. Closets are packed to the hilt. Garages are so full homeowners can’t even park their cars in them.
It’s a basic truth in American life, and it’s why the self-storage business as a whole continues to stay strong. In fact, Bold Business reported a figure of 7.7 percent annual growth in the $38 billion industry since 2012.
Consumers generally can choose between two paradigms for their self-storage needs: (1) a fixed-location storage unit or (2) a moving and portable storage solution. The former is, for lack of a better term, a traditional concept of storage, involving rows of lockable storage units. Customers who rent them transport their belongings to the unit, store them inside it, then remove and transport the items again themselves when they are ready.
The latter concept, moving and portable storage, takes that once-basic premise and moves it much further — literally.
Here are five reasons that moving and portable storage solutions beat fixed-location storage, both for owners of the respective storage businesses and for their customers.
1. Much Less Hassle for Customers
People move for all sorts of reasons, and moving and portable storage businesses make it much easier for them. Rather than the homeowner having to load up all their things and make several grueling trips to a self-storage unit themselves — then do it all again in reverse when it’s time to move to the next home — they can call on a portable storage operator to deliver a ready-to-pack storage container to the customer’s home.
The business then transports it for them to a local storage facility or to their desired destination.
2. Portability Opens Up Much More Revenue Opportunity
The majority of a portable storage business’s clients typically are residential, but on the commercial side, service and restoration companies use the containers for additional storage at job sites. This is a big advantage that fixed-location storage facilities do not enjoy.
And think about it: A portable storage business is storing customers’ items all over town, not just within the footprint of real estate they are paying for as an expense. So, for example, a corporate client that is renovating an office building and uses the portable storage containers on-site over the course of months is paying the storage business owner just to store things on the client’s own property.
And, while the containers are on the customer’s site, featuring the portable storage business’s logo, it’s free advertising. Unlike a fixed-location storage facility, a moving and portable storage business truly gets out and about.
3. Scalability Limits Risk
One of the greatest advantages of the portable storage model over fixed-location storage, that goes directly to the return on investment of the former, is its ease of scalability. A franchise owner can grow the business incrementally by adding more containers.
If there has been a recent surge in business, the owner can accommodate more customers by adding one or a few containers at a time, rather than taking out a loan to build a whole new building of fixed-storage containers — and possibly even buy more real estate for it.
4. Potential Return on Investment is Strong
The storage industry as a whole, including fixed and portable solutions, provides solid returns on investment. Owners like the storage industry because it produces high returns with low maintenance, according to CompareBusinessProducts.com.
And as just discussed, unlike in a fixed-location storage facility, the scalability of a moving and portable storage solutions franchise keeps it solid during any economic downturns that may come along. And in good times, the scalability helps foster sales volume and increases profit margins.
5. Technology Drives Profit Potential and Reach
An old-school fixed-location storage business just sits there, quite literally. By contrast, operators of portable storage franchises embrace the tools at their disposal, to drive business efficiently.
For example, UNITS Moving and Portable Storage assists franchise owners with a ROBO Delivery System, which ensures level loading of containers onto trucks. The benefit of level loading is that it minimizes the shifting of contents and maximizes placement of containers.
Meanwhile, owners track and convert leads into sales via the UNITS Biz-Hub (Customer Relationship Management System). UNITS also helps owners develop that particular location’s online presence and generate strong SEO (search engine optimization).
For customers, moving and portable storage solutions beat outdated fixed-location storage facilities for convenience and use in moving from place to place. For owners, that customer appeal and other unique factors make a portable storage business the way to go.
Founded by Michael McAlhany in 2004, the mission of UNITS Moving and Portable Storage is to provide personal customer service while supplying the most innovative equipment in order to eliminate frustrations associated with moving and storage space issues.
UNITS Moving and Portable Storage currently has 24 franchised and three corporate territories across the United States. With a presence in more than 40 markets, and growing, the brand is looking to expand with the right people in the right markets.
For more information on how to take advantage of this opportunity, or simply to learn more about the moving and portable storage industry, visit https://www.unitsfranchisegroup.com/ and fill out the inquiry form. We will reach out to you to talk more about your interest in our brand, and how UNITS Moving and Portable Storage can help you reach your personal and financial goals.
