Twenty-six items you want to remember during the Construction process to save you time and money.

1. Research and completely specify as many items as possible. Construction allowances/change orders and extras always seem to cost a lot more than if they were in the original specifications and contracts. Even simple things like who pays for the temporary power, dumpster and temporary bathroom facility make a difference.

2. You will need both construction and specialized self-storage insurance. For construction, you will need Builders Risk and general liability insurance.

In addition to the standard Property and Business Liability coverage, you may need insurance for Blanket Building and Contents, Customers’ Goods Legal Liability, Sale and Disposal, Legal Liability, Extended Business Income and other insurances post construction.

Once your site plans are approved you should contact an agent who specializes in Self Storage Insurance.  There are several things you need to consider in order to determine your self-storage insurance limits.

3. It is recommended that construction contracts include a provision to hold back 10% of each payment until the work has been completed, including the final punch list items and the Town has completed its review and issued a final Certificate of Occupancy. Check with your bank to see what their required hold back is and make sure it is included in your bid package. Find out how often the bank will provide draws and how long after an inspection is request until the money is available.  Your contractors need to be aware and accept the payment schedules of your bank.

4. Often you bid the job on preliminary plans. Prior to signing the final contracts make sure all parties confirm they have reviewed the latest plans and their bids are based upon these plans. This is especially important for the building erectors.  They will provide a price based upon similar buildings they have erected in the past.  But every manufacturer has different systems and components and construction times can vary.  Your building manufacturer should be able to email you a set of final plans for you to forward to your erector.  When construction starts check again to confirm everyone has the final set of plans.  You would be amazed how many times construction gets screwed up because outdated plans are used.  A list of all the current plans and last revision dates should be issued to all contractors when construction starts.

5. There will be problems and questions. Make sure the contractor provides you a contact person both in the field and the office, including cell numbers.

6. The contract should be clear that all change orders require signed approval by the Owner. Do not violate this requirement. This will not always eliminate change orders but will permit for you to confirm the cost and possible negotiate the costs or find other options.

7. Your design team should determine what independent testing (typically paid directly by you) that is going to require, such as compaction test for the building base, driveway base and concrete strength testing. The contract should require your contractor to coordinate these tests and redo any work not meeting the specifications.

8. If you are the general contractor expect discrepancy between where one contractor leaves off and the next starts and the condition of the work by the previous contractor. For example, if the grading for the floating slab is off by 1 inch it can easily be an extra couple of thousands of dollars or more in concrete.  For this example, it would be important to know how many cubic yards of concrete is included in the concrete contractor’s price and his contract should say he has to review and accept the foundation grading and excavation prior to placing any concrete forms.  Of course, if there is a discrepancy, the problem becomes scheduling and delays when the concrete contractor notifies you the site work is not right and either you have to pay extra or have the site contractor fix his work.  So whenever possible, check completed work in detail as soon as possible yourself or hire the appropriate engineer or surveyor to check for you.

9. All contracts should make it clear who pays for the building permit, who is responsible for inspections, as built, and any documents or inspections the Town (or bank) may need to the issue the occupancy permit. If at all possible, it is recommended the contractor be required to hire a licensed surveyor to stake out the buildings and set proper grades. If you hire the surveyors you often have to pay for several stakeouts, as the contractor will inevitably knock out the stakeout survey stakes.  Also, if you hire the surveyor you will be responsible if there are any discrepancies or errors.

10. Don’t forget to make sure the contracts include bringing the various required underground utility conduits and utilities for phase 2.

11. It is a good practice to visit the construction site every day during construction. There are always plan interpretations and changes or corrections to be made. Scheduling constantly needs to be reviewed.  Often, what you told the foreman today is not relayed to the new foreman the next day.

12. Makes sure the limits of construction are properly staked in the field prior to the start of construction. Any trees in the limits of construction or near construction you want saved should be barricaded with fencing or hay bales prior to the start of construction otherwise they are very likely to be eliminated during construction.

13. Make sure the erosion control silt fence is securely in place prior to the start of construction. One rainstorm can make a mess if the silt fence is not properly installed.

14. Check to confirm they are compacting the fill in 8” layers per the contract. Contractors like to save time by filling and compact a couple of feet at a time.

15. Check that the rebar and wire mesh is installed for all the concrete per the plans. Hint: neither should be on the ground.

16. For a single-story metal building there is typically a 1.5” lip in the concrete foundation edge to make sure no water gets in the building. This is done with the use of a 2 x 10. If the concrete under the 2 x 10 is not vibrated extremely well, and even then, sometimes, there will be air pockets under the 2 x 10 that create surface voids the size of a silver dollar and larger when the boards are removed. Let the contractor know in advance about this concern.  Insist they take off the 2 x 10’s while the finish crew is still there.  If there is a problem, it needs to be fixed while the concrete is “wet”.  If they wait until the next day to fill in the voids, it is extremely likely after a winter or two all the filled-in patches will pop out and require expensive ongoing maintenance.

17. It is critical that the entrance gate opening and the entrance and exit keypads be staked in the field, so you can try them with your car prior to their installation. What looks good on paper often is a difficult maneuver for a car in the field and can be corrected with ease if done prior to construction.

18. Make sure the office windows and doors sizes and locations are coordinated long before the contractors show up. Often, approximate locations and sizes are provided until a window manufacturer is chosen.

19. Make sure the concrete is sealed the day after the concrete is poured. This will not only help the concrete cure but also just as important, keep the concrete dust down for your renters.

20. The concrete saw cuts should be done as soon as possible after the concrete is poured, typically no later than the next day. This helps reduce the number of visual cracks.

21. After the office concrete floor is in, draw the office floor plan, including interior walls, desk and cabinets on the concrete floor with a maker. It is easy to make a change now.
22. Make sure your communication wires and electric wires to the gate controller are in separate conduits.

23. Layout your perimeter fence for review before the fence installers come. There are typically conflicts and options. You will want to take time to review.

24. Often one of the biggest problems is construction scheduling. Review the schedule in detail with all contractors, including the building manufacturer. The scheduling should be reviewed when the request for bids are submitted, again when the contracts are signed and again when construction starts.  Delays due to scheduling are one of the most stressful parts of construction.  Add some buffer time to your schedule.

25. Your bid document should require all contactors and sub-contractors to provide proof of insurance. The bid documents should further require all contractors and sub-contractor to wear hard hats and meet all local and OSHA job site safety requirements.

25. Often the building manufactures will require large deposits and final payment on or prior to the delivery of the buildings. These fees should be reviewed with both your contractor and your bank to insure there will not be a cash flow problem. Sometimes the size of the deposit can be negotiated but full payment upon building delivery or prior to delivery is typically required.

26. If you build your own buildings or if you hire local guys who are building self storage buildings for the first time remember temporary bracing is required and not shown on the construction plans. Temporary bracing is required in all directions until the final construction of the entire frame. You can see some of the bracing in the photos below.

That’s me in Caraquet, New Brunswick, Canada, and my first international project!  When you start construction, your marketing must be full speed ahead.

Have development questions?  We are ready to help.  Marc 860-830-6764

Seven items you DO NOT want to forget to bring to your Wetlands Commission meetings for a faster approval.

1. A colored rendering is a Must. While many items like the building design or looks are not supposed to be a part of the wetlands commission purview, but a pretty picture goes a long way.

2. Pictorial information about your facility. Pictures of cameras, TV monitors, fencing, access gate, lighting, signage, office, mounted on a single board tells a great story about your security.

3. Know your facilities policy on prohibition of storage of hazardous materials. Provide a copy of your lease provision prohibiting hazardous materials. Provide a copy of the sign to be posted in your office prohibiting hazardous materials. Give an explanation that includes how you know your customers, i.e. a copy of every renter’s driver license, home & work phone numbers, email address, a second contact person etc. An explanation in detail how the staff is required to walk and inspect the site several times a day can help give the commission confidence there will not be a problem at the facility.

4. If you are going to rent units for car storage (which is worth fighting for!) be prepared to explain the steps you will take to insure gasoline will not leak and cause a problem. If you can’t figure this one out email me and I will point you in the right direction. (Hint: look up the requirements for cars in public buildings like a car show in your civic center and include the 2 or 3 safety items in your lease.) Also, you should only rent for cars that are registered and insured, i.e. no problem cars.

5. While you (and your engineer) always had to be prepared to explain the storm drainage design and storm drainage detention design, now it is common to provide detailed (and expensive) storm water quality best management practices. Make sure you personally understand these site features and the required maintenance, so the commission has confidence that they not only will be built but you, as the owner, personally understand the importance of maintaining them.

6. Make sure that you and your engineer have walked the wetlands, even though your soil scientist is coming to the meeting. Your knowledge of the property could help turn the deciding vote your way.

7. Early on in the design process you should have confirmed there are no endangered species on the site. Often the Department of Environmental Protection can provide areas of know or reported endangered species. Be prepared to confirm there are no endangered or threatened species or be prepared to discuss the impact to endangered or threatened species if they exist.

Ten items you don’t want to forget to bring to your Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, which can make a difference.

1. All the items you brought to the wetlands meeting.

2. Bring all the professionals (you can afford), design engineer, landscape designer, traffic engineer, architect and attorney if customary in your town. But a single presenter can do the majority, if not the entire presentation.

3. Office hours and gate hours.

4. Samples of the building materials, including colors.

5. Light photo metrics to show the light does not impact neighbors. A manufacturer’s detail sheet for full cutoff lights is helpful. LED lights cost more to install but will pay for themselves in a short time and save you money for many years. Let them know you are a green builder and will be using energy efficient LED lighting.

6. A copy of a standard lease. You can get one from your state’s self-storage association.

7. Knowledge of your marketing study to confirm the need for self-storage in the area. Again, this should not be part of the commission decision process, but I have had the questioned asked several times. Let them know it’s a benefit to the area as most of your customers will be the people located within 5 miles or less from your property.

8. The owner should attend all meetings and be prepared to let the commission know they are an expert on self-storage and are excited about being a part of the community. Be prepared to make concessions the night of the meeting if necessary to get an approval.

9. Be prepared to rebuff the many myths about self-storage such as; noise; drugs; low value; no taxes; people living in units; used mostly by people from out of town; ugly; self-storage does not mix with residential uses; high traffic, etc.

10. Be prepared to present a traffic study. Traffic is often a concern if there is any opposition. If the Town did not require one as part of your application, I would at least have a simple on page summary for the estimated daily and peak hour traffic generation. This can be very beneficial to show that self-storage is one of the lowest traffic generators and has less traffic than typical retail, office, businesses and even a residential subdivision.

Self-storage is a local business. The majority of your renters will be people from town. Early in the design phase you will have to determine the percentage of climate control units for your site. Often the outside of the Climate Control building will have non-climate control units with doors directly to the driveway.

Storage Authority Standardizes on  OpenTech Solutions

Date, 2018 – Phoenix, AZ. OpenTech Alliance, Inc. announced Storage Authority, a rapidly growing self-storage franchise company is implementing OpenTech’s solutions including INSOMNIAC CIA (Centralized Intelligent Access) at all their state-of-the art locations. Marc Goodin, Co-Founder of Storage Authority, designed and permitted his first self-storage facility over 25 years ago. Marc commented, “By utilizing the OpenTech family of products our customers have more conveniences at their fingertips which means we win out over our competition.”

Having been involved in this industry, Marc can clearly see we have entered a pivotal turning point in the self-storage industry. “We’re now selling what’s outside the four walls of a storage unit, not what’s inside. Furthermore, we are in the people business, somewhere between the banking and hotel industries.” added Marc.

To address this shift, Marc’s strategy for his franchisees is to leverage technological advances to focus on the customer experience and increase operational efficiencies. Some of the ways he is leveraging technology is by having an INSOMNIAC^TM kiosk onsite at every property, outsourcing inbound leads through INSOMNIAC^TM Live! Call Center services, offering customers hands-free access through INSOMNIAC^TM CIA and the Storage Genie tenant mobile app and utilizing OpenTech’s IoE integrations such as HVAC and Al.

Robert Chiti, President and CEO of OpenTech Alliance, emphasized the point, “Every solution we develop is designed with input from thousands of customers and to help self-storage operators work smarter and provide a better experience to their users. In today’s business environment you’ve got to use all the tools available to create a competitive advantage, and at OpenTech we’ve got one heck of a tool chest.”

It all about the how your organize and understand organizing for profits is swiftly changing in todays internet economy. “For a hundred years, we organized the means of production. How do we get the right people, the right machines, the right materials and get this thing built”. Seth Godin

Self Storage Organizing 30 years ago

Once upon a time it was build it any where and they will come. It worked well and made many people rich.

Self Storage Organizing 15 years ago

Then it became build it on main street and they will come.  It worked well.

Self Storage Organizing yesterday

Now many people believe state of the art facility on main street, have a great web site, on going marketing and they will come.  It worked well and made many people rich.

The successful developers were organizers who found the right location and the right people to get their facility built.  They organized the money.  They organized the employees and day to day operation.

Most of us still do this.  It is important and difficult work and will be required for some time to come.

Self Storage Organizing Today to double your profits.

“But now, now there’s a third kind of organization going on, one that’s even more leveraged, because it isn’t easily replaced: Organizing an audience.

How do we find the right people on the right day in a way that creates value for them and for us? How do we deliver the right service to the right audience in the right way? The rising stars of our economy are in this business now, even more than production or finance.

If you’re seeking to build awareness, consider building a community instead.

If you’re working to sell your average stuff to average people (and working overtime to make it cheaper or faster), consider an alternative: serving the most dedicated people with something remarkable“. Seth Godin

Just think about Kmart, Sears, Toys are US, and so many more.  They did not organize for their audience and now they are gone!

Time to get out of the self storage business and in the business of organizing a win win community.

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See original post on Organizing by Seth Godin  https://seths.blog/2018/09/what-are-you-organizing/

When people investigate Storage Authority and our franchise system we have found there are four major categories of prospects:

1. Tire kickers.  The facts or nothing we say or do will make a difference.  The are not part of the 1% who will ever own their own business.

2.  Prove to me …… or why do I need you prospect.  Again the facts or nothing we say or do will make a difference.  They had their minds made up long before they called us.  When the conversation of self storage comes up they will be the ones who say ” I was going to do that but the guy down the road beat me to it”

3. Financially not qualified prospect. They often have the desire and are willing to work hard but just don’t have the $400K equity to get started.

4. Professionals looking to make a better return on their hard earned savings and often an opportunity that will make a good six figure income and even allow them to retire early if they choose.

So how does a qualified prospect make a decision?  They typically ask and answer the following questions:

Do I want to own my own business?  – most people do not.

Do I want to work more now (I already have no time) so I can have all the time I want in the future – most people are not that ambitious.

If self storage works like the experts say, is self storage the business I want to be in to make my dreams come true or do I have a better opportunity?  Since Self Storage is one of the very best real estate investments few people have a better option where they can keep their career.

If you got to the last question and the answer was yes the rest is easy.  Do research every week until you decide the pros & cons of doing it on your own or with Storage Authority.

If you want to learn more about franchising you need to read the up coming September issue of the Minico Messenger the article  Why Franchising for Self Storage. It provides both a history and background on franchising, And also explains why the time has come self storage franchising.  But often it comes down to understanding the value of  being a premier facility vs being an average self storage and what it takes to be a premier facility.  The value is in the millions and it takes 10 year of energy in the trenches to become and expert on your own.  You will find this is true in many businesses. If you want to be way above the competition and do not have 10 years of experience from the trenches there are few if any ways to get all the expert guidance and assistance you need.  Here are just a few of the things that Storage Authority provides that you will have a hard tine finding elsewhere

Where else is someone going to work as hard as you are to make sure your a success?  No Where!

Where Else

• Will you have an expert on your side 24/7?

• Get the land expertise you need for pennies on the dollar?

• Get the engineering expertise you need for pennies on the dollar?

• Get the zoning expertise you need for pennies on the dollar?

• Get development expertise you need for pennies on the dollar?

• Get the construction  expertise you need for pennies on the dollar?

• Get the operational expertise you need for pennies on the dollar?

• Get the marketing expertise you need for pennies on the dollar?

• Get the sales expertise you need for pennies on the dollar?

• Get the rental expertise you need for pennies on the dollar?

• Get the customer expertise you need for pennies on the dollar?

• Will you have a partner to call every time you have a question?

• Will you have someone with 30 year experience of real estate, self storage and design experience to review your site plans?

• Will you have someone to tell you your opening rates are two low?

• Will you have someone outline one on one, in a development manual, in a check list the 5 stages of development and help you at each stage?

• Is some one going to share with you the many how to tips and training that can leads to hundreds of thousands in extra profits?

• Will your state of the art management software come set up with over 25 forms and letter, emails, late fees and more?

• Will you be provided with the state of the art website that allows you to stand out and rent on line?

• Has all the research been done for you to insure you have the best vendors in the industry?

• Will you get the expertise and banking application assistance to impress your Bank?

No Where!

If you want to learn more lets talk.  Marc 860-830-6764