online storage business plan

How To Start a Storage Business

Our Comprehensive Guide to Launching a Profitable Self-Storage Rental Unit Business in 2023

We’re about to dive deep into the thriving, fast-paced world of the self storage business. 

Believe it or not, this under-the-radar sector of commercial real estate has been steadily growing, churning out a staggering $39 billion in annual revenue as of 2023, with the U.S. leading the charge. It’s a veritable gold rush, and it’s time you staked your claim.

So, you might be thinking, “That sounds great, but how do I start a self-storage business?”

Don’t worry, we’ve got your back.

In This Article

Flexible Pricing

Brand awareness, customer service, property selection, getting to grips with the landscape of the mini storage unit business, identifying the key drivers of demand when starting a self-storage business, licenses and permits, zoning laws, business structure, average occupancy and facility size, construction costs, technology and operations, revenues and profit margins, startup costs, financing options, establish a strong brand identity, build a robust online presence, implement a referral program, collaborate with local businesses, deciphering the average cost, implementing a pricing strategy, the most in-demand cities for self storage units, revenue generation, wrapping up: starting and running a successful self storage business – a recap, self-storage keys to success.

Adapt your storage unit prices to the ever-changing demand in your local market.

Integrate your company into the community and make sure residents know who you are!

Meet your customer’s needs to reduce turnover and increase word-of-mouth advertising.

Find land that is affordable, yet accessible. Work with a real estate agent to identify the best fit.

This comprehensive guide is packed to the brim with all the crucial information you’ll need. From breaking down financial projections to unraveling the complexities of operational strategies, and even unveiling insights from industry case studies, we’ve left no stone unturned.

After navigating through this guide, you won’t just understand the ins and outs of how to kick-start a storage business, you’ll be pumped and ready to plunge into your very own storage unit venture.

So, are you ready to turn the key and open the door to your future in the self storage business? 

Let’s hit the ground running!

Let’s flip the lid and take a peek at the vast expanse of the self-storage industry. Now, if you’re wondering whether there’s room for one more in this arena, let’s crunch some numbers. As of 2023, this buzzing beehive of a business is generating a hefty $39 billion in annual revenue right here in the U.S. alone. That’s no small change, my friends! And get this, the U.S. is not just playing in the big leagues, it’s practically owning the entire stadium, accounting for 90% of the global self-storage inventory.

But what about the competition, you ask? Well, there’s no sugarcoating it – the storage business is a bustling marketplace. With over 182,000 storage businesses operating nationwide, you’re certainly not alone. But don’t let that intimidate you! This number also serves as a testament to the industry’s robust nature and the vast demand for storage space.

The beauty of the storage unit business lies in its versatility. From folks looking to declutter their homes to businesses in need of extra space storage, there’s a demand across the board. And that’s precisely what makes this business such a good bet. It caters to a need that’s not going away anytime soon.

Starting a self storage business may seem like a daunting task, but with the right plan, resources, and a dash of entrepreneurial spirit, it’s a mountain you can conquer. So, are you ready to ride this wave and make your mark in the storage industry? Let’s roll up those sleeves and get down to business!

Now, let’s get down to brass tacks and look at who is driving the demand in the mini storage business. As a potential new business owner, understanding consumer demand is the compass that’ll guide your storage unit business towards success. Here’s a snapshot of the movers and shakers in the storage market:

• The Nomads: With life on the move becoming the norm, moving remains the primary reason folks seek out mini storage solutions. Be it a job relocation, downsizing, or even a gap year spent globetrotting, having a safe space to store their belongings offers peace of mind during these transitional periods. So, if you’re wondering how to start a self storage business that resonates with this demographic, consider offering flexible rental terms and hassle-free access to the storage units.
• The Space Savers: Did you know that over 1 in 5 renters in the U.S. utilize self storage units? That’s a significant market slice to cater to! From apartment dwellers looking to declutter their space to small businesses needing extra inventory storage, the demand spans across various user groups. Offering a range of unit sizes can help you cater to this diverse clientele.
• Generation X: Representing a considerable user group within the self-storage industry, Gen Xers often require storage space for myriad reasons. From moving homes to storing inherited items, their demand for storage facilities is quite robust. To start a storage business that appeals to this demographic, you might want to consider offering services like controlled storage or extra space storage.
• The Ladies: Female renters constitute another significant user group in the self-storage industry. Safety and cleanliness are often high on their priority list. To attract this demographic, focus on ensuring well-lit facilities, 24/7 surveillance, and immaculate storage units.

It’s clear as day that the storage business is not a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. The key to running a successful storage business lies in understanding the unique needs of these consumer groups and tailoring your services to meet them. And with the right approach, you could be well on your way to turning your business idea into a thriving self-storage business in 2023!

Comprehending Legal and Regulatory Essentials for Running a Self Storage Unit Business

When you’re ready to start your mini storage business, it’s crucial to get your ducks in a row when it comes to legal and regulatory requirements. It might seem like you’re jumping through hoops, but each step is essential for getting your business off the ground and avoiding potential hiccups down the line. Here’s a breakdown:

Every business, including a storage facility, requires specific licenses and permits to operate legally. Typically, you’ll need a general business license, but depending on your location and the nature of your business, additional permits may be required. For instance, if your self-storage unit business plans on offering RV storage, you might need extra permits. Remember, it’s important to register your business and open a business bank account to keep your finances in order.

Do you know the saying, “location, location, location”? Well, it’s not just about finding a spot with high demand. Zoning laws can dictate what type of business you can run in certain areas. These laws vary widely, so you’ll need to check with your local planning or zoning department to ensure your storage facilities are in compliance.

Here’s the deal: starting a self-storage business in 2023 without the right insurance policies is like walking a tightrope without a safety net. Different types of insurance, such as property insurance, liability insurance, and workers’ compensation insurance, will protect your business from potential financial losses. It’s also worth considering specialized insurance that covers customers’ belongings in storage.

Deciding on your business structure isn’t just a box to tick—it’s a decision that can impact your business in many ways, from how much you pay in taxes to your personal liability. You can choose to set up as a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or Limited Liability Company (LLC). Each type of business entity has pros and cons, so it’s essential to get advice from a professional or the Small Business Administration.

Starting a storage business involves more than just renting out storage units—it requires a good understanding of the legal and regulatory landscape. However, with a little bit of elbow grease and the right guidance, you can navigate these waters and launch your business with confidence. 

Planning Facilities and Operations for Your Startup Self Storage Business

Starting a mini storage business is no small task—it requires careful planning and efficient operations management. It’s not just about having space; it’s about making the best use of that space and providing exceptional customer service. To give you an idea of what you’re stepping into, here’s a bit of data and a few considerations for you.

If you’re thinking about starting a storage company, the numbers are promising. In the U.S., the average occupancy rate for storage facilities sits at an impressive 96.5 percent.

When it comes to facility size, the average mini storage facility in the U.S. covers approximately 56,900 square feet. This doesn’t mean your facility must fit this mold—it’s just the average. Your facility size will depend on factors like location, demand, and your business plan.

When it comes to construction costs, figures can range from $1.25 million to $3.5 million. The costs can vary depending on factors like location, land cost, facility size, and construction materials.

Remember, starting a business is an investment, and the initial costs can be steep. However, with the right planning, management, and a good business loan, you can navigate these costs and set up a profitable storage unit business.

In today’s digital age, the incorporation of technology into your storage business operations is more of a necessity than a luxury. There’s a wealth of management software and online booking systems available that can streamline your operations and enhance the customer experience. Consider the following:

• Management Software : These tools can help you track your occupancy rate, manage rental rates, and handle other administrative tasks.
• Online Booking Systems : These can offer convenience to your customers, allowing them to book storage units at their leisure and streamline the rental process.
• Security Systems : High-quality surveillance systems and access control are a must for any self-storage unit business. Customers need to know that their belongings are safe.
• Website : Your business online is essential in this digital age. An intuitive, user-friendly website can help you reach more customers and provide them with the information they need about your storage services.

Starting a self storage business might seem daunting, but with the right planning and a clear understanding of the industry, it’s a journey you can confidently embark on. Remember, every business requires dedication and hard work—yours will be no exception. So, are you ready to take the leap?

Financial Aspects to Consider: From Business Plan to Small Business Loan

Money makes the world go ’round, and it certainly sets the wheels in motion for your storage business. Understanding the financial aspects, from revenues and profit margins to startup costs and financing options, is crucial. So let’s dive into the numbers, shall we?

Let’s talk earnings. The average annual revenue for a self-storage business is about $450,000, boasting a healthy profit margin of 41%.

These figures can vary based on factors like location, unit sizes, number of units, and additional services you may offer. So, while you might start a bit lower as a newcomer, with strategic planning and excellent customer service, there’s potential for growth.

The start-up cost for a mini storage business can seem a tad intimidating, ranging from $1.5 million to $2.4 million, averaging around $2 million. These figures account for land acquisition, construction, operational setup, and initial marketing efforts.

While it might seem like a lot, remember that starting a business is a significant investment. It’s about putting in the capital now to reap the benefits later.

With numbers like these, it’s no wonder you might be considering financing options. One viable route is through SBA (Small Business Administration) loans. These loans are designed to help entrepreneurs like you get their dreams off the ground.

• SBA 7(a) Loans : This is the most common type of SBA loan. It can be used for a variety of purposes, including purchasing land or buildings, construction costs, or even as working capital.
• SBA CDC/504 Loans : These loans are specifically for purchasing major fixed assets like land or buildings. If you’re looking at building a new facility, this could be a great option.

Remember, it’s crucial to have a solid business plan when applying for these loans. The lenders want to see that you’ve thought things through and have a plan for making your business profitable.

The journey of starting a self storage business might seem daunting, especially when you’re staring at these numbers. But don’t let it deter you. With the right planning, a clear understanding of your costs, and the help of financial tools, you’re one step closer to opening for business. Remember, every successful business started with someone taking that first daunting step. Are you ready to take yours?

Mastering Marketing and Customer Acquisition for Your Self Storage Business

In a world where competition is fierce and standing out is vital, setting up a winning marketing and customer acquisition strategy for your storage business is a must. From brand identity to digital marketing, let’s roll up our sleeves and dive into the nuts and bolts of getting your business noticed and attracting customers.

A strong brand identity sets your business apart from the competition. This goes beyond just your business name. It includes everything from your logo and tagline to your company’s mission and values.

• Choose a Unique Business Name : Research existing storage businesses to avoid duplication and check if the name is available for trademark. Your business name should be easy to spell, pronounce, and remember. It should also hint at the services you provide. Use tools like a business name generator for inspiration and don’t forget to check domain availability for your website.
• Design a Memorable Logo : Your logo should reflect the nature and values of your business. Consider hiring a professional graphic designer who can bring your vision to life. Tools like Canva also offer easy-to-use design templates for those on a budget. Remember, your logo will be on your website, marketing materials, and possibly even on the signboard of your storage facility, so it’s worth the investment.
• Define Your Mission and Values : This involves a deep understanding of your business, your goals, your customers, and the market you operate in. A mission statement should clearly communicate what your business does, who it serves, and how it does it. Your values should reflect the principles and beliefs that guide your company’s actions. These will help you to create a business culture and a brand that resonates with your target audience.

In 2023, your digital footprint matters more than ever. From your website to social media, make sure your self-storage company is easy to find and hard to forget.

• Website : Your website is your virtual storefront. Make sure it’s clean, easy to navigate, and mobile-friendly. Highlight your services, provide clear pricing information, and include a simple booking system. It’s also crucial to have your contact information prominently displayed.
• SEO : SEO, or search engine optimization, is about making your website more visible on search engines like Google. This involves keyword optimization, quality content creation, and building backlinks. Consider hiring an SEO expert or using SEO tools like SEMRush or Yoast SEO.
• Social Media : To start, choose the social media platforms where your target customers spend most of their time. Create engaging content that provides value to your followers. This could be tips on how to pack a storage unit or a behind-the-scenes look at your facility. Be consistent in your posting and engage with your followers by responding to comments and messages.
• Google My Business : To set this up, go to the Google My Business website and follow the prompts to add your business. Include as much information as possible, like your address, hours of operation, and photos of your facility. Encourage happy customers to leave reviews to boost your credibility.

Word-of-mouth is a powerful marketing tool. Implement a referral program that incentivizes your existing customers to refer their friends and family.

• Offer Discounts : For every successful referral, you might offer your existing customer a percentage off their next month’s rent. The key is to make the discount enticing enough that customers want to participate.
• Provide Extra Services : This could include providing a free moving truck for a day, offering complimentary moving supplies, or providing a free upgrade to a larger storage unit for a certain period.

Build relationships with local businesses and explore potential collaboration opportunities.

• Moving Companies : Reach out to moving companies in your area and propose a partnership. This could be as simple as distributing each other’s marketing materials or as formal as a referral fee agreement.
• Real Estate Agencies : Similar to moving companies, real estate agencies can be a great source of referrals. Introduce your business and offer promotional materials they can share with their clients.

Last but not least, invest in advertising. This can range from traditional methods like print ads and billboards to digital advertising like Google Ads or social media promotions.

Starting your self-storage business involves many moving parts, and marketing and customer acquisition are crucial pieces of the puzzle. Implementing these strategies will help you attract and retain customers, ensuring your business doesn’t just survive, but thrives in the competitive storage industry. Ready to make your mark?

Pricing Strategies and Revenue Generation in the Storage Unit Business

Taking the plunge into starting a storage business can be a lucrative venture, but let’s not skip over the crucial aspect of pricing and revenue generation. After all, a well-thought-out pricing strategy could be the difference between a storage facility that’s half-empty and one that’s making bank.

The price is a major determinant for customers choosing between different storage companies. As of 2023, the average monthly cost for a storage unit is a cool $100.04. Now, you might be wondering, “How much does it cost to provide these storage units?” Well, that’s where your cost analysis comes in. It’s vital to consider expenses like maintenance, security, and overhead when setting your prices.

For a mini storage business, utilizing market-based and target-based pricing approaches can help you set competitive and profitable unit prices.

Market-based Pricing

This approach involves setting your prices based on the going rate in your specific market. It’s a simple concept – you’re essentially pricing your units similar to (or slightly lower than) your competitors to attract customers. However, it’s vital that you’re still covering your costs and securing a profit.

Target-based Pricing

Target-based pricing, on the other hand, is when you price your units based on the profit margin you aim to achieve. You calculate this by adding your desired profit to the cost of running a storage unit. This approach requires a solid understanding of both your costs and the value your customers place on your service.

While Houston, TX, holds the crown as the most in-demand city for self storage units, it’s not the only city with a buzzing market. The demand for storage units varies greatly from city to city, often in line with factors such as population growth, real estate trends, and local economic conditions. Below is a table highlighting the top five cities in the U.S. for self-storage demand and their average monthly prices.

Los Angeles, CA

The City of Angels comes in second place, with an average monthly price of $112.35 for a unit. Given its dense population and high real estate prices, it’s no surprise that people in LA are turning to self-storage as a space-saving solution.

New York, NY

With space at a premium in The Big Apple, New Yorkers are willing to pay an average of $176.42 per month for storage. This city is a prime example of high demand driving up prices in the storage industry.

Texas makes the list again with Dallas, where the average price for a storage unit is $91.87 per month. The city’s growth, combined with a strong economy, has led to an increased demand for storage units.

Chicago, IL

Chicago, the Windy City, rounds out our top five with an average monthly storage unit price of $98.73. Like the other cities on this list, Chicago’s dense population and urban living conditions contribute to the demand for storage facilities.

Aside from rental income from your storage units, there are other revenue streams to tap into:

• Late Fees : It’s common practice to charge late fees when customers don’t pay their rent on time. Make sure these fees are clearly outlined in your rental agreement.
• Sales of Packing Supplies : You can offer boxes, packing tape, bubble wrap, and other packing supplies for sale at your facility. It’s a convenient option for your customers and an additional revenue stream for you.
• Insurance : Many self-storage companies offer optional insurance coverage for the items stored in their facilities. If a customer chooses to purchase this, it can add to your revenue.
• Truck Rentals : If you have the resources, offering truck rentals can be a profitable add-on service.

It’s worth noting that running a self-storage business requires a keen understanding of your local market and a flexible approach to pricing. Keep an eye on your competitors, stay aware of the need for storage in your area, and adjust your pricing strategy as necessary to keep your business thriving. Remember, starting a self storage business is not just about providing space – it’s about offering a service that meets your customers’ needs at a price they’re willing to pay.

As we wrap up this guide on how to start a self storage business, it’s clear that the storage industry presents a significant business opportunity. With the average occupancy rate of self storage facilities standing at an impressive 96.5% and a robust annual revenue, it’s no wonder entrepreneurs are drawn to starting such a business. However, running a storage business requires a comprehensive understanding of the market, strategic planning, and a credible business plan to ensure success.

When considering the cost to launch a self storage business, it’s crucial to factor in both the initial construction or acquisition costs and the ongoing operational expenses. Remember, there are various ways to open a storage business, each with their pros and cons. For those starting with no money, options like small business loans and other financing alternatives can make your business dreams a reality.

The key to a successful self storage company in 2023 and beyond will be in offering competitive rental storage rates, providing excellent customer service, and staying ahead of the technological curve. The storage market is evolving, and those who adapt will thrive. Don’t forget, the location of your storage units plays a crucial role in your business’s potential success, with cities like Houston, Los Angeles, and New York being particularly in-demand.

In conclusion, starting your own self-storage business is one venture with immense business potential. However, you need to know the ins and outs, from average storage unit prices to ways to generate business income. With this guide as your starting point, you’re well on your way to carving out your own corner in the storage industry. Go ahead, learn how to start, run the business like a pro, and get ready to open for business!

LaunchKit Founder

Tim loves building businesses and has a long history of buying, developing, and selling them successfully. He was featured on Entrepreneur.com as a top online entrepreneur and has now dedicated his career to helping others launch their own business in pursuit of personal and financial freedom.

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As I was reading through your post, one question popped into my mind: With the self-storage market being so competitive, how can new businesses set themselves apart from the existing players and attract customers? With over 182,000 storage businesses operating nationwide, it’s crucial to find unique strategies that can give entrepreneurs an edge. Any ideas?

Hey Michael!

Great question. Pricing and branding would be the obvious first places to start. Undercutting your competition and potentially taking an early loss to get customers in the door could mean a fruitful year 2. On the other hand… investing in high quality marketing efforts from the start could allow you to charge more. Be very careful about selecting a business name that lends itself to a memorable campaign.

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Self Storage Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Self Storage Business Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 9,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their self-storage facilties. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through a self storage business plan template step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What is a Self Storage Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your self-storage business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for a Self-Storage Facility

If you’re looking to start a self-storage or storage unit business, or grow your existing self-storage business, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your self-storage business in order to improve your chances of success. Your self storage business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Self Storage Facilities

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a self-storage business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans, and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your self storage business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business.

The second most common form of funding for a self storage facility is angel investors. Angel investors are wealthy individuals who will write you a check. They will either take equity in return for their funding or, like a bank, they will give you a loan. Venture capitalists will not fund a self-storage business. They might consider funding a self-storage business with a national presence, but never an individual location. This is because most venture capitalists are looking for millions of dollars in return when they make an investment, and an individual location could never achieve such results.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

How to write a business plan for a self storage business.

If you want to start a self storage facility or expand your current one, you need a business plan. Below we detail what should be included in each section of your business plan for a storage facility.

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your self storage business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of self-storage business you are operating and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a self-storage business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of self-storage facilities.

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the self-storage industry. Discuss the type of self-storage business you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target market. Provide a snapshot of your marketing plan. Identify the key members of your team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.  

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will detail the type of storage business you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types of storage businesses:

• Portable container : this type of storage business allows customers to easily transport self storage units.
• Climate controlled storage : this type of storage business protects and preserves property against harmful temperature and humidity levels.
• Vehicle storage : this type of storage business allows customers to safely store various types of vehicles.

In addition to explaining the type of storage business you will operate, the Company Analysis section of your storage unit business plan needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to question such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of occupied self storage units, contract renewals, number of referrals, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the self storage industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy, particularly if your research identifies market trends.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your storage business plan:

• How big is the storage industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your self storage facility? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your storage unit business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: students, business owners, families, and people who are relocating.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of self-storage business you operate. Clearly, students would want different service options and would respond to different marketing promotions than families who are relocating, for example.

Try to break out your target market in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, including a discussion of the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. Because most self-storage facilities primarily serve customers living in the same city or town, such demographic information is easy to find on government websites.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other self storage facilities.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t direct competitors. This includes businesses with their own storage space and people who store extra items in their attics or basements. You need to mention such competition to show you understand that not everyone who needs storage will utilize a self-storage company.

With regards to direct competition, you want to describe the other self-storage facilities with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will be self-storage facilities located very close to your location.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What types of storage services do they offer?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of the competitive analysis section of your business plan is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide superior services?
• Will you provide services that your competitors don’t offer?
• Will you make it easier or faster for customers to use your services?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your business plan.  

Marketing Plan

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of storage business that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific products you will be offering. For example, in addition to self storage, will you provide 24-hour security, electronic gate access, or on-site staff?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your marketing plan, you are presenting the services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your self storage business. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. For example, is your self storage business located near a main highway, near public transportation, etc. Discuss how your location might provide a steady stream of customers.

Promotions : The final part of your self storage marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertising in local papers and magazines
• Reaching out to local websites
• Social media marketing
• Local radio advertising

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your self storage business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your storage business, including security management, facility maintenance, and customer service.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to lease 100 self storage units, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your facility or launch in a new location.  

Management Team

To demonstrate your self storage business’ ability to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing self storage facilities. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act like mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in managing self storage companies or successfully running small businesses.  

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements.

Income Statement

An income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenues and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

Balance Sheets

Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $100,000 on building out your self storage business, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $100,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement

Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and make sure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt. For example, let’s say a local office building approached you with a $50,000 contract to provide self storage services for their building occupants. Let’s further assume the contract would cost you $50,000 to fulfill in terms of increased staffing costs. Well, in most cases, you would have to pay that $50,000 now for employee salaries, utilities, etc. But let’s say the company didn’t pay you for 180 days. During that 180-day period, you could run out of money.

In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting a self storage business and growing it:

• Location build-out including design fees, construction, etc.
• Cost of equipment like surveillance technology, dollies, and climate control systems
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your location lease or a blueprint of your facility.  

Putting together a business plan for your own self storage business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will really understand the self storage industry, your competition, and your customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful self storage business.

Self Storage Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my self storage business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template  allows you to quickly and easily complete your Self Storage Business Plan.

What is the Goal of a Business Plan's Executive Summary?

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of self storage business you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have a self storage business that you would like to grow, or are you operating multiple self storage businesses.

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your Self Storage business plan?

OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You

Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.   Click here to see how Growthink’s business plan consultants can create your business plan for you.

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

Self Storage Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Self Storage Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create your Self Storage business plan.

We have helped over 10,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their Self Storage companies.

Below is a template to help you create each section of a storage unit business plan.

Executive Summary

Business overview.

Secure Self Storage is a startup self storage company located in Nashville, Tennessee. The company is founded by Bill Williams, an experienced self storage manager who has been working in the self storage industry for over a decade. Bill has recently earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Now that Bill has obtained the education and experience that will allow him to successfully navigate the process of starting a business, Bill is ready to open his own company, Secure Self Storage. Bill plans on recruiting a team of highly qualified professionals to help manage the day to day responsibilities of running a successful self storage facility – marketing, security, maintenance, accounting, and rent collection.

Secure Self Storage will provide a convenient, safe, and secure self storage solution for anyone in the Nashville area who needs to store their belongings. Secure will ensure that every storage need of the customer is being met. Secure Self Storage will be the ultimate choice in Nashville for self storage solutions while being the best-priced company in the area.

Product Offering

The following are the self storage solutions that Secure Self Storage will provide:

• Small Storage Units (5×5)
• Medium Storage Units (10×10)
• Large Storage Units (10×25)
• Vehicle Storage Units
• Temperature Controlled Units
• Extra Security Units
• Pickup & Delivery Services
• Disposal Services

Customer Focus

Secure Self Storage will target adults 18 years old and over in Nashville who need a storage unit for any reason such as moving, decluttering, doing home renovations, or those who need storage for business, college, or to store an automobile. No matter the customer, Secure Self Storage will deliver the best communication, service, and security.

Management Team

Secure Self Storage will be owned and operated by Bill Williams. Bill has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and has been working as a self storage manager for another local storage facility for over a decade. Now that Bill has obtained the education and experience that will allow him to successfully navigate the process of starting a business, Bill is ready to venture out and open his own self storage company. Bill will be the owner and manager of Secure Self Storage.

Bill has recruited his peer, Ken Smith, a financial professional with a Masters degree and fifteen years of experience doing financial work for various construction companies, to be the financial manager. Ken will help manage all of the finances for the company from finding a cost-effective location to set up shop to reporting and budgeting to make sure the facility is profitable.

Success Factors

Secure Self Storage will be able to achieve success by offering the following competitive advantages:

• Self storage units are easily accessible 24 hours a day, temperature controlled, and have the latest security technology to keep customers’ belongings safe and secure.
• On-site security guards are deployed 24 hours a day to ensure belongings, customers, and employees are safe at all times.
• On-site staff to answer questions, help customers, and keep the facility clean.

Financial Highlights

Secure Self Storage is seeking $250,000 in debt financing to launch its self storage business. The funding will be dedicated towards securing the facility space and purchasing equipment and supplies. Funding will also be dedicated towards three months of overhead costs to include payroll of the staff, rent, and marketing costs. The breakout of the funding is below:

• Self storage facility build-out: $50,000
• Equipment, supplies, and materials: $20,000
• Three months of overhead expenses (payroll, rent, utilities): $150,000
• Marketing costs: $15,000
• Working capital: $15,000

The following graph below outlines the pro forma financial projections for Secure Self Storage.

Company Overview

Who is secure self storage.

Secure Self Storage is a newly established high security self storage company in Nashville, Tennessee. Secure Self Storage will be the most convenient, secure, and customer-focused choice for storage unit renters in Nashville. Secure will provide a variety of self storage solutions for anyone looking for a secure storage option. The company’s customer-centric approach will include 24/7 on-site security and customer service staff, the latest security technology, and temperature controlled units.

Secure Self Storage will give customers peace of mind that their belongings are secure. The management team is composed of experienced professionals including business managers, security officers, and maintenance technicians. Secure Self Storage removes all headaches of the self storage unit renter and ensures all issues are taken care off expeditiously while delivering the best customer service.

Secure Self Storage History

Secure Self Storage is owned and operated by Bill Williams, an experienced self storage manager who has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee. Bill has worked for a local self storage company in Nashville for over a decade. Bill’s tenure with the self storage company combined with his education has given him the skills and knowledge required to venture out on his own and start his own company.

Since incorporation, Secure Self Storage has achieved the following milestones:

• Registered Secure Self Storage, LLC to transact business in the state of Tennessee.
• Has scouted a few location options and reached out to the owners for more information.
• Reached out to numerous contacts to include former customers to let them know about the upcoming facility.
• Began recruiting a staff of accountants, maintenance workers, security, and other facility personnel to work at Secure Self Storage.

Secure Self Storage Services

Industry analysis.

The United States self storage industry generates an estimated $39.5B in annual revenue with over 49,000 storage facilities throughout the country. The total rentable self storage space is approximately 1.9B square feet. An estimated 10.6% of U.S. households are currently renting a self storage unit. The average self storage space used per person is 5.9 square feet. The average monthly cost to rent a self storage unit is $90.

Self storage construction spending has nearly doubled in the past five years. According to the Self Storage Almanac, the market is highly fragmented with 31% of space being owned by six large public companies, 16% being owned by the next top 94 companies, and 53% being owned by small businesses. Self storage industry operators have the potential to achieve highly lucrative businesses if they manage them smartly. The average self storage company’s profit margin is around 11 percent, which is much higher than many other small businesses in other industries that are often closer to 3-5 percent.

Customer Analysis

Demographic profile of target market.

Secure Self Storage will target adults 18 years of age and older requiring self storage services in Nashville, Tennessee. The company will target people in need of storage space for a variety of reasons including moving, renovating, college, business, or to store a vehicle.

The precise demographics for Nashville, Tennessee are:

Customer Segmentation

Secure will primarily target the following customer profiles:

• People who are in the process of moving
• People who need storage space for a vehicle
• People who need storage for business
• People who need storage for college
• People who are renovating their homes

Competitive Analysis

Direct and indirect competitors.

Secure Self Storage will face competition from other companies with similar business profiles. A description of each competitor company is below.  

Nashville Self Storage

Nashville Self Storage is a temperature controlled self storage facility operating in Nashville, Tennessee. The facility has 400 units of varying sizes from 2×5 up to 30×30. Nashville Self Storage uses state of the art security systems with cameras throughout the facility to keep its patrons and their belongings safe and secure. The company currently has one facility with plans to open a second location in the next few months. The owners of Nashville Self Storage have been working in the storage industry for over 20 years and pride themselves on providing exceptional customer service.  

ALottaStuff Self Storage

ALottaStuff Self Storage is a Nashville-based self storage facility that provides outstanding service and storage solutions for its customers. ALottaStuff Self Storage takes the risk out of leaving your valuables in an unsecure storage facility by providing 24/7 secure monitoring of all of its units. They have temperature controlled units available in addition to non-temperature controlled units. Customers can depend on ALottaStuff Self Storage to handle their belongings with the best of care. The company provides pickup and delivery services for an extra fee.  

In-Boxes Self Storage

In-Boxes Self Storage is a trusted Nashville self storage company that provides superior service to customers in Nashville and the surrounding areas. They are able to provide a convenient storage solution for a wide range of customers with multiple locations throughout the city. In-Boxes Self Storage offers low prices for do-it-yourself storage facilities. Drive-up units are available for a flat monthly fee and indoor temperature controlled units are available for an additional charge. In-Boxes Self Storage maintains a clean, secure atmosphere with friendly staff available during office hours to assist with customers’ storage needs.

Competitive Advantage

Secure Self Storage will be able to offer the following advantages over their competition:

• On-site staff are available to answer questions, help customers, and keep the facility clean at all times.

Marketing Plan

Brand & value proposition.

Secure Self Storage will offer the unique value proposition to its customers:

• Experienced team of security professionals, customer service associates, and maintenance staff on-site 24/7 to help customers and keep the facilities clean, safe, and secure.
• Unbeatable pricing to its clients – Secure Self Storage offers competitive pricing with promotions and discounts for new and returning customers.

Promotions Strategy

The promotions strategy for Secure Self Storage is as follows:

Word of Mouth/Referrals

Bill Williams has built rapport with an extensive list of customers over the years by providing exceptional service during his tenure as a self storage manager. Many have communicated to Bill that they referred their friends to the storage facility because they were happy with the service he was providing. Once Bill advised them he was leaving to open his own self storage business, many contacts have committed to help spread the word of Secure Self Storage.

Professional Associations

Secure Self Storage will become a member of professional associations such as the Self Storage Association, the Nashville Self Storage Association, and Inside Self Storage. Bill will attend industry expos and events to promote the company.

Print Advertising

Secure Self Storage will have print ads and flyers made for newspapers, magazines, direct mailers, and to post around the city and hand out at industry events.

Website & Content Marketing

Secure Self Storage will create and maintain an easy to navigate, well organized, informative, website that will list all of the available storage options and pricing. The website will also contain an informative blog with storage related posts.

SEO Marketing

The company will use SEO marketing tactics so that any time someone types in the Google or Bing search engine “Nashville self storage” or “self storage near me”, Secure Self Storage will be listed at the top of the search results.

Social Media Marketing

Secure Self Storage will create and maintain an active presence across social media platforms including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube.

The pricing of Secure Self Storage will be competitive so customers feel they receive value when purchasing their services.

Operations Plan

The following will be the operations plan for Secure Self Storage.

Operation Functions:

• Bill Williams will be the Owner and Manager of the company. He will oversee all staff and operations. Bill has spent the past year recruiting the following staff:
• Ken Smith – Financial Manager who will provide all accounting, budgeting, tax payments, and monthly financial reporting.
• Shannon Bowman – Marketing Manager who will provide all sales and marketing initiatives for Secure Self Storage including management of the company website and social media accounts.
• Benjamin Stephens – Maintenance Manager who will oversee all maintenance of the facility.
• Micheal Brown – Head of Security who will provide all security for the facility and oversee a small team of on-site security guards.

Milestones:

Secure Self Storage will have the following milestones complete in the next six months.

8/1/2022 – Finalize contract to lease facility space.

8/15/2022 – Finalize personnel and staff employment contracts for the management team.

9/1/2022 – Begin build out of the facility.

9/15/2022 – Begin networking and marketing campaign.

9/22/2022 – Begin moving into the Secure Self Storage facility.

10/1/2022 – Secure Self Storage opens its facility for business.

Bill has recruited the help of his peer, Ken Smith, a financial professional with a Masters degree and fifteen years of experience doing financial work for various construction companies. Ken will help manage the finances for the company from finding a cost-effective location to set up shop to reporting and budgeting to make sure the facility is profitable.

Financial Plan

Key revenue & costs.

The revenue drivers for Secure Self Storage are the self storage fees that will be charged to the customers for their services. The company will charge a monthly fee for unit rentals. The fee will vary depending on the size of the unit.

The cost drivers will be the overhead costs required in order to staff a self storage facility. The expenses will be the payroll cost, utilities, maintenance costs, and marketing materials.

Funding Requirements and Use of Funds

Secure Self Storage is seeking $250,000 in debt financing to launch its self storage business. The funding will be dedicated towards securing the facility space and purchasing equipment and supplies. Funding will also be dedicated towards three months of overhead costs to include payroll of the staff, rent, and marketing costs for the print ads and association memberships. The breakout of the funding is below:

Key Assumptions

The following outlines the key assumptions required in order to achieve the revenue and cost numbers in the financials and in order to pay off the startup business loan.

• Average number of occupied units per month: 200 out of the total 500 units (40%)
• Average fees per month: $30,000 (average $150.00 per medium sized unit)
• Annual Lease on Facility: $100,000

Financial Projections

Income statement.

Balance Sheet

Cash Flow Statement

Self Storage Business Plan FAQs

What is a self storage business plan.

A self storage business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your self storage business. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing plan and details your financial projections.

You can easily complete your self storage business plan using our Self Storage Business Plan Template here .

What are the Main Types of Self Storage Businesses?

There are a number of different kinds of self storage business , some examples include: Portable container, Climate controlled storage, and Vehicle storage.

How Do You Get Funding for Your Self Storage Business Plan?

Self storage businesses are often funded through small business loans. Personal savings, credit card financing and angel investors are also popular forms of funding.

What are the Steps To Start a Self Storage Business?

Starting a self storage business can be an exciting endeavor. Having a clear roadmap of the steps to start a business will help you stay focused on your goals and get started faster.

1. Develop A Self Storage Business Plan - The first step in starting a business is to create a storage facility business plan pdf or doc that outlines all aspects of the venture. This should include potential market size and target customers, the services or products you will offer, pricing strategies and a detailed financial forecast.  

2. Choose Your Legal Structure - It's important to select an appropriate legal entity for your self storage business. This could be a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks so it’s important to do research and choose wisely so that your self storage business is in compliance with local laws.

3. Register Your Self Storage Business - Once you have chosen a legal structure, the next step is to register your self storage business with the government or state where you’re operating from. This includes obtaining licenses and permits as required by federal, state, and local laws. 

4. Identify Financing Options - It’s likely that you’ll need some capital to start your self storage business, so take some time to identify what financing options are available such as bank loans, investor funding, grants, or crowdfunding platforms. 

5. Choose a Location - Whether you plan on operating out of a physical location or not, you should always have an idea of where you’ll be based should it become necessary in the future as well as what kind of space would be suitable for your operations. 

6. Hire Employees - There are several ways to find qualified employees including job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed as well as hiring agencies if needed – depending on what type of employees you need it might also be more effective to reach out directly through networking events. 

7. Acquire Necessary Self Storage Equipment & Supplies - In order to start your self storage business, you'll need to purchase all of the necessary equipment and supplies to run a successful operation. 

8. Market & Promote Your Business - Once you have all the necessary pieces in place, it’s time to start promoting and marketing your self storage business. This includes creating a website, utilizing social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and having an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. You should also consider traditional marketing techniques such as radio or print advertising.

Learn more about how to start a successful self storage business:

• How to Start a Self Storage Business

Is a Self-Storage Business Profitable?

Profitability is in the eye of the beholder. But, generally speaking, a self-storage business can be profitable. In fact, it can be more profitable than many other types of business out there.

“Self-storage has evolved from the homely stepsister to the Cinderella of the commercial real estate industry. Once relegated to sites unsuitable for other productive uses and stigmatized as unsightly metal buildings, self-storage properties historically haven’t attracted sophisticated investors’ attention,”  according to the CCIM Institute , a commercial real estate network. “Yet in recent years, the segment’s solid performance and stable returns have piqued the interest of a growing number of investors.”

Starting a storage business

What makes a self-storage facilities profitable? A self-storage facility is an attractive investment because of the relatively low operating costs. It requires less upkeep than an office building or multifamily complex, for instance, and demands less overhead — namely in the form of labor — than most other kinds of income-generating real estate .

Furthermore, aside from the main business of renting out storage units, a self-storage facility can make money by selling locks, cardboard boxes, packing tape, insurance, and other products and services.

Additionally, the month-to-month nature of self-storage leases enables a facility owner to raise rent more easily than for properties that traditionally offer long-term leases, such as office buildings and multifamily complexes. This allows for more frequent pricing increases if desired.

As  noted by Marc Goodin , co-founder of Storage Authority Franchising, “a properly planned, operated and funded facility can be a very rewarding and profitable business.” This includes creating and adhering to a  self-storage business plan , which most lenders will want to see from someone considering the purchase or construction of a storage facility.

Pros and cons of owning a storage unit business

Among the five pros and five cons of owning a self-storage business are:

• Pro:  Great potential for profit.
• Pro:  Growing demand.
• Pro:  Low overhead compared to other real estate investments.
• Pro:  Often-minimal management.
• Pro:  Prospects for lucrative add-on products and services.
• Con:  Self-storage facility is a business, not just a piece of property.
• Con:  Possibility of picking poor location.
• Con:  Up-and-down movement in occupancy and rental rates.
• Con:  Constant concerns about hiring and managing employees.
• Con:  Stiff competition from other storage operators, particularly ones with a big regional or national footprint.

Profit margin of a self-storage business

As you’re mulling the pros and cons of a self-storage business and you’re pondering the moneymaking potential, keep in mind that there’s not necessarily one right or wrong way to look at profitability. In many cases, someone may use the word “profit” as a proxy for financial success.

For instance, one self-storage business owner might measure profitability based on the profit margin. According to one estimate, a self-storage facility generates a typical  profit margin of 41% .

Net operating income of self-storage units

Meanwhile, another self-storage investor might focus on net operating income, or NOI. Owners of income-generating properties use NOI as a yardstick for profitability. To come up with NOI for your small business, you subtract operating expenses from revenue.

The five publicly traded self-storage REITs in the U.S. like to emphasize NOI when they are reporting financial results to investors.

Public Storage, the largest of the REITs, posted same-store NOI (an apples-to-apples financial comparison of facilities open at least a year) of nearly $1.75 billion in 2020. Public Storage forecasts same-store NOI growth of 9.4% to 11.9% in 2021 versus the previous year.

Extra Space Storage, another self-storage REIT, notched same-store NOI of nearly $770 million in 2020. For 2021, the company predicts NOI growth of 13.5% to 15.5% compared with the previous year.

Revenue is only one part of boosting NOI, controlling expenses for your small business is the other. Some major expenses that can hamper your facility’s profitability include property taxes, snow removal, and debt service.

Return on investment for self-storage businesses

Another way to approach profitability, in the loosest sense of the word, is to examine the return on investment, or ROI. In self-storage, there are two key types of ROI: cash-on-cash ROI and cap-rate ROI.

According to Investopedia, cash-on-cash ROI measures — normally on an annual basis — the amount of cash flow relative to the amount of cash invested in a property. Cash-on-cash ROI is expressed as a percentage. “It is considered relatively easy to understand and one of the most important real estate ROI calculations,” the website says.

Then there’s cap-rate ROI. As Chron.com explains, the cap-rate ROI is the profitability ratio obtained when you divide ROI by the purchase price of a storage facility. In the self-storage industry, you’ll often hear folks refer not to the cap-rate ROI but simply to the cap rate, or capitalization rate, of a facility.

In calculating the cap rate, “the purchase price is used rather than down payment because down payments can vary widely, which can skew the results; your cash-on-cash ROI for the identical facility using the same NOI will be a lot different if you buy a facility with a 20% down payment compared to a 5% down payment,” Chron.com says.

A cap rate in self-storage might be 6.5%, whereas the cap rate for a retail or office building might be 5%. Cap rates vary according to a property’s fundamentals and location, and fluctuate over time.

Building a self-storage facility

Of course, the profitability equation almost certainly will change if you’re going to build a new facility from the ground up instead of buying an existing facility.

The Millionacres investment website  points out  that developing a facility “is the most cost- and labor-intensive method for investing in this industry; however, it can be extremely lucrative if done properly. It takes a high level of experience, knowledge and resources to help make this a successful endeavor.”

Bottom line: development costs and construction costs can eat into your business venture’s profits if you aren’t careful.

Maintaining occupancy

Regardless of whether you build or buy a self-storage facility, the business’ long-term profitability and viability rests largely on maintaining healthy occupancy numbers. While a 65% occupancy rate might cover operating and debt expenses, experts generally recommend shooting for an occupancy rate of 80% to 90%. Buoyed by pandemic-driven demand, the industrywide occupancy rate averaged 91.7% in 2020.

Industry observers say the robust occupancy rates achieved during the pandemic and the accompanying economic downturn further underscored the recession resilience of the self-storage sector. The sector’s resilience likely will remain for some time to come, with one forecast indicating an annualized growth rate of 8% in the U.S. market from 2020 to 2025.

Long term outlook

In August 2021, Joe Russell, president and CEO of Public Storage, said the rise of hybrid work arrangements “gives us confidence that overall adoption of self-storage will continue to grow, and is looked upon favorably by consumers and businesses as a cost-efficient alternative to storing goods in residential or commercial space.”

The long term feasibility of the self-storage industry seems to be stronger than ever.

Building a Fortress: A Guide to Self-Storage Security

Need a little inspiration for advertising your self-storage facility? Check out these three examples to get your creative juices flowing. Keep Reading

How Much Does it Cost to Build a Self-Storage Facility?

When you’re looking to develop a self-storage facility, you obviously must decide where to build it. Be prepared, finding a great site for storage can be tricky. Keep Reading

How to Start a Self-Storage Business

Launching a self-storage business for the first time? Start here and learn everything you need to know before you buy or build. Keep Reading

• Personal Cloud Solutions
• Cloud Storage

Best Cloud Storage Services: Personal & Business Storage Providers in 2024

Cloudwards.net may earn a small commission from some purchases made through our site. However, any earnings do not affect how we review services. Learn more about our editorial integrity and research process .

Choosing the best cloud storage provider is difficult. This guide shows the 10 top cloud storage services for cost, safety and collaboration features, covering personal cloud storage and business file storage solutions.

Last Updated: 03 Apr'24 2024-04-03T08:37:49+00:00

All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.

• Sync.com — Top cloud storage pick for sharing, versioning, large files, iPhone and more
• pCloud — Best online storage pick for Windows, Mac, Linux and music  
• Icedrive — Top cloud drive with excellent speeds
• MEGA — Very secure service with the most free cloud storage (20GB)
• IDrive — Best cloud storage-online backup hybrid
• OneDrive — Best cloud storage service for Office integration
• Google Drive — Top pick for integrated apps and students
• Koofr — Top pick for multiple cloud accounts
• Dropbox — Best pick for cloud collaboration
• Box — Great pick for business cloud storage

• Excellent security
• Competitive pricing
• Unlimited file sizes
• User interface needs work
• Slower sync speeds

Welcome to our updated 2024 guide to the best cloud storage services. Cloudwards.net has been conducting cloud storage reviews for several years now, and in that time much has changed.

Competition between big corporate players like Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive, and the emergence of privacy-oriented providers like Sync.com, pCloud and MEGA, has been a boon for consumers. To save you some time we have a list of what we think are the top players for your money.

Find the best cloud storage provider for your needs:

• 1000 GB / 1TB
• 2000 GB / 2TB
• 3000 GB / 3TB or more
• Basic encryption is fine
• Zero-knowledge encryption
• Sync Folder
• File Link Sharing
• Folder Sharing
• Subscription
• one-time payment

Updated to remove IDrive’s discontinued free plan and add its new 30-day free trial.

Updated to reflect news about MEGA’s encryption.

Updated to reflect an increase in IDrive’s free plan to 10GB of storage.

Cloudwards.net updated the top 10 cloud storage services rankings, including IDrive in the list, removing iCloud and adjusting other providers.

We added new information about Sync.com’s integration with Microsoft Office.

Updated with new video ranking.

Updated to reflect changes in Icedrive’s pricing plans and storage offers

The Best Cloud Storage Comparison

How we chose the best cloud storage.

When we review a service, we run tests for around a week, testing all of its features to see if they work as advertised. We analyze the service’s security, including encryption protocols and secure storage methods. Finally, we run technical tests to see how they perform in terms of speed, RAM and CPU usage.

Security and privacy are Cloudwards’ priority when it comes to cloud storage, so we give zero-knowledge services a much greater score than those that don’t offer it. Our experts take great care to parse through the complex legal implications of the services privacy policies and the privacy laws of countries where they keep their servers.

Cloud Storage Courses

Check out our cloud storage courses and grab a limited-time offer. Registration available now!

We take a number of other factors into consideration as well, but we’ll go into more detail on that after the list. If you’re particularly interested in cloud storage speeds, we have custom data that shows a performance comparison of the top providers below . Our analysis of 12 top cloud services showed that around half of them perform better than you’d expect.

If you are still figuring out how to best pick the right service for you, we have a handy video guide, below.

The Top 10 Cloud Storage Providers for 2024

Without further ado, here are the 10 best cloud storage service providers on the market right now.

1. Sync.com – Best Secure Cloud Storage

More Details About Sync.com:

• Pricing: 5GB free, 2TB for $96 per year ($8 per month)
• Number of devices: 5 on Individual Plans
• Website: Sync.com
• Excellent value
• Secure cloud storage
• Easy to use
• Slower than some rivals

Sync.com is our choice for the best cloud service, hitting the top spot in many of our cloud storage lists. It’s one of the most secure cloud services out there, and it keeps improving its service and adding new features as the service matures and grows. Sync also won our cloud storage pricing comparison .

Security & Collaboration in One Package

To start with, Sync.com comes with zero-knowledge encryption as standard. This means that if there was a security breach or the authorities demanded access to your account, the intruder would only see scrambled data because you’re the only one holding the encryption key.

To add to this, Sync.com offers advanced sharing controls, including passwords, download limits and expiry dates for sharing links. Plus, Sync.com allows you to create and edit Microsoft Office documents (including Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents) in a privacy-friendly collaboration environment, without breaking zero-knowledge encryption.

Sync.com Pricing & Free Storage

Pricing is where Sync.com truly shines. Sync.com comes with 5GB free storage , which isn’t much, but it’s enough to try the service out. However, its paid plans are some of the cheapest around. For just $8 per month (paid annually), you get 2TB of storage space.

For comparison, the same amount of file storage from Dropbox is $9.99 a month. In fact, there is no provider in our top 10 that offers 2TB of storage for a lower price.

The only flaw we can find with Sync.com is that it’s slow. In fact, it was one of the worst performers in our fastest cloud storage list , so if you’re impatient, Sync.com might not be for you.

However, all in all, Sync.com is a great online storage provider at a price you’ll be hard-pressed to beat. It also has a good number of features, as well as support for Windows 10 and Mac users. If you want to learn more, take a look at our Sync.com review .

• Price per user
• Unlimited GB
• Minimum 100 users, custom requirements, account manager, training options

2. pCloud – Best Multi-Platform Cloud Storage

More Details About pCloud:

• Pricing: 10GB free, 2TB for $95.88 per year ($7.99 per month)
• Number of devices: Unlimited
• Website: pCloud.com
• Choice of encryption levels
• Clever virtual drive
• EU servers available
• Zero-knowledge encryption isn’t free
• No document integration

You’ll often see us praise pCloud in our cloud storage reviews, and it’s not hard to see why. It has a number of unique features wrapped in a sleek and secure package. Plus, it offers great pricing, putting it alongside Sync.com .

Top-Shelf Media & Sharing Capabilities

pCloud is a great option for media lovers . That’s thanks to features offered in the embedded pCloud music player, which automatically crates playlists by artist, album or folder. Its video player is also fairly advanced, even letting you change playback speed and convert video files to other formats.

If you’re running out of media storage space on your device, pCloud’s virtual drive will come in handy. pCloud can mount a virtual drive on your device (similar to Local Disk (C:)) which uses your cloud storage instead of your hard drive’s storage.

If you’re a creator that loves to post on social media, pCloud lets you back up images that you previously uploaded to your socials as part of its backup feature. This feature also lets you back up your entire device to the cloud, or even move all your files from another cloud service to pCloud.

What Is pCloud Crypto?

pCloud doesn’t offer zero-knowledge encryption out of the box, which is a downside. You’d have to pay $3.99 per month for this protection — called pCloud Crypto — although it is included for free with business plans. However, pCloud Crypto is a little different from the kind of encryption you’ll see other providers offer.

With pCloud Crypto, you get a specific folder to store your files that you want to be protected with zero-knowledge encryption. Anything outside of pCloud Crypto can still be read by pCloud’s servers, allowing you to preview files or play content from within the app.

pCloud and Sync.com fight hard to be the top-value services in this list, so take a look at our Sync.com vs pCloud head-to-head article. Also consider that pCloud lets you can save money by signing up for a pCloud Lifetime account , giving you online storage that remains yours — forever. 

• + FREE Encryption
• Price per user (minimum 3)
• Encryption for pCloud Drive

3. Icedrive – Fastest Online Cloud Storage

More Details About Icedrive:

• Pricing: 10GB free, 1TB for $71.88 per year ( $5.99 per month)
• Website: Icedrive.net
• Secure Twofish algorithm
• Preview encrypted files
• Zero knowledge isn’t free
• Limited choice of plans

Icedrive is a new entry on our list, and it’s a provider you may not have heard of before. That’s not surprising, given it has only been in operation since 2019. It’s been making waves, though, with highly competitive pricing and some interesting features that set it apart from some of its more established rivals.

Novel Encryption Methods & Zero-Knowledge Security

One of the biggest differences from the other providers on our list is that Icedrive doesn’t use the industry-standard AES 256-bit encryption. Instead, it uses an algorithm called Twofish.

Twofish was one of the final contenders for the Advanced Encryption Standard contest at the turn of the century. Some consider Twofish to be more secure (if sometimes slower) than the eventual winner, Rijndael (now known simply as AES). Icedrive points out that the current standard is backed by the NSA — make of that what you will, but don’t let it scare you just yet.

Paid accounts include zero-knowledge encryption as standard, so files should be safe from prying eyes. Unlike most other zero-knowledge providers, Icedrive lets you preview certain files by streaming them in encrypted form to your computer, where they are then decrypted on the fly. 

Icedrive also offers two-factor authentication (2FA) and it has a no-nonsense privacy policy that rules out most problematic behaviors. As a UK-based company, Icedrive is governed by stringent GDPR regulations.

Icedrive Online Storage Pricing & Lifetime Plans

One of the biggest selling points of Icedrive is the price, though. If you pay annually, 1TB of storage costs just $5.99 . If you need more space, the next tier up gives you 3TB of cloud file storage for $10.99 per month (for accounts paid annually). That’s quite a big jump, which might be costly for some users, but you can also opt for a lifetime subscription.

That may or may not be a risk, though, especially given how new of a provider Icedrive is. Still, if you’re looking for a highly secure provider and need less than 1TB of storage space, then Icedrive is a great option. Check out our Icedrive review for more details.

• Bandwidth limit: 50GB
• Bandwidth limit: 250GB
• Bandwidth limit: 2TB
• Bandwidth limit: 8TB
• Additional 128GB storage for users who purchased the Lifetime Plan
• Additional 512GB storage for users who purchased the Lifetime Plan
• Additional 2TB storage for users who purchased the Lifetime Plan

4. MEGA – Best Free Cloud Storage

More Details About MEGA:

• Pricing: 20GB free, 2TB for $122 per year (around $10 per month)
• Website: MEGA.io
• No U.S. servers
• Great free storage
• Time-limited rewards
• Ownership concerns

If you’re worried about privacy with other free cloud storage providers, like Google (our number seven pick), you can go for a provider at the other end of the privacy spectrum: MEGA. Although MEGA’s colorful founder Kim Dotcom has had run-ins with the law, he’s no longer part of the company. MEGA’s focus is security, so zero-knowledge encryption is the absolute standard, with nobody but you having access to your files. 

A Truly Secure Cloud Storage Service

In terms of privacy, MEGA has servers in Canada, New Zealand and Europe — it’s one of the best cloud storage for Europe . They’re all locations that have reasonable privacy laws that, as you might have noticed, is exactly why no data is held on American servers. 

Because MEGA uses zero-knowledge encryption, it can’t read any of the files that you store, but it does keep some of your metadata (like IP logins) to monitor access. However, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the recent report that found serious problems with MEGA’s encryption process. Still, we feel confident recommending it as an overall secure and private service.

There is also some controversy about how much of MEGA’s stock is owned by people under the influence of the Chinese government, which could be a concern for some users. You can read more about this in our MEGA review .

Best Cloud Storage: Free 20GB

MEGA is a good option for users who want a free storage cloud account. In 2021, it increased its free file storage space from 15GB to 20GB. Plus, you can extend your free space by completing various tasks — like installing the desktop and mobile apps — but that extra space expires after a year.

Although its paid plans aren’t the cheapest cloud storage options out there, at the end of the day, the base 20GB still blows its free cloud storage rivals away, earning it the fifth spot on our list. The good news is that, even if you don’t pay for a MEGA subscription, free accounts get full access to the privacy and protection that MEGA’s encrypted cloud storage provides.

If lifetime plans is what you’re looking for, pCloud, Internxt and Icedrive has got your back.

• File transfer: 2TB (Monthly plan) 24TB (yearly plan)
• File transfer: (monthly plan) 96TB (yearly plan)
• File transfer: 16TB (monthly plan) 192TB (yearly plan)
• Price per user (minimum 3) 3TB Transfer quota

5. IDrive – Best Value Cloud Storage

More Details About IDrive:

• Pricing: 10GB free, 5TB for $6.22 per month (two-year plan)
• Provider website: idrive.com
• Both backup & cloud storage
• Packed with features
• No monthly plan

IDrive is a unique option, offering a hybrid solution for both cloud storage and online backup — it’s actually our number one pick for online backup, a fact that it owes mostly to its incredibly affordable prices and incredible wealth of features. 

Hybrid Cloud Storage & Backup With IDrive

Besides all the backup features like disk-imaging and courier recovery that we won’t spend too much time on here — check out our IDrive review for that — it also boasts proper file sync and share features that earns it a spot on this list.

You can designate any folder on your device as a sync folder, and you can move them wherever you want. There’s also selective sync, which can save you a lot of time and bandwidth if there are certain large files you want to exclude. In comparison, the file-sharing is a bit bare-bones, though you can set access privileges on the share-links that you create. 

Although IDrive works great as traditional cloud storage, online backup is its bread and butter. That means that unlike other entries on this list, IDrive is an excellent solution for backing up your entire device automatically, since you won’t have to manually move things you want to protect into a sync folder. 

Affordable Cloud Storage Pricing Plans

One of the best aspects of IDrive is just how much storage you get for such a cheap price. IDrive’s personal plans are incredibly generous considering how much storage you get.

For example, the two cheapest plans offer 5TB and 10TB of storage — which is a lot — for just $6.22 per month (two-year plan) and $6.22 per month on the two-year plan respectively. 

The only downside here is that you have to sign up for a full year, but if you’re a first-time user, you can get an even bigger discount by using our IDrive promo code . It also has a free 30-day trial, so you can test it first.

• No credit card required.
• One user, multiple computers. Plans starting from 5TB up to 100TB. Big discount for first-time signup.
• 5 computers, 5 users. Starting at 5TB up to 500TB. Big discount for first-time signup.
• Monthly Plan storage starts at 1.25TB up to 50TB Unlimited users, multiple computers and servers. NAS devices. 250GB storage. Starting at 250GB up to 50TB. Large discount for first-time signup.

6. OneDrive – Best Personal Cloud Storage

More Details About OneDrive:

• Pricing: 5GB free, 1TB for $6.99 per month
• Website: microsoft.com/microsoft-365/onedrive
• Excellent collaboration tools
• Great integrated apps
• A large variety of features
• Generous free storage
• No zero-knowledge encryption
• Limited file versioning

There are big names in cloud computing, and then there’s Microsoft. There isn’t a market in computing that Microsoft hasn’t tried to dominate, and it’s not surprising that it has an online storage offering in its OneDrive service, which offers seamless integration with other Microsoft services, such as Office. It’s even integrated into Windows itself.

Collaborate Easily With Microsoft Office & OneDrive

Office integration is the biggest selling point for OneDrive users — or rather, the collaboration benefits that come from a combined Office and OneDrive service. A Microsoft 365 Personal subscription (previously Office 365) includes 1TB of OneDrive storage, but it also comes with full desktop versions of Office apps, with Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint thrown in. 

These Office apps make collaborating on documents simple. You can share any of your documents stored in the cloud, and multiple users can work on them together in real time. Any changes are instantly visible to all other co-authors and automatically saved to the cloud.

You never have to worry about losing that 90-page thesis to a hard drive failure ever again. With a Microsoft Personal subscription, you can install Office on up to five different devices, allowing you to share the service across an entire family or household. You can learn more about these collaboration options in our OneDrive review .

The collaboration features come at a cost, though. OneDrive doesn’t have zero-knowledge encryption, so your information is visible to Microsoft and anyone else who gains access to its servers, legally or not. Of course, we can’t ignore the fact that as a U.S. company, Microsoft servers are based stateside, so your data is subject to intrusive laws, such as the Freedom Act.

OneDrive Family & Business Plans

You can take things a step further with a Microsoft Family 365 subscription, which gives users 1TB of storage for up to six people at just $8.33 a month (paid annually). This can save you a small fortune on storage and productivity apps for the family, making it a good value option.

OneDrive also has some excellent business options that  make it our favorite value product in our list of the top enterprise file sync and share providers (where a business online storage provider like Egnyte reigns). With Office and Windows integration, as well as pretty good pricing, OneDrive is certainly a provider we can recommend with confidence.

• For one person
• Comes with Office 365 Personal
• Comes with Office 365 Home

7. Google Drive – Best File Cloud Storage

More Details About Google Drive:

• Pricing: 15GB free, 2TB for $99.99 per year ($8.33 per year)
• Website: google.com/drive
• Privacy concerns

If you want a similar experience to OneDrive, you may want to try Google Drive. Like Microsoft’s service, Google offers storage that integrates well with its own suite of office applications, which serve to replace the Microsoft Office experience in full — and do so pretty well, too.

An Endless List of App Integrations

You can collaborate in real time using Google Docs, leave comments and roll-back changes, thanks to Google’s built-in versioning features. Only OneDrive and Dropbox can really rival Google Drive for collaboration, and you can check out our Dropbox vs Google Drive vs OneDrive article to see how they compare.

There’s an entire marketplace of other Google Drive apps, so you can integrate other productivity apps, grammar checkers and more. You can also use Google Drive with other apps, including Google Calendar and Google Keep, a simple note-taking app. You can quickly compare how it matches from other basic platforms like Simplenote .

Google Drive Free Storage & Pricing

These kinds of integrations make Google Drive our top choice as the best online cloud provider for integrated apps, but it shines in other areas, too. If you have a Gmail account, you’re already using Google Drive, with 15GB of free storage thrown in, although its pricing is reasonable if you require more.

Google Drive is the best cloud storage for students and free users, for good reasons. Unlike some of the other providers we’ll mention, free users gain almost all of the same features that come with paid subscriptions. Powerful collaboration options in a free product help Google Drive to come out to be one of the best in this list.

If you’re curious about Google Drive pricing, then you can add 100GB of extra storage for a very reasonable $2 a month. There are some downsides, though. As you can read in our Google Drive review , there’s no zero-knowledge encryption, which is particularly concerning given that Google is not renowned for having the greatest policies when it comes to your personal data .

The price you pay for accessing the collaboration tools and app integrations is that Google will scan the contents of anything you upload to Google Drive; it has full access to read, catalogue and use that data. You’ll need to decide for yourself whether you’re willing to give up some privacy to benefit from the useful tools that Google offers.

• *The plan is "hidden." To find the 200GB plan, you need to be subscribed to one of the other plans, upgrade or downgrade to the 200GB through your account's settings.

8. Koofr  – Top Online Provider for Multiple Cloud Accounts

More Details About Koofr:

• Pricing: 10GB free, 1TB for $10.85 per month
• Website: Koofr.eu
• Links to other cloud accounts
• Virtual drive
• Integrates with Microsoft Office 365
• More expensive than some

It’s by no means a household name, but Koofr offers some features that set it apart from the other providers on our list. As a downside, Koofr isn’t the cheapest, as our Koofr review will explain. It has some very cheap plans that offer 100GB of storage or less, as well as a free 10GB plan.

Manage Multiple Cloud Storage Services

One of the most useful is the ability to link it to other cloud storage services. Currently, you can connect accounts from Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive, allowing you to mix and match your services in one place. Still, with other big platforms available, this is only a minor blip in a pretty unique offering from Koofr.

Once you’ve connected your accounts, you can access all your remote files at once, letting you move and copy files between each of your linked accounts, as well as search for files across all platforms. Any files stored in your other cloud accounts won’t count against your Koofr storage quota.

Great Privacy, Lacking Security

Unfortunately, this level of access between services does mean that Koofr lacks the kind of zero-knowledge encryption that privacy-focused providers offer. Still, Koofr’s servers are based in Germany, so your data falls under much stronger EU privacy laws. Koofr does offer 2FA to help keep your data safe in the event that your password is hacked, though.

Koofr integrates with Microsoft Office 365, though this feature has a few limitations. Free accounts can create an Office document but only paid accounts can edit it. Plus, Koofr doesn’t let you set editing permissions for files (only for folders), so you can’t really collaborate with other people on documents.

You’ll pay around $10.85 per month for 1TB of storage (prices are in euros, so conversion rates will fluctuate). This is costly, compared to Sync.com or pCloud, which offer double the storage for a similar cost. If you don’t need a huge amount of space but want to have all your cloud accounts in one place, then it’s worth taking a look at Koofr.

• *Prices in Euro

9. Dropbox – Best Cloud Data Storage

More Details About Dropbox:

• Pricing: 2GB free, 2TB for $203.88 per year ($16.99 per month)
• Number of devices: 3 to unlimited
• Website: Dropbox.com
• Collaboration with both Office & Google
• Not the cheapest

Dropbox may not have been the first cloud storage service, but it was the first to really bring the idea into the mainstream. More than a decade after its launch, it’s still going strong, with only Google Drive having a larger market share. Dropbox also has the name recognition that providers like Sync.com can only dream of at present.

One of the Best Cloud Storage Services for Collaboration

One of the reasons why Dropbox is still so popular is the excellent collaboration it offers, which is why Dropbox Business is one of our top recommendations in our cloud storage for collaboration shortlist. 

You can launch and collaborate on both Microsoft and Google documents with Dropbox, making it a good solution for users who need to use both services. Both formats work seamlessly, allowing you to co-author documents in real time, which are then automatically saved to the cloud.

The excellent collaboration tools come at a cost in two ways. First off, this integration is only possible because Dropbox’s servers can access your files, due to the lack of zero-knowledge encryption. Dropbox has had security breaches in the past, which we discuss in our Dropbox review . This could be a red flag for some users, and for good reason.

Dropbox is also more expensive than some of the other providers in this list, with 2TB of storage costing $9.99 per month if you pay annually. If you’re looking for information on Dropbox’s business storage plans that are paid per user, you can find out more in our Dropbox Business review .

Save Hard Drive Space With Dropbox Smart Sync

To help users save up on space, Dropbox introduced “smart sync”, which allows you to set all of your files and folders to be either stored locally or online-only. The online-only files still show up in your Dropbox folder, but they don’t take up any space. 

For many users looking for the best cloud storage with sync, Dropbox continues to be a good choice. Its pricing and a lack of encryption could put you off, as could historical data breaches, but features like “smart sync” show that Dropbox continues to innovate, and it still remains one of the greatest services for users who are looking to collaborate on documents.

• (Formerly Dropbox One) 1 user Signature requests and eSignature templates
• 3 users minimum

10. Box – Best Online Cloud Storage for Businesses

More Details About Box:

• Pricing: 10GB for free, 100GB for $14 per month or $120 per year
• Website: box.com
• Strong collaboration options
• Google Workspace and Microsoft Office integrations
• Great security
• Primarily business focused
• Private key management costs extra

Although Box is a cloud storage provider that focuses on businesses, it still offers two plans for personal users — one free and one paid. Due to its nature as a business-focused storage option, Box comes packed to the brim with advanced features. Everything from strong collaboration options to two-factor authentication, note-taking and project management is present, which makes for a solid list of features.

The one thing that is missing out of the box (we’ll show ourselves out) is private key management — the main requirement for zero-knowledge privacy. This is a feature that you have to pay extra for with Box, and the company won’t even tell you the price unless you contact them directly.

Collaboration With Box

The clear standout feature of Box is the long list of collaboration options it offers to users. The two most important integrations for this are obviously there, namely Google Workspace and Microsoft Office, but Box goes far beyond these two popular options. 

Instead of forcing you into the apps themselves, Box lets you edit and collaborate on documents directly from its own software, and this even extends to the mobile version. If you ever find yourself needing to edit a text or spreadsheet while on the move, Box is one of the few cloud storage options that let you do this directly from your mobile device.

Pricing That’s Hard to Swallow

By far the biggest drawback to Box is its frankly absurd price. As mentioned, there are only two plans available for personal users. The first is free and gives you access to 10GB of storage and most of Box’s features. However, the paid plan is a terrible value for money if all you want is storage. A mere 100GB will cost you $14 per month or $120 per year, which is outrageously expensive.

If you’re more concerned with collaboration and security than you are with price and storage space, then Box is an excellent cloud storage solution. If that’s not the case, you’re better off with any of the options presented above. For a deeper dive into the service’s pros and cons, check out our Box Review .

• Single user
• Price per user, minimum of three users
• Users: No limit

How Does Cloud Storage Work?

Cloud storage is a way of storing your files and folders on online servers, allowing you to access them from any location and on any device with an internet connection. Your data is stored on servers that belong to your cloud storage provider, which usually offers a web interface, desktop app or mobile app to access your information.

These servers might be located in your own country or on the other side of the world. Most services use a sync folder on your desktop, allowing you to store files easily. Any files you put into this folder are also uploaded to the cloud servers, which will automatically update if you make any changes.

Why We Use Cloud Storage

People use cloud storage for many different reasons, starting with storage. While services like Dropbox and Sync.com might not be great for disaster recovery, they work very well for short-term storage of files that you access often.

In fact, that’s exactly what Drew Houston had in mind when he dreamed up the “sync” folder model commonly used by cloud storage services today back in 2007. He was traveling from New York to Boston on a Chinatown bus and realized that he left his USB drive behind . He decided he wanted a means of storing and accessing files online in a way that required little effort on his part.

Sync folders facilitate device synchronization, which we call “sync” for short. Any file you drag and drop into a sync folder gets automatically sent to the cloud, then sent to any other devices with a sync client installed. That way, you never have to worry about messing with removable storage. Changes to files also get synced across devices, which is what makes cloud storage ideal for getting work done, even remotely.  

Syncing Mobile Apps

Cloud storage tools also generally have mobile apps for Android and iOS that let you access files stored in the cloud. Many let you manually and automatically upload files, as well. That makes them convenient for safeguarding photos taken with your smartphone camera and saving memory at the same time.

Take a look at our roundup of the best cloud storage for Android , or our guide on the best cloud managers for Android if you have multiple cloud storage accounts.

A handful of cloud storage tools don’t sync devices. We can’t think of any tool, though, that doesn’t let you share files. File sharing can be used for both collaboration and socializing.

Most cloud storage tools let you invite specific users to access files based on their email address and generate links to files that can be more broadly used. Many cloud storage tools also let you share folder access, even granting others edit and upload permissions.  

Some cloud storage solutions also integrate with productivity tools like Office Online, Google Docs, Trello, DocuHub and DocuSign. Unfortunately for home users, such integrations are more common with EFSS tools, which are basically cloud storage services for teams and businesses.

Cloud Storage vs Online Backup

Before you start shopping for cloud storage in earnest, it helps to have a good understanding of what “cloud storage” actually means. That way you don’t end up with software that doesn’t really meet your expectations.

The first hurdle to overcome is knowing the difference between cloud storage and online backup. It’s easy to see why one might confuse these terms: both cloud storage and online backup are used to safeguard files in remote data centers. Both let you access the files stored in these data centers from different devices. Online backup is even sometimes confusingly called “cloud backup.”

The difference between the two is that the ultimate goal of online backup is disaster recovery, while cloud storage is generally best suited to quick file access and collaboration. We generally like to think of cloud storage as a productivity tool here at Cloudwards.net, although many people use such solutions for things like streaming music, watching videos and sharing photos, too.

Online backup safeguards hard drives better than cloud storage thanks to backup schedulers, better data recovery options and a few other things that you can read up on in our guide to best online backup.

Aside from storage, there are two features generally common to cloud storage: file sharing and file syncing. On top of that, a handful of cloud storage tools have integrated apps like word processors and task managers that help facilitate productivity.

It’s important to note that there are a handful of cloud solutions that blur the lines between storage and backup. IDrive and SpiderOak ONE are two of the best.

Is Cloud Storage Safe?

Most cloud storage services encrypt your data when it’s being sent to their servers and many store your data in encrypted form. However, no system is completely secure, and cloud storage servers can be hacked.

For instance, Dropbox suffered a major breach in 2012, when 68 million passwords were leaked. Government authorities may also request to access your data for legal reasons. You can help to keep your data more secure by using a service with zero-knowledge encryption, which means that the only person who can decrypt your data is you.

We also recommend setting up two-factor authentication with cloud storage services. This requires you to use an additional code when you log in, which is either sent to your phone as an SMS message or generated by an authenticator app. Even if someone has your password, 2FA means they can’t log in to your account without access to your phone, too.

Cloud Storage Speed Tests

Speed is one of the most important aspects of any cloud storage service. Although the time differences for a gigabyte or two may not be all too large, the time spent uploading or downloading terabytes can add up substantially. The upside of faster cloud storage is clear: using a faster service means you can access your files more quickly across your devices. 

If you know where to look, you can find the fastest cloud storage services , too. Our recent analysis of 12 top cloud storage services showed that around half of them only take 25 percent longer to upload and 27 percent longer to download than expected. This is using raw megabytes per second as a baseline, ignoring all other network conditions. 

Note : Testing was performed in Macedonia using 5.9 Mbps upload and 32 Mbps download speeds.

Of the lot, pCloud and IceDrive were the fastest across upload and download, with SugarSync following closely behind. Google Drive and Sync.com trailed the pack with the slowest speeds. For Google Drive, that’s bad news. Sync.com, on the other hand, offers full end-to-end encryption, so the speed loss makes sense. 

Final Thoughts: Best Cloud Storage

This list has our current top 10, but there are other good-quality providers that didn’t make the list. SecureSafe, SugarSync, Jumpshare and others all have their strengths, so be sure to take a look at our full list of cloud storage reviews to learn more about some of the other options out there, with new providers being added as they appear.

We also have determined the best cloud storage options for large files , and have created an online data storage price list , to make sure you’re getting the best value with today’s best cloud storage deals.

Sync.com and pCloud are great, privacy-focused options for most users, but if you’re more interested in document collaboration, you can’t go wrong with bigger players like Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive. However, MEGA offers more free storage, plus excellent security.

While, if you need online backup options in addition to cloud storage, IDrive is the way to go. It’s also the best online back-up for archiving, in case you need to archive data you rarely use to maximize storage space.

Do you use any of the products on our list? Do you think there are some glaring omissions, or do you think we’ve been unfair (or too fair) with any of the providers we’ve mentioned? Leave your own personal cloud storage reviews in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading.

FAQ: Best Cloud Storage Providers

Sync.com is our favorite cloud storage for personal use , with good pricing plans, strong encryption and innovative features. Other good options are available, though, such as pCloud, Tresorit, MEGA and Google Drive, to name but a few.

For businesses, you can’t go wrong with a Sync.com , pCloud or Tresorit subscription, as our best business cloud storage list shows. If you’re unsure, key features to look out for are zero-knowledge encryption, server locations and document collaboration features.

pCloud is our top choice for free storage, although MEGA and Google Drive both offer a little more space. The beauty of free cloud storage providers is that you can try out a number of providers to find the perfect fit, with a provider like Koofr allowing you to combine multiple free storage providers together.

Our top choice for the best free online storage for photos is pCloud. It offers secure and cheap storage, will automatically upload photos from your phone and computer, and supports photo editing and social media backup.

A number of the best cloud storage providers offer packages with unlimited storage, but the best unlimited cloud storage provider is Sync.com for Teams. Be aware that most providers offering unlimited storage usually have a set limit, and if you go above the cap, you’ll need to request additional storage. Learn more from our guide on the best unlimited cloud storage providers .

Google Drive tops our list as the best cloud storage service for Android, but our number-one choice for iPhone users is Sync.com. However, most providers offer pretty good smartphone apps.

This is a really helpful article. If you could add a list that shows only Cloud Servers that have Zero Knowledge it would be very helpful for Medical and Legal businesses where client file confidentiality is required by law. That way those businesses can concentrate their search on cloud services that are eligible for their type of business.

Could you guys take a look at TeraCLOUD? It would be interesting to see your input on a Japanese company looking to expand its user base globally.

And once again we have a writer that doesn’t understand the difference between cloud syncing and cloud storage. Massive difference.

No shit! Time for some competence….

Excuse me. Here in Thailand, I could not access to bitcasa. So could someone from any other country could access bitcasa? If have, I will try to connect a VPN to that country. Thank you.(Sorry if one/some of my grammar and typing is/are wrong.)

Don’t buy Pcloud lifetime plan. It’s is waste of money.

From my experience, Pcloud is reducing speed if we purchasing lifetime plan. When i tried to upload files with yearly plan, we can upload properly. But when you purchased a lifetime plan uploading speed below 250kbps only even if you have 1GBPS/5G internet plan.

Some Youtubers mentioned that they are able to upload 5gb files within 10minutes. I think they are pcloud staff otherwise they are uploading files from pcloud data center itself.

Those are yours alright! . We at least need to get these people stealing images to start blogging! They probably just did a image search and grabbed them. They look good though!

New(ish) to tech and Cloud storage. I’ve contacted One Drive and ICloud to be told they both do the same thing, the same way. My problem is this, I want to store video files in the cloud so I don’t have to keep them in C drive. One drive and ICloud tech support to me this is not possible. How do I overcome this dilemma? When I stored my video data to an external hard drive eventually both drives crashed, I lost everything.

I don’t mind downloading to C drive then uploading to the cloud. However I don’t want to be hostage to always having to keep everything on C drive to use the cloud. Is there a cloud solution for me?

The pricing for Sync.com is outdated. They don’t offer a 200GB plan anymore. Lowest plan for individual users is 2TB at $8/mo.

Can anybody answer this question? Is there a Cloud service that gives you the possibility to have full control over the way you archive your files?

I’ll explain my question: What I would reaaaally want is that, when I place my photos and videos in folders that I created myself, they disappear from the main folder in which all photos and videos are safed. I don’t want them to stay in that ‘collection bin’ because when they stay there I cannot tell which photos/videos I already archived in my sub folders and which not.

I hate that. It makes it impossible to archive the way I want. The sub folders e.g. in Google Photos and on an iPhone are all shortcuts to the main folder. I don’t want them to be shortcuts. I want them to be actual new folders where I can put my photos and videos in. I want to MOVE them there, not COPY them. Am I the only one who wishes this to be this way? Are there Clouds that offer me this way of organizing my files?

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• Sample Business Plans
• Real Estate & Rentals

Self Storage Business Plan

Have you ever found yourself surrounded by a lot of stuff and wondered where to place those extra furniture or boxes of memories?

But you’re not alone; there are so many individuals who can’t get enough of all their belongings. And that’s where self-storage comes into the picture!

The self-storage facility stores people’s stuff by charging some rental fees. It offers a secure haven for your cherished items, from lockers to outdoor spaces.

Surprisingly, if you are planning to start a new self-storage or warehouse business, you will need a solid business plan for a successful business.

So, we have created this sample business plan for you to get a better idea about how a business plan should look and what details you have to include in your self-storage unit business plan.

But before diving right into a detailed business plan, let’s consider a few things you need to understand.

Things to Consider Before Writing a Self-Storage Business Plan

As per statistics, the global self-storage market is projected to reach an astonishing value of $71.37 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 5.65% from 2021 to 2027.

The primary reason for this rapid market growth is due to the increasing need for commercial and residential storage.

The self-storage companies provide secure spaces and various storage unit types such as containers, compartments, lockers, and outdoor spaces. So that, customers can safely store and retrieve their belongings anytime.

In fact, the self-storage industry has been the fastest-growing sector in commercial real estate since it started in the 1960s.

And the cool part is that self-storage unit operators don’t need a ton of staff, utilities, or maintenance. So, it makes sure that your self-storage facilities earn substantial profits.

Now that you know a little about the industry, it’s time to discover what to include in your self-storage business plan.

What to Include in Your Self Storage Business Plan?

• Executive Summary 
• Company Overview
• Industry Analysis
• Customer Analysis
• Competitive Analysis
• Marketing Plan
• Operations Plan
• Management Team
• Financial Plan

1. Executive Summary 

An executive summary is a brief overview of your entire business plan. Although it is the first section of the plan, entrepreneurs write it at the last when the whole plan is ready.

This section highlights the most important points, from business concept and mission-vision statements to financial outlook. 

You may start this section with a compelling introduction to your self-storage business, including the business name, owners, location, and type of business you are running.

Give a brief overview of your market opportunity, service offerings, management team, and marketing strategies. Highlight financial projections if you’re seeking funding.

Most of the readers will go through the executive summary before making a judgment. So, make sure to keep it clear, concise, and engaging to grab readers’ attention.

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2. Company Overview

The company overview section is a detailed description of your business, including the business idea, name, location, future goals, history, and other business-related facts.

This section helps you provide an in-depth understanding of your business, introducing and positioning your business as an ideal solution for your target audience. So, write it in a clear and concise yet impactful way.

First, you may discuss the basic details of your storage facility and what type of storage business you are operating. It could be a warehouse, portable containers, vehicle storage, lockers, climate-controlled storage, etc.

Have a look at Maxwell’s business introduction written using Upmetrics AI Assistant :

Apart from that, your company analysis section should include the following information:

• Vision and mission statements
• Business legal structure(Sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, or corporation)
• History and background of storage business (if any)
• Owners’ names with qualifications
• Future business goals(Short-term or long-term)
• Milestones you have accomplished(number of self-storage units occupied, number of referrals, contract renewals, etc.)

3. Industry Analysis

The industry analysis section is an overview of the specific industry and market. It supports you in a better understanding of the external business environment.

While it seems unnecessary, it helps you develop strategies that maximize business opportunities and lower potential risks.

By doing thorough research, you may learn a lot about the storage industry and the market that you will serve. And this will show your readers that you are an industry expert.

So, start this section with a quick introduction to the self-storage industry. Describe the self-storage business in terms of size(in dollars) and mention whether the market is falling or growing in the USA.

You may conduct detailed market research to examine previous trends and market growth potential. This helps you identify the top competitors in the industry and their market shares.

Don’t forget to highlight a few factors that affect the industry, including regulatory rules, market trends, and other businesses’ competitive activities .

4. Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your self-storage business plan provides the details of the customers you serve or intend to serve.

It helps you identify your target customers, evaluate their needs, and explain how your services cater to them.

You may consider some examples of customer segments, such as business owners, families, individuals who are relocating, and students. Try to break your target market in terms of their psychographic and demographic profiles. 

For a demographic profile, you should include details of the age, gender, location, and income level of the customers. Most self-storage facilities mainly serve customers staying in the same town or city. 

You may explain the target customers’ wants and needs for demographic profiles. If you properly understand these demands, it will help you attract and retain customers.

You may refer to the below example written from Upmetrics’ self-storage business plan:

Target Market of Maxwell – Storage and Warehouse

We are aware of the fact that for any business to thrive so well in profit, it has to first and foremost define its market. The target market for self-storage and warehouse facilities cuts across people from different walks of life.

The fact that people need a secure place to keep their properties for a short period of time makes the self-storage and warehouse rental business a thriving and growing business.

Maxwell – Storage and Warehouse, LLC will work towards providing services, facilities, and an environment that will help us reach out to our target market. These are the categories of people that we intend to market our self–storage and warehouse facility to:

• Working Class Adults / Corporate Executives
• Sports Clubs (soccer team, athletics team, and choreographers et al)
• College Students / Schools
• Community and Corporate organization
• Business People / Entrepreneurs
• Government Officials
• Religious centers (Crusade Teams)
• Merchants, Importers, and manufacturers
• Sports Men and Women
• Construction companies

5. Competitive Analysis

Competitive analysis is essential to recognize key competitors within the industry, including direct and indirect competitors.

Also, this section will help you know your storage business’s unique selling propositions along with market positioning.

You may start by identifying direct and indirect competitors & other alternative self-storage companies in the industry.

Direct competitors can be other self-storage facilities that provide the same self-storage services as yours. While indirect competitors can be other options or storage businesses with their own storage space.

After specifying such competition, you need to focus more on your direct competitors. Such self-storage facilities are the most threatening to your self-storage company.

Describe an overview of their businesses. Describe their strengths & weaknesses and try to find out key things like:

• Who(type of customers) do they serve?
• What type of self-storage services do they provide?
• What are USPs, including their quality service?
• What is their pricing strategy(medium or low)?
• What do they need to improve as per their customers?

After conducting the above analysis, understand the areas of competitive advantage. For instance, consider your superior self-storage services, unique offerings, better prices, and excellent customer service.

You may perform a SWOT analysis like below to get your storage business’s strong points.

6. Marketing Plan

Your business’s marketing plan provides a detailed outlook of sales strategies and promotional techniques you will use to reach your target audience.

It will help you streamline your marketing efforts and create impactful marketing campaigns to acquire new customers and retain existing ones.

Here are some of the sales and marketing strategies for your self-storage company:

Unique Selling Propositions(USPs)

Specify the USPs that sets your self-storage facility apart from other self-storage businesses. Emphasize a few aspects such as quality services, security features, competitive pricing, etc.

Social Media Marketing

For a successful self-storage business, social media engagement can be very helpful. Use popular social media platforms to target specific audiences. Create visually appealing ads and content to drive traffic.

Partnerships

Establish collaborations with local businesses to promote your storage facilities and generate referrals. This can benefit your self-storage company and local partners.

Website and online reservations

Having a website can establish a strong, professional brand and help you reach a wider audience. Showcase all your storage services on the website and consider the online reservation procedure.

Loyalty programs and special offers

Try to retain existing customers with the help of loyalty programs, special offers, and referral incentives. This can encourage your customers to refer new clients.

7. Operations Plan

The operations plan chapter outlines the daily processes and activities centered on achieving the business objectives mentioned in the earlier sections.

A detailed operations plan helps you and your team define responsibilities, daily tasks, and short-term goals you need to accomplish, keeping track of your long-term objectives.

So, briefly discuss operational planning, highlight how it directly impacts the quality of services, and pique the reader’s interest.

Here are a few key elements to add to this section:

Staffing & Training

Describe your staffing plan, prioritize training programs, and foster a collaborative work environment for smooth administrative processes and excellent customer service.

Facility Management

Consider including security systems to provide the highest level of security for storage units. Also, mention regular maintenance checks to keep the condition and cleanliness of the facility.

Technology and Software

Describe the technology and software you use to easily reserve, access, and manage storage units. This will enhance your customer service and contribute to effective business operations.

8. Management Team

As the name suggests, the management team section introduces the owners and key managers, along with their roles & responsibilities, qualifications, work experience, and compensation plan.

A strong management team is essential to weigh authority and helps potential investors to be confident about your storage company’s idea and vision.

You may start this section with an introduction of the storage owner and team members, including the facility manager, admin & HR manager, sales & marketing executive, accountant, customer care executive, or front desk officer.

Highlight their responsibilities, industry experience, educational background, and skills that can benefit your business. For a better understanding, you may refer to the below example:

You might include an organizational structure that depicts the reporting lines and the flow of the decision-making hierarchy. Also, discuss the compensation plan for each individual, part of your management.

If you have any advisory board members, mention them and emphasize their experience in managing self-storage companies or small businesses.

9. Financial Plan

The financial plan is the most important and demanding aspect of business planning.

When it comes to convincing potential investors and banks to invest in your business or lend money, a financial plan is one of the crucial factors.

This section of your plan describes your self-storage facility’s financial information and how it will achieve its financial goals or how much revenue potential it has.

Here are a few essential elements and financial statements you must add or provide while making a financial plan:

Income Statement

An income statement is generally called a profit and loss(P&L) statement. It defines the revenue and then deducts your self-storage operating expenses to show your gross profitability.

For this, you have to make practical assumptions that help you measure the actual profit margin of your business. Here’s an example of a projected profit and loss statement for 3 years:

Balance Sheet

A balance sheet helps you show your assets and liabilities. While it includes a lot of information, you may simplify it to highlight the most important details, like equity, goodwill, debt ratio, or other intangible assets.

Cash Flow Statement

Your cash flow statement helps you determine how much money you need to start a new self-storage business or grow an existing facility. It also makes sure that you never run out of money.

Once your business is started, you should maintain these cash flow projections even for certain months before you start making profits.

Well, in most cases, you earn profits but still face financial problems that could lead you to bankruptcy. So, you will need proper cash flow planning to avoid such possibilities.

Funding Sources for Your Self-Storage Business

You can access different funding sources to support your self-storage startup or expansion efforts. Here are some common sources to get funding from:

Bootstrapping

Many entrepreneurs use personal savings as initial capital for starting a self-storage business without attracting investments or borrowing money from banks.

Family and friends

After deciding how much money you’ll need to start a business, you may ask family & friends to invest in your self-storage business. Show a solid business plan to the interested ones and assure them that they will make a profit.

The most common source of funding is to cover startup costs and self-storage facility expenses. However, banks will ask for a professional self-storage business plan to make sure that you’ll be able to pay money back with interest.

Investors and partnerships

Bring in some external capital by seeking investors or partnering with individuals or businesses interested in your self-storage industry.

Apart from the above, you may explore other funding sources for your self-storage business:

• Crowdfunding
• Small Business Administration(SBA) loans
• Private equity & venture capital
• Grants and subsidies
• Real Estate Investment Trusts(REITs)

Download a sample self-storage business plan

Are you ready to start writing your self-storage business plan? Here you go; download our free self-storage business plan pdf to get started.

It’s a modern business plan template specifically designed for your storage business. Use this sample business plan as a guide for creating your own plan.

Import data into your editor and start writing!

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

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No doubt, creating a comprehensive business plan is daunting; but it’s a lot smoother with the help of Upmetrics! It offers easy-to-follow steps, 400+ sample business plans, and AI support that will serve you perfectly.

If you are not good enough at finances, our financial forecasting tool will help you create realistic financial forecasts for 3 or more years.

Whether you’re venturing into a new business or aiming for expansion, Upmetrics provides valuable resources to create successful, professional business plans.

So, what are you waiting for; start planning now!

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Frequently asked questions, what are the key components of a self-storage business plan.

A successful self-storage unit business plan involves the following key components:

• Executive summary
• Company overview
• Self-storage industry analysis
• Customer analysis
• Competitive analysis
• Marketing plan
• Operational plan
• Management team
• Financial plan

What is the average profit margin for self-storage?

Depending on the location, size of the self-storage units, and operational efficiency, the average profit margin for self-storage facilities may range from 30 to 50%.

What are the legal and regulatory considerations for a self-storage business?

A self-storage unit business should consider various legal and regulatory aspects:

• Business legal structure
• Licenses and permits
• Lien rights & late fee policies
• Tax regulations
• Zoning laws
• Vehicle towing

How much capital is needed to start a self-storage facility?

The capital required to start a self-storage business may differ widely. On average, the startup costs can range between $500,000 to $1 million for a small self-storage facility, while larger facilities need the initial capital of several million dollars.

What types of self-storage units should I offer?

There are various types of self-storage units, including:

• Standard units
• Climate-controlled storage
• Drive-up units
• Interior storage units
• Exterior units
• Vehicle storage

About the Author

Vinay Kevadiya

Vinay Kevadiya is the founder and CEO of Upmetrics, the #1 business planning software. His ultimate goal with Upmetrics is to revolutionize how entrepreneurs create, manage, and execute their business plans. He enjoys sharing his insights on business planning and other relevant topics through his articles and blog posts. Read more

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How To Start a Self Storage Business In 6 Steps

Follow these six prep and planning steps to learn how to start a self storage business that’s primed for success from the ground up.

Starting a new business in an unfamiliar industry can be a bit daunting. But you’re not alone; most new self storage facilities are started by folks who are completely new to self storage. You’ve probably had a successful career in another sector, heard tales of the generous returns self storage generates for investors (they’re true!), and are now pretty set on starting this new adventure. We’ve been there , and we’re here to help.

How to start a self storage business?

Before you get caught up in picking a catchy business name and looking at fit outs, there are six prep and planning steps we recommend in order to give your new business the strongest chance of success:

• Decide your investment amount
• Choose the right location
• Plan your storage type + size
• Find your premises
• Decide your operational model
• Research the red tape

Here’s what to do.

1. Decide your investment amount

Work out how much you have to invest, because during this planning phase, your budget will affect:

• where you can afford to get property;
• which types of self storage are feasible; and
• which operational model will be your best option.

Later on, your budget will influence the spec of your fit out, how sophisticated you can get with technology, etc.

Phase your investment?

Starting a self storage business doesn’t have to be an all-at-once proposition. In fact, self storage lends itself particularly well to a phased, modular approach. So when working out your budget, it’s worthwhile breaking out how much you want to invest now, and how much more capital you’re certain you could invest in a year or so to complete your facility if things go well (either from your own funds or with the help of external investors). For example, when our CEO started a self storage business for the first time, he used an initial €120K investment to cover one-off set up costs (taking out a long lease, signage, website and tech costs) and fitted out 1/3rd of the total space, just 49 units initially. Then, a year later, he released a further €110K of home equity to complete the final two fit out stages, taking the facility to 149 units.

2. Choose the right location

Will your facility be in your hometown, the next town over, near where your office is located? Will you spend your days manning the site or will you run it remotely without staff there? Or will you have staff there and you’ll simply check in now and again? Finding the right location for your business makes success more likely.

Every business requires some degree of face-time, so a good starting point is to decide the max you’re willing to commute a few times per week to manage operations, or to commute every day if you plan to work from there. Even if this diminishes over time as you’re able to delegate work, when getting set up (and especially during the fit out phase), you’ll be back and forth a lot.

Starting your search

Use a map like this to work out your search radius (we know it’s not the prettiest tool, but it works!). For example, input your full home address (city, state, zipcode, etc) and the distance you’re willing to travel, then click ‘New Circle’. Make a note of all of the cities/towns in your catchment area.

Researching populations

To decide which locations are viable contenders, list out the towns or cities within your commute area in a table or spreadsheet and work out their populations. This can take a bit of time depending on how many places are on your list and where in the world you’re researching, but here are few links to help you:

• US Census Bureau —Scroll to the ‘Incorporated Places’ section and click on your state. An Excel file will download listing every town’s/city’s population as of 2020 and a 2021 projection.
• Statistics Canada —Scroll midway down the page to use their city/zip code search box.
• United Kingdom—Getting population details on all UK towns and cities still isn’t easy online, but you can use the Scotland Census Area Overview (2011 stats), and try this Area Explorer for Northern Ireland data. In addition, non-government sites like citypopulation.de aggregate publicly-available population data worldwide, and you can search English or Welsh town names to view 2020 population estimates (we just don’t know how accurate their data is).
• Ireland’s Central Statistics Office— Download this spreadsheet of the 2016 census’ total populations for 874 towns in Ireland.
• Australian Bureau of Statistics —Enter your town name in the ‘Search by Area’ field. A search results section will appear a little further down the page. Click its ‘All Persons’ button to quick-view the ‘People’ stats for that location.

Finding unmet demand

With your population table complete, the next step in picking your location is to work out which area presents you with the best business potential.

Start by applying your country’s figure for the average square footage per person. Most Self Storage Associations have this figure available on their website.

In the US, it’s 9.44 sq.ft./head, so you’d multiply the population of each town by this to determine how much self storage the area can support. So a town of 20,000 people could support 188,800 sq.ft. of rental storage space.

The next question: How much self storage space is already on offer in each location on your list? Go online, find out approximately how much space your competitors have built in each town/city and add this to your spreadsheet. Then subtract the two values for each town to see how much space is up for grabs in each area. The more space for the taking, the better your returns should be.

If you want to get even more precise about potential vs competitor capacity, go back to your radius map and plot 3 or 5-mile radius circles around each competitor’s address. Most customers won’t drive more than 5 miles from their home for self storage, and this could help you visualise any lucrative unclaimed locations between your competitors’ catchments.

It’s worth noting that the current supply of self storage per head isn’t necessarily the same as the current demand. There’s likely to be significant unmet demand in most markets. The biggest opportunities are often found in smaller towns. They can present a number of benefits including:

less-expensive commercial properties than cities;

lower property taxes;

less or no competition for business;

faster word-of-mouth promotion;

nobody to outbid in online advertising; and

nobody to get into a price war with.

3. Plan your storage type + size

Once you’ve found a good area to base your business in, you need to decide what type of self storage business you want to open. It might surprise you to hear that there are dozens of types of storage businesses to choose from, including climate controlled storage, portable/mobile storage, vehicle storage, student storage, military storage, boat storage, business storage, 24 hour storage and more. But most of these fall into one of three simple categories: indoor storage, outdoor storage and drive-up storage. At this step, your investment size comes back into play.

What €56K–€110K will buy

If you have between €56K and €110K to invest, outdoor storage or drive-up storage are probably your best options. Both involve buying or leasing some land.

With outdoor storage, you provide a plot where goods are stored unsheltered or semi-sheltered (perhaps with a canopy covering overhead but no walls). A private parking lot is a familiar example of outdoor storage, where cars or large camper vans are stored.

With drive-up storage, on the other hand, you either fill your land with storage containers (usually shipping containers) or rows of units with rollup doors like on your home’s garage. Customers park their vehicles in front of their unit to load and unload, and they store their belongings within these—fully covered and better protected from the elements, their fellow storers using your facility, or passersby. What’s great about the containers approach is you can buy them as you grow. You can limit your risk by buying a few and seeing how long they take to rent out. And if you end up with more than you can fill, they’re easy to sell on to others and relocate.

What €110K+ will buy

If you have €110k or more, then, depending on you can afford to go the indoor route. For this type of self storage business, you buy or lease a warehouse and fit it out with indoor storage units. To keep initial costs down, you can do this fit out across multiple stages, too.

Investment inflators

There are a few variables worth mentioning that will push up your initial investment:

Buying instead of leasing—Obviously buying land or a warehouse will cost you more upfront than leasing will.

Extent of construction and repairs—The more work needed, the more money you’ll need. For example, outdoor sites may require you to tarmac the ground for cars and build a high, quality fence and gate for security. Indoor sites might require a mezzanine floor or a new roof.

To help you fine tune your numbers, try our free self storage financial modeller to work out the initial and maximum funding you’ll need for your self storage business in years one through four.

4. Find your premises

When it comes to visibility, footfall, demand, ease of access, your precise property location matters. So when you’ve narrowed down your location(s), start shopping for premises:

Check out every real estate website there is.

Drive around the towns or cities.

Pay attention to where the outdoor advertising billboards are located.

Meet with realtors and let them know what you’re looking for.

It’s impossible to get the perfect site, but look out for (and perhaps score each site against) benefits such as:

Lots of passing traffic with a building visible from the road

Lots of nearby houses and businesses

Ideally new home building going on nearby

Not too much competition in the area

The ability to rent or buy land or a warehouse at prices that work

Finding all of the above is almost impossible, so simply try your best to get a good combination of each, but don’t rule a site out if it’s missing one or more because it could still work.

This is the fun part of the process, but it’s also the bit where a lot of people give up … because finding suitable sites isn’t easy. It takes time, hard work, and luck!

5. Select an operational model

The final step of how to start a self storage business is deciding how you’ll operate. In other words, what way are you going to run this business?

Staffed, semi-manned, or unmanned?

On premise or remotely managed?

Success is possible with any model, if you’re willing to invest the necessary time, money, and manpower in the business. And of course there are perks, drawbacks, and special considerations for each approach—from flexibility, customer experience and company culture to job satisfaction, sales processes, technology costs, and site security.

6. Research the red tape

If you’ve run businesses in the past, you will already be familiar with the local laws and regulations that will impact your build and operations. If not, make sure to carefully familiarise yourself with the following in your location, as failure to comply can result in unwanted fines and penalties:

Planning permission

Legally permitted opening hours for your location

Building control requirements

Fire safety requirements

Self storage insurance

Can Stora help you?

If you're looking to take the plunge into the wonderful world of self storage, discover if Stora would be a good fit for your business.

Get started →

Useful links

Check out some of our other helpful resources for those new to self storage.

The Self Storage Academy Explore our wide-ranging guides and resources. The Self Storage Growth Guide The ultimate guide to growing your self storage business.

Self Storage Brand Marketplace Still need a logo? Check out our ready-to-go brands.

Self Storage Investment Calculator Quickly see what you can earn from investing in self storage.

Stora is self storage sales and management software for modern operators who want to run their businesses with as little admin and as much profit as possible. Our platform offers automated web sales, facility management + marketing all in one.

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Top 10 Cloud Storage Services for Business

Cloud storage services offer affordable and flexible ways to store your company’s data.

Table of Contents

With cloud storage services, businesses no longer have to budget expenses for company laptops or a cumbersome external hard drive that doesn’t fit on a desk. These services are secure, easy to access and readily available for many users all at once. Cloud services are great for collaboration and sharing files as well as keeping files secure. Check out the top cloud storage services for businesses below.

What are cloud storage services?

A cloud storage service is a way for people, including businesses , to maintain and manage their data. Many of these services have a model that is based on the amount of storage that you need. Their plans are usually flexible and scalable. They usually offer pay-as-you-go pricing. Cloud storage services allow you to back up and share files, store data and some provide disaster-recovery services.

Why invest in servers and all that hardware — and the cost of supporting it — when you can rent space in the cloud? You get the convenience of 24/7 anytime, anywhere access to your data so you can focus on your business without having to worry about things that aren’t your business, such as managing technology.

Perhaps the biggest advantage is financial. There’s no upfront cost. You can scale up or down easily as business conditions scale up or down, and you pay a regular fixed fee.

10 Cloud Storage Services for Business

While there are many cloud hosting services to consider, there are a few that rise above the rest. Here are 10 cloud storage providers small and medium-sized businesses may want to consider.

Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers a variety of tiers, including a 12-month free usage tier for new users of its Simple Storage Service up to 5GB and Elastic Block Storage up to 30GB. The web service also provides 100GB of free cloud storage per account with an optimized data transfer as well as a 5GB shared file storage service free for 12 months for Amazon EC2 subscribers. The breadth of options is largely why AWS is considered a leading public cloud provider.

Box’s business plan offers $15 a month for a minimum of three users. Box boasts more than 1,500-plus integrations like Slack , Microsoft Suites and Google Workspace to name a few.  The Enterprise plan is $35 a month for a minimum of three users with unlimited storage. Enterprise plan owners can also enjoy uploading files up to 50GB, unlimited external collaborators and technical support during local business hours. 

Carbonite focuses primarily on backup solutions. It has several plans to choose from, including ones that offer additional antivirus packages and backups of both external hard drives and video automatically. Carbonite’s basic package starts at $83.99 per year. Its Prime package featuring a courier delivery of recovered files. 

Dropbox for Business

Dropbox for Business offers plans benefitting all kinds of organizations, from growing teams to independent employees. These plans include file locking, sharing controls and account recovery. The Professional Plan starts at 16.58 per month and most plans include a free trial.

Google Workspace

Google Workspace is the perfect suite for integrating other Google tools into your business’s data. All Workspace plans include collaboration tools with Gmail, Calendar, Meet and Chat. The most popular plan is the Business Standard, which starts at $12 per month, per user, including 150 participant video meetings and recordings and 2TB storage per user, although businesses can upgrade plans to improve their storage up to 5TB.

Microsoft OneDrive

OneDrive, similarly to Google Workspace, has unique integrations with many Microsoft Suite applications. Basic and Standard Microsoft 365 Business plans provide 1TB of storage per user and file sizes up to 100GB.

OpenDrive boasts a multi-OS cloud storage system that can backup and sync files on Linux, Mac or Windows. Plans start at $7 per month with $1 per user for each additional user and include 500GB of online storage and 25GB of bandwidth.

SpiderOak is a unique cloud hosting service that boasts high security and encryption for all of your files. Plans start as low as $6 per month, per user, for 150GB across unlimited devices.  

Syncplicity

Syncplicity offers unlimited devices and file sizes per user. The paid plans offer SyncDrive, the modern file-sharing replacement. All plans offer a free 30-day trial, and the business plans start at $5 per month, per user.

Zoolz has great cloud backup features and archiving usage within its service that boasts partnerships among many servers and locations. Starting at $15 per month, each user has 100GB of cloud storage.

Security Concerns With Cloud Storage Services

Security is always a concern when it comes to putting confidential and competitive information in the hands of a third party. Data breaches and, worse, outages that result in data loss, are always a risk, no matter whether your data is housed in the cloud or a server next to your office. Arguably, it might be safer in the cloud. The data that gets stored in the cloud gets placed across several locations with strict security protocols to protect your data from cyberattacks. 

Unfortunately, there is a small chance of experiencing a malicious program or an outage. Although outages are considered extremely uncommon, there have been times when cloud centers have lost service temporarily. However, most cloud storage providers do have safety systems built in place to prevent loss. 

Hackers can also attempt to breach security protocols on cloud storage providers, so look for a cloud storage service that includes strong encryption services with great customer support available to help if problems arise. 

Almost all cloud providers offer some free storage, but these are aimed primarily at consumers. Free trials are usually available, however. In addition to basic storage, most cloud storage services include:

• Web-based dashboards to access data files
• Mobile apps
• Data backup and archive
• Usage reports
• Drag-and-drop file transfers
• Email and live support

What are the benefits of cloud storage?

Cloud storage is readily available and easily accessible — all you need to do is connect to the internet. With cloud storage, you’ll never have to fear losing your work with backup data. Additionally, you can remotely sync, update and share files. Cloud storage keeps remote work simple while keeping your files encrypted.

Cloud services buy a large amount of storage and can offer their customers savings. In addition, using cloud services ends the need for you to purchase hard drives for storage needs. These services also reduce the need for hardware onsite and the management and monitoring of that equipment.

Cloud services can be more affordable because of their tiered pricing structure. You can select the plan that meets your needs based on how fast you store information and how often you back up that information. Services can provide you with storage for short-term and long-term needs. Those needs may determine what type of storage you need. If you determine that your current plan is no longer working, you can move to a different plan easily.

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Electronic Filing Storage Business Plan

Start your own electronic filing storage business plan

MyHaystack.com

Executive summary executive summary is a brief introduction to your business plan. it describes your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights.">.

Imagine if your mail carrier not only delivered mail to your front door, but also cleared the piles of documents off your desk and filed everything in the appropriate folder in your filing cabinet. MyHaystack.com delivers, organizes, and files your documents electronically, without ever entering your home. Like a home filing cabinet, MyHaystack.com stores product owner’s manuals, insurance policies, financial statements, and other product and service information. An electronic gatekeeper protects your privacy by allowing you to determine what information is added or removed from your files.

In addition, you may choose to accept promotional offers that are tailored to your needs based on the contents of your filing cabinet. Because all transmittals pass through MyHaystack.com, your contact information is never distributed for marketing purposes. As an additional benefit, MyHaystack.com offers rewards points for registering a new account and for agreeing to share information with product and service providers.

MyHaystack.com generates revenue through permission-based direct marketing and consumer market research. The company delivers targeted advertising messages to consumers without releasing contact information directly to advertisers. As a result, the consumer maintains complete control over the amount and source of advertising they receive. MyHaystack.com also builds profiles of aggregate consumer purchase and ownership data. The data is made available to business clients that pay a monthly subscription fee.

The MyHaystack.com branded website is an organizational system that manages the most common information stored in a home filing cabinet. The service makes user documents and information more accessible while minimizing the level of user maintenance. MyHaystack.com delivers electronic product and service information, insurance policy information, financial records, and similar documentation directly into user accounts. The organizational structure includes an interactive, easy-to-use, interface with personalized search, archiving, and retrieval functionality. Users have control of the type, frequency, and source of the Individual Filings and Dynamic Postings they receive.

1.1 Objectives

MyHaystack.com traffic and revenue objectives are as follows:

1.2 Keys to Success

Key advantages of MyHaystack.com:

• Consumers have complete control of the personal information that is shared with goods and service providers.
• The interactive system keeps user profiles current and permissions relevant.
• MyHaystack.com improves, rather than degrades, the relationship between the supplier and the consumer through permission-based communications.
• Long term relationships with consumers provide time series data that is unique to MyHaystack.com market research.

Company Summary company overview ) is an overview of the most important points about your company—your history, management team, location, mission statement and legal structure.">

MyHaystack.com is an Internet marvel. Imagine if your mail carrier not only delivered mail to your front door, but also cleared the piles of documents off your desk and filed everything in the appropriate folder in your filing cabinet. MyHaystack.com delivers, organizes, and files your documents electronically, without ever entering your home. Like a home filing cabinet, MyHaystack.com stores product owner’s manuals, insurance policies, financial statements, and other product and service information. An electronic gatekeeper protects your privacy by allowing you to determine what information is added or removed from your files.

2.1 Company Ownership

MyHaystack.com was formed as a C-Corporation and is headquartered in California. The two founders are currently the directors of the company and the majority shareholders. In addition to shares held by the founding partners, a number of shares have been set aside to accommodate an employee incentive plan. Shares have been authorized to accommodate future investors. MyHaystack.com corporate offices are located in San Francisco, CA.

2.2 Start-up Summary

MyHaystack.com is raising $450,000 in private investment. The funds will be used to complete the prototype development, add members to both the management team and board of advisors, and to establish additional corporate relationships necessary to launch the complete service.

MyHaystack.com is both a branded consumer organizational service and a proprietary market research and communications tool. The core of MyHaystack.com is a comprehensive database that links consumers with product or service use. A transaction-monitoring portion of the database maintains a history of when items are filed, archived, or deleted from a consumer’s filing cabinet. Queries on the database will serve as the market research engine for client research.

For Consumers

MyHaystack.com provides value to consumers in exchange for their personal information. Customer acquisition is driven by business-to-business partnerships with manufacturers and service providers, as well as partnerships with third party Internet incentive programs. Consumers log in to a personalized organizational system through a branded Internet site and have access to free personalized content. They can also subscribe to additional services, product notices, and targeted marketing messages.

For Business Clients

Business clients that subscribe to MyHaystack.com market intelligence will have access to the MyHaystack.com database through online market research tools. The tools provide a number of predefined database search and analysis functions. Unique to the MyHaystack.com database is the ability to capture time-series data that is utilized to perform lifecycle marketing analysis and regression analysis. MyHaystack.com also captures consumer ownership data from both the online and the brick-and-mortar worlds, providing a more comprehensive consumer profile.

How it Works

Documents stored in a MyHaystack.com account are organized in a simple hierarchical structure. Each account consists of six predefined categories for documents and information: Product Ownership, Personal Finance, Insurance, Clubs and Groups, Health, and Professional. Users can add customized categories or eliminate existing categories based on their organizational requirements.

Enhanced functionality allows information to be easily located and manipulated across categories. The integrated MyHaystack.com search engine is able to search the entire MyHaystack.com database or limit the search to information linked to a user account or specific document. Reports can be generated based on category, a complete alphabetical listing, or the date each item was entered. Qualifiers allow data that is no longer valid to be archived or deleted based on consumer needs. A section on user tips addresses varying skill levels by integrating help functions and step-by-step guides.

Customers have the option to receive product specific information and targeted marketing by email or as a part of their personalized account. When a product or service is registered, the user selects the level of information he/she wishes to receive. These preferences can be changed at anytime. All online direct marketing offers will be in a separate window so as not to clutter the overall organizational look and feel of the site.

3.1 Service Description

MyHaystack.com serves as an infomediary between business clients and the consumer marketplace. The company enables product manufacturers and consumer service providers to deliver targeted market communications to a predefined consumer base. MyHaystack.com also provides market intelligence through an interactive market research tool and periodic industry analysis reports.

MyHaystack.com is built around an automated, online, organizational system that replaces the home filing cabinet as a repository of critical consumer information. This application provides value to the consumer in exchange for their personal information. The information is then used in demographic sampling and general market research.

Customer acquisition is driven by business-to-business partnerships with manufacturers and service providers, as well as affiliations with third party incentive programs. Consumers log in to MyHaystack.com through a branded destination website. Once logged in, they have access to a personalized organizational service. Registered users have access to free content available on the site and can subscribe to additional services, product notices, and targeted marketing messages.

MyHaystack.com is a free service to the consumer. Revenue is generated through service fees charged to MyHaystack.com clients for market communications and market intelligence. Database Posting is free to clients and strategic partners but other activities generate revenue as follows:

Business Client Service Fees

• Individual Filing- MyHaystack.com clients will be charged a per-user fee to file personalized documents in a MyHaystack.com user filing cabinet. This fee replaces the cost of printing, addressing, and mailing individual documents. Estimated cost for an Individual Filing is between $0.50 and $5.75 per user.
• Dynamic Posting- Dynamic Posting may be used to distribute highly targeted marketing messages as well as customer service communications. Because MyHaystack.com users have agreed to receive Dynamic Postings, the response rate is expected to be 15% to 20% higher than other forms of online advertising. Estimated cost per thousand (CPM) for a single Dynamic Posting is between $10 and $250, or $0.01 and $0.25 per user reached.
• Annual Subscriptions- Annual client subscriptions to the MyHaystack.com service allow varying levels of access to online market research tools and research reports. Typical annual subscription rates are between $10,000 and $15,000 per client.
• Research Reports- Periodic research reports are available individually or for an annual subscription fee. The fee varies based on the type of report and the detail of the data and analysis presented. Monthly reports cost between $250 and $1,000. Quarterly reports cost between $2,500 and $5,000.

In addition to the core revenue sources presented above, MyHaystack.com offers select fee-based services to users. These include extended warranty purchases, online bill paying, and document archiving. MyHaystack.com may generate revenue through transaction or commission fees on some or all of these types of services.

3.1.1 Market Communications

Market communications services are designed to allow product manufacturers or service providers to communicate directly with both their existing and their potential customer base. Three independent channels of communication serve different information delivery needs. They are as follows:

• Database Posting- Database Posting is used to provide information to all MyHaystack.com registered users. Information in a Database Posting is generally static data that applies to a specific product or service provided by the MyHaystack.com client. Examples include product manuals, tech support or company contact information, and company annual reports. Users link documents to their personalized filing cabinet. Changes to the information in the MyHaystack.com database are then seamlessly updated in each user account.
• Dynamic Posting- Dynamic Posting is used to provide current information to a targeted group of MyHaystack.com users. Current information can be product or service related but may also include direct marketing messages and promotional offers. Customers will be targeted based on a cross-reference of information in their filing cabinets and a willingness to accept certain types of communication. Dynamic Postings generally appear in email or in an independent window within a user’s workspace.
• Individual Filing- An Individual Filing is a personalized document that is delivered directly into a user’s filing cabinet. Customers receive the document based on individual ID numbers, product registrations, or by subscription. In general, MyHaystack.com clients will only be able to submit Individual Filings to their own customer base. Examples of Individual Filings include financial statements, insurance policies, and product receipts.

3.1.2 Market Intelligence

Market intelligence is derived from consumer data acquired through the organizational service. Clients have access to market intelligence 24 hours per day through an online research tool. They may also choose to receive monthly and quarterly industry analysis reports. The MyHaystack.com online research tool uses predefined analysis functions that allow clients to view real-time information from the MyHaystack.com database. However, clients are restricted from directly accessing customer names and addresses without customer permission. Further restrictions are in place to protect the confidential information of individual clients.

Initial functionality targets competitive market analysis, consumer demographic information, and product ownership data. Later functionality will allow “What-if” scenarios by performing customized queries and conjoint analysis. Unique to the MyHaystack.com information structure is the ability to capture time-series data used to perform lifecycle marketing analysis and regression analysis. The methodology employed by MyHaystack.com also permits consumers to register products and services purchased in the brick-and-mortar world, increasing the breadth of consumer market data.

Monthly reports are designed as a low cost market research tool that meets the needs of a broad variety of consumer-oriented businesses. Each monthly report provides quantitative analysis of industry segments in a standardized format that allows subscribers to track monthly trends. Quarterly reports are designed to provide a much deeper understanding of the consumer marketplace. These reports analyze information gathered over a number of months or years. Data mining techniques are applied to identify relationships between related data components and consumer behavior. Forecasts are incorporated to maximize the value of the information presented. Research reports will be sold individually or as part of an annual subscription.

3.1.3 Technology

The MyHaystack.com website consists of four main components: a client interface, supporting database infrastructure, data analysis tools, and a user interface. MyHaystack.com has established a preliminary agreement with a technology development agency to design and develop a prototype of the MyHaystack.com site. Additional development will be conducted internally using MyHaystack.com resources.

Clients access the MyHaystack.com site to conduct market intelligence research and to submit information for market communications. Market intelligence services will be provided through a series of standardized data queries that are accessible through a secure browser connection. Graphic data formatting and the ability to download raw data will be incorporated in to the interface.

The MyHaystack.com data infrastructure is based on a structured query language (SQL) database system. A minimum of three database tables are necessary: a detailed customer database, a detailed client database, and a transaction database that maintains a transaction history. Additional database tables will be added as functionality increases. Available production data-mining software will be used to generate detailed analysis of the MyHaystack.com database. Additional analytic functions may be designed internally.

The MyHaystack.com service will be deployed in two phases. The first phase will be the deployment of an initial prototype site that offers some of the core functionality but is not a comprehensive service. The functionality of the prototype site will include product registration, extended warranty registration and sales, online bill paying and archiving, online data file storage, and a Dynamic Posting system. Additional functionality will be integrated in the production system in the second phase of deployment.

3.2 Web Plan Summary

Organizational Model

Documents stored in a MyHaystack.com account are organized in a simple hierarchical structure. Each account consists of six predefined categories for documents and information: Product Ownership, Personal Finance, Insurance, Clubs and Groups, Health, and Professional. Users can add customized categories or eliminate existing categories based on their organizational requirements. Enhanced functions take advantage of cross-references between organizational categories and simplify information retrieval. Information such as direct marketing offers, product recall notifications, and warranty expiration reminders are delivered to consumers based on the level of permission they have indicated.

Additional Functions

Enhanced functionality allows information to be easily located and manipulated across categories. The integrated MyHaystack.com search engine is able to search the entire MyHaystack.com database or limit the search to information linked to a user account. This functionality allows registered users to access a product manual even if they do not register the product. Alternatively, users may search the products they have registered to verify compatibility with new purchases. Online reports can be generated based on category, a complete alphabetical listing, or the date each item was entered. Qualifiers allow data that is no longer valid to be archived or deleted based on consumer needs. A section on user tips addresses varying skill levels by integrating help functions and step-by-step guides.

Customers have the option to receive product specific information and targeted marketing by email or as a part of their personalized account. When a product or service is registered, the user selects the level of information he/she wishes to receive. These preferences can be changed at anytime and all online direct marketing offers will be in a separate window so as not to clutter the overall organizational look and feel of the site.

3.2.1 Product Ownership Example

The product ownership category captures and manages critical data for every item a consumer registers online. Initially, products are registered by selecting the appropriate manufacturer, product name, and model number from a series of drop-down menu items. Eventually, online retailers will offer the option to send product information directly to MyHaystack.com at the time of purchase. For example, if a user purchases a VCR, the sales receipt, product model, and purchase location will be forwarded to the MyHaystack.com database. Using the consumer’s account number, the record will be linked with the relevant documents stored in the MyHaystack.com database. When the consumer logs on to MyHaystack.com, his/her personal filing cabinet will automatically reflect the new purchase.

In addition to accessing updates and information online, users can opt to receive update information by email. The most basic level of information includes notices identifying products that have been recalled or modified since they were originally purchased. A more personalized level offers targeted direct marketing through MyHaystack.com partners. Targeted marketing may be ‘buy now’ online offers or coupons that can be used at a brick-and-mortar business. Up-to-date product information is easily accessible to the user at any time from any location.

Market Analysis Summary how to do a market analysis for your business plan.">

 The organizational challenge faced by consumers today is enormous. In 1995, the United States produced approximately 4 trillion documents–over 600 million pages of computer printouts each day! The average American consumer receives 49,060 pieces of mail in a lifetime and uses 250 pounds of paper in a year. Approximately 50% of filed material is redundant or out of date and over 80% can’t be located when it’s needed. The demand for help solving this organizational crisis has spawned an entire industry of professional organizers who charge up to $350 an hour for organizational services.

To further the organizational challenge, consumers are demanding online access to their personal information. The rapid growth in online bill paying services, online financial account management, and online stock trading is evidence of this trend. Other industries, like insurance and health care, are examining ways that they can leverage the Internet to support document distribution. Simply sending information by email places the organizational burden on the customer. MyHaystack.com not only delivers the data, but organizes it for easy retrieval.

A MyHaystack.com account is more than an online repository for electronic files, it is a personalized, interactive, organizational system. MyHaystack.com seamlessly categorizes and stores critical consumer data in a personalized “File Cabinet.” Information includes product manuals, receipts, insurance policies, financial statements, and any other documents typically found in a home filing cabinet. For example, a consumer can register a product online to insure direct access to warranty data, manuals, technical support contacts, and other product specific information. When critical product information changes, the consumer’s file cabinet is automatically updated.

4.1 Market Segmentation

My Haystack.com has two large market segments to target:

• the individual consumer, who needs file storage and organization
• businesses which want to market to, or know about, these consumers

While our sales revenue comes from businesses seeking market research or a marketing audience, we can only provide these services once we have a large consumer user-base to offer them.

The chart and table below outline the total market potential for MyHaystack.com.

4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy

Our marketing to end-users will focus on consumers comfortable with technology who want secure online access to their personal documents. Such users are savvy about online marketing, and will appreciate the opt-in nature of our data collection. Easy access to their documents, security, and organizational tools will be offered free, in exchange for receiving marketing messages. For the technologically fluent Internet user, this is seen as a good trade.

Business Clients

Although this consumer base needs all sorts of products, we will first focus on high-tech business clients who are seeking marketing information about the kinds of consumers willing to use online services like ours.

4.2.1 Market Trends

• As of March 15, 2000, there were 259 million Internet users worldwide.
• Opt-in email services yield 5% to 15% response rates, compared to approximately 1% for banner ads and direct mail.
• This year, the average consumer will see or hear 1 million marketing messages–almost 3,000 per day.
• Email marketing expenditures alone will increase 417% to $4.6 billion by 2003.
• Online retail sales will grow to $184.5 billion by 2004 while online spending per household averaged $1,167 in 1999.

4.3 Service Business Analysis

MyHaystack.com provides business clients with market intelligence, targeted marketing, and consumer care services. Clients are product manufacturers, consumer-oriented service providers, and market analysis firms that use MyHaystack.com to streamline their interaction with a consumer base. Market data is acquired directly from consumers through their use of an innovative, online organizational tool.

The market research industry generated $13.4 billion in revenue in 1998. The Internet based portion of that industry is still in its infancy but is poised for rapid growth. Worldwide Internet users are expected to grow from 196 million in 1999 to approximately 502 million by 2003. MyHaystack.com is a pioneer in the Internet-based market research industry and is poised to take advantage of rapid online growth. Unique to the MyHaystack.com methodology is the ability to track detailed data on household product ownership over time, functionality that is not yet available in existing research organizations.

Online advertising and direct customer communications represents an even larger opportunity. Online advertising is expected to grow from $5.25 billion this year to over $45.5 billion by 2005–more than that spent in the United States on cable and network TV advertising. More importantly, as the competition for consumer attention grows, traditional Internet banner ads are giving way to permission based marketing. The MyHaystack.com organizational service allows consumers to actively choose the frequency, type, and source of direct communications they receive, positioning MyHaystack.com to become a leader in the online permission marketing industry.

4.3.1 Business Participants

The broader competitive landscape can be broken into three segments. Traditional research companies, as well as a new generation of online market research companies, offer market intelligence to businesses. Direct mail, and direct email, companies typically offer targeted market communications. MyHaystack.com also competes for consumer attention with other organizational systems and Internet destinations.

Market Research

Online market research is a rapidly growing market, expected to reach $230 million by the end of 2000. Current online research companies analyze consumer preferences derived from buyer’s guides, product-rating services, purchase information from e-commerce transactions, and online traffic. New research tools are evolving that allow real-time analysis of these growing information databases.

However, the number of consumers who conduct online commerce is still small when compared to the overall retail industry. Moreover, a limited number of consumers conduct a majority of the online transactions, creating a high bias in online research data. MyHaystack.com provides ownership and usage data for both online and brick-and-mortar goods and services. In addition, the MyHaystack.com database will aggregate detailed consumer ownership and service usage over time. Mining this data will identify previously unknown relationships and lifecycle marketing opportunities.

Permission Marketing

Traditional direct marketing is a $160 billion market. Online direct marketing is less expensive, faster, and more effective. Forrester Research estimates that direct marketing and promotions will control 50 to 70% of the online marketing budgets by 2003, or roughly $10 to $15 billion. Permission-based marketing is rapidly becoming one of the most preferred, cost-effective marketing tools available. In exchange for consumers’ attention, companies offer rewards, sweepstakes, points programs, and other promotions.

Consumers are willing to barter their privacy for personalization, but many don’t want to invest time to receive rewards. MyHaystack.com users will not need to fill in surveys, check boxes indicating categories of interest, or surf for interesting promotions. Cross-referencing a user’s filing cabinet will enable MyHaystack.com to deliver user-specific direct marketing and promotions. The user gains a valuable organizational service and receives relevant information.

A majority of online, permission-based marketing is focused on opt-in email mailing lists. The proliferation of HTML as a standard allows email messages to embed active links for immediate consumer response. MyHaystack.com extends the effectiveness of direct email marketing by building an interactive user service.

Organizational Tools

Consumer oriented organizational tools vary in functionality, cost, and consumer input requirements. Traditional, paper-based systems provide an organizational structure but require the user to do all of the information management and filing. PC-based systems are similar, requiring the user to scan and upload documents or manually input data. Consumers have historically been willing to enter certain data if the service is deemed useful, such as electronic calendars and address books.

More recently, bill-paying services have taken over the burden of scanning and uploading financial statements and bills. These services present an electronic copy of each bill to the user and provide the functionality to pay it online. MyHaystack.com views online bill payment service providers as strategic partners. Most of these companies are using substantial resources to manage paper bills and other consumer mail and are poorly positioned to offer organizational functionality similar to MyHaystack.com.

Product information can generally be found in the original hard copy format or by searching the Internet. Some product information is aggregated online to support the sale of extended warranties or to provide customer service solutions to manufacturers. These sites do not have a personalized organizational structure or integrate different categories of user data.

File storage solutions provide disk space for electronic files. Users are required to scan, upload, or save all information in electronic format. They’re also responsible for creating their own organizational structure. The online storage companies’ economies of scale in personal file storage make them attractive strategic partners. The lack of organizational tools and the inability to source electronic documents limit the immediate competitive threat posed by these solutions

4.3.2 Main Competitors

Appendix B profiles several companies that are potential MyHaystack.com competitors.

**Appendices not available for this sample plan.

Strategy and Implementation Summary

The success of MyHaystack.com depends on the company’s ability to build a user base by converting visitors into registered members that use the organizational system. MyHaystack.com acquires customers through strategic business-to-business partnerships with product manufacturers and service providers. Customers access the organizational service through a branded Internet website. Marketing activities and partnerships with third party incentive programs serve to increase brand awareness and attract additional users to the website.

Early strategic partnerships target product manufacturers that will post user manuals and similar product information in the MyHaystack.com database. These partners may also reach consumers through the Dynamic Posting service. Online bill paying, online disk storage, and other value-added services are provided through co-branding agreements with third party Internet companies. These partnerships not only provide a more comprehensive organizational structure for the initial deployment of the MyHaystack.com service, but also serve to accelerate customer acquisition.

5.1 Competitive Edge

Product manufacturers that sell through multi-tiered distribution rely on a retail channel to manage the customer experience. However, as retailers move online, they reduce their interaction with consumers and place an additional burden on the manufacturer. Product rebates, warranty registration forms, and similar promotions are an effort to partially eliminate the information gap between the manufacturer and customer. With a response rate that is usually less than 5%, these methods have limited effectiveness in helping the manufacturer better serve the consumer.

Consumer-oriented service providers face a different challenge. While most have direct access to their customers, they often need to deliver personalized documentation. The high volume of individual mailings creates an information challenge for both the service provider, and the customer.

MyHaystack.com serves manufacturers by providing a channel for direct communication to the consumer. The user benefits from an increased level of post-purchase consumer care while the manufacturer learns how to better meet their customers’ needs. MyHaystack.com supports consumer service providers by allowing personalized documentation to be filed electronically in a customer’s filing cabinet.

All MyHaystack.com business clients benefit through increased customer knowledge. A product manufacturer can not only determine who is buying their product, but can also determine what other products that consumer owns, or is likely to purchase. Service providers can better determine the service requirements of their customers through a deeper understanding of overall service usage. They can further improve consumer satisfaction and reduce customer inquiries by insuring that all documentation is readily available through an online service. Using this service, business clients can target new customer segments, participate in direct marketing to a highly qualified consumer base, or partner with other manufacturers to offer a comprehensive product solution.

5.2 Sales Strategy

MyHaystack.com is currently negotiating co-branding agreements in the following key categories that will serve to increase traffic and user registrations on the MyHaystack.com site:

• Financial services- MyHaystack.com will partner with a third party provider to allow MyHaystack.com users to pay bills online. The co-branding agreement is structured such that the provider’s logo will appear within the MyHaystack.com organizational system. Users who subscribe to the service will have to pay a fee directly to the provider, but will access the site through MyHaystack.com. Financial documentation is then archived within the MyHaystack.com organizational system. Users of the partner’s site will have the option to join MyHaystack.com when they open a new account. Once they join, they will become shared users between MyHaystack.com and the financial services provider.
• E-commerce- MyHaystack.com has established initial partnerships with key e-commerce providers and is in the process of negotiating additional relationships. E-commerce partnerships allow MyHaystack.com customers to directly purchase products that are offered through other sites. Similar functionality may allow MyHaystack.com users to join a purchasing group for specific e-commerce transactions. Consumers who purchase at partner e-commerce sites will have the option to open a MyHaystack.com account at the time of purchase. Initial product information, including an electronic receipt, will then be automatically filed into the MyHaystack.com account.
• Warranty Services- MyHaystack.com is discussing a partnership to offer extended warranties on registered products. The partnership will consist of a co-branding agreement whereby MyHaystack.com users will purchase an extended warranty through a third party partner. Users who originally visit the partner site will have the opportunity to open a MyHaystack.com account when they purchase an extended warranty. Warranty documentation will automatically be filed in the account.
• Product Manufacturers- MyHaystack.com is actively seeking strategic partnerships and co-branding agreements with product manufacturers. The agreements will give those strategic partners additional access to market intelligence in return for joint marketing.

Later stage strategic partnerships target companies that require economical document delivery and information management systems for their customers. Insurance companies, investment and financial services companies, and health management organizations are targets for later stage partnerships. Online and traditional retail businesses may also serve as key strategic partners and drive future e-commerce opportunities.

5.2.1 Sales Forecast

As services are added and users increase the volume of information managed through MyHaystack.com, the frequency of repeat visits will increase. More importantly, the value of information stored in the MyHaystack.com database increases as registered members expand their activities on the website.

Market Intelligence Sales

For the purposes of financial forecasts, market intelligence sales are divided into online market research clients and research subscriptions. It is likely that a single client will use both the online service and the reporting service.

The number of MyHaystack.com online research clients is based on recent client acquisition numbers of comparable companies. Jupiter Research acquired 921 clients, over three years, for their market research practice. They were able to accelerate acquisition by converting the attendees of their conferences into clients. Greenfield Online has acquired over 350 clients since 1995. This analysis assumes the acquisition of 350 clients by the end of year 3. MyHaystack.com will accelerate acquisition by ensuring that strategic partners are also online research clients.

Pricing for online research depends on the industry and level of functionality required. Annual rates for Active Research Inc., an industry leader in online research, start at $10,000 and run as high as $50,000. Jupiter Research increased their average contract value from $28,000 to $41,000 in the last year by bundling additional services. These services include online research, periodic reports, and access to conference calls. MyHaystack.com will initially offer a basic online research tool free to our early strategic partners. Following a full launch, pricing will start at $6,000 per year and increase to an average of $12,000 by year 3. Although online subscriptions may be bundled with research reports, this model accounts for them separately, keeping the combined cost within the industry range for total contract value.

The projected number of market research subscriptions assumes that some clients of the online research tool will subscribe to market research reports. Research reports will also be sold individually and may exceed the number of online market research clients.

Initially, MyHaystack.com will sell monthly and quarterly reports at between $250 and $5,000 per report, depending on the industry and the number of reports bundled into an annual package. The first reports will not be marketed until after the production launch of the MyHaystack.com site at the end of year 1.

Individual Filings

The number of individual filings is based on the number of users in the MyHaystack.com database. As more services are added, the percentage of users accepting direct filings and the number of direct filings per user will increase. Prices for filing will vary from $0.50 to $5.75 per document, depending on the number of filings delivered, the size of each filing, and the type of each filing. This can be compared with regular postage, which can vary from $0.53 to $5.72 to mail.

Dynamic Posting

MyHaystack.com’s ability to target users with relevant information will drive up both the price per message and the number of users willing to accept direct marketing. Forrester Research estimates that by 2004, the average household will receive 9 pieces of email marketing a day. The model estimates two messages per week, for users that choose to accept them, by the end of year 3 of operations.

The cost to deliver a direct marketing message will be between $.01 and $.25 per message. MyHaystack.com will be able to charge substantially more than the market average for targeted marketing once extensive user profiles have been established. By year three, the average cost is conservatively estimated at $.15 per message.

5.3 Value Proposition

My Haystack.com offers different values to its various target markets.

Key advantages of MyHaystack.com over other online and traditional market research firms are:

• MyHaystack.com builds long-term consumer value by maintaining the relationship with our users. The result is time-series market data that models the life cycle purchasing behavior of the consumer population.
• MyHaystack.com effectively bridges the gap between online and brick-and-mortar consumer research companies. The unique value offered to the consumer encourages participation from offline participants.
• MyHaystack.com is a completely online service, eliminating the expense associated with physical survey methodologies. The result is a shorter time for data collection at a lower cost.

Key advantages of MyHaystack.com over similar online direct marketing companies are:

• While traditional email marketing is completely one-sided, MyHaystack.com maintains a two-way dialog with the users. This not only insures that every message is delivered to a user willing to accept it, but also assures that each user profile is current.
• MyHaystack.com messages can be received in the MyHaystack.com organizational system or via targeted email. This allows the user to separate MyHaystack.com messaging from the clutter of other online email marketers.
• Opt-in and Opt-out functions allow a user to adjust the level of information received immediately, without fear of “subscribing” to a mailing list that will be sold, or otherwise distributed.

MyHaystack.com has several key advantages over traditional organizational tools:

• MyHaystack.com is a highly automated system that limits the amount of consumer effort necessary to build and maintain an organizational system.
• MyHaystack.com is an online solution that can be accessed from anywhere. This reduces the possibility that critical data is unavailable when it is needed.
• MyHaystack.com is a comprehensive solution with a built in organizational structure. This allows a user to easily start using the system and add components as their needs change.

5.4 Milestones

MyHaystack.com selected to participate in the Bay Tech Incubator Program. Bay Tech has established a consortium of sponsors and partners to provide services to 25 selected start-up, e-business companies. The program provides a development incubation environment for a period of 6 months and allows MyHaystack.com to dramatically reduce the necessary development time. MyHaystack.com is now a member of the Bay Area Incubator Program.

Sara Jones joins Board of Advisors – Sara Jones, Principal at Arthur Coopers Management Consulting Services, has over fifteen years of consulting experience focusing on e-business, strategic planning and organizational design. Ms. Jones has agreed to serve on the Board of Advisors for MyHaystack.com Inc.

BuildIt Inc. contracts for site development – BuildIt Inc., a leading technology development firm, and MyHaystack.com Inc. have established an agreement to complete the development of the MyHaystack.com Internet service within 16 weeks.

Samuel Dewy added to Board of Directors – Mr. Dewy, a partner in the law firm Watson, Sonoma, Goodson & Rodgers has agreed to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of MyHaystack.com. In addition to serving as general counsel to the company, Mr. Dewy’s experience in building new technology ventures will insure the success of MyHaystack.com.

Partnership with Stuff.com – MyHaystack.com has established a strategic partnership with Stuff.com, an online group purchasing service for consumer electronics and related products. The partnership addresses issues of information sharing, market research, and e-commerce.

Arthur Coopers joins Board of Advisors – Arthur Coopers L.L.P. has agreed to serve as advisors to MyHaystack.com. Steven Cross, a partner at Arthur Coopers L.L.P., and a specialist in emerging companies will serve on the Board of Advisors of MyHaystack.com.

Management Summary management summary will include information about who's on your team and why they're the right people for the job, as well as your future hiring plans.">

Management Team

The Co-founders of MyHaystack.com, John Smith and Jane Doe have management experience in high growth technology companies and consumer marketing. MyHaystack.com is actively recruiting experienced industry representatives to serve on the management team and as members of the advisory board.

John Smith most recently served as Chief Operating Officer at OnlineNet, where he developed a detailed knowledge of the challenges facing product manufacturers. Mr. Smith was responsible for the development of new distribution channels and the establishment of strategic partnership agreements across a wide range of product manufacturers. He also has a strong background in data warehousing and mass data storage requirements. Mr. Smith completed a Master’s degree in engineering at MIT and an MBA at the Haas School of Business.

Jane Doe served as Director of Marketing at Value Shop Inc., where she built her knowledge of consumer marketing. She led the development of marketing strategies that leverage the Internet. Ms. Doe also has 8 years of experience in market analysis and research. She completed an MBA at Harvard University and has a BA from Dartmouth.

The Principal Member of the Board of Directors

Samuel Dewy, Partner at Watson, Sonoma, Goodson & Rodgers, joined the firm in 1971. Mr. Dewy serves as an advisor and board member for a wide variety of high-tech companies in the computer, semiconductor, entertainment, software, and biotech industries. Mr. Dewy specializes in corporate law as it relates to venture capital and the creation of high-tech companies. Mr. Dewy completed his undergraduate degree at UCLA and his law degree at the University of California at Berkeley.

The Board of Advisors

Charles Brock, Co-Founder and CEO of Successful_business_site.com, has extensive experience in the formation of new ventures. As a partner at Waterhouse & Young LLP, Mr. Brock founded and served as the Director of the Entrepreneurial Services Group in the San Jose Bay Area. He is a Co-Founder and Limited Partner of Venture Flyers venture capital fund.

Sara Jones, Principal at Arthur Coopers Management Consulting Services, has over fifteen years of consulting experience concentrating on issues of M&A, strategic planning, e-business and organizational design. Most recently Ms. Jones led the spin-off / IPO team of ISAVE from BigTime Corporation. She has also worked with manufacturing and technology companies that will translate into valuable knowledge and relationships for MyHaystack.com.

Peter Downey, Director of Business Development at Advanced Network Communications, has both technical and business experience in the deployment of emerging broadband technologies. Prior to ANC, Mr. Downey served as a Product Manager with Hewlett-Packard Corporation. Mr. Downey also has experience at General Electric and IBM.

6.1 Personnel Plan

We will start the company with nine employees:

• Marketing/Sales (3)
• Researchers/Analysts (3)
• Programmers (2)
• Administrative (1)

Our marketing/sales team includes one member with strong experience in affiliate and partner programs, and another who will oversee the website programmers in website design, search engine optimization, and user experience.

Financial Plan investor-ready personnel plan .">

MyHaystack.com generates revenue through a combination of market communications and market intelligence services. These services are sold to MyHaystack.com clients in a business-to-business transaction. Complete financial statements are presented in Appendix A of this business plan.

This financial projection assumes a conservative scenario where early partnerships are not directly resulting in shared users. Adverse market conditions or a failure to execute on the MyHaystack.com business plan could limit the number of client subscriptions, effectively reducing the forecasted revenue. Alternatively, better than anticipated market reception of the MyHaystack.com service, along with a rapid consumer adoption rate, could substantially increase annual revenue.

Revenue is driven by a combination of MyHaystack.com services that include Individual Filings, Dynamic Posting, Online Research Subscriptions, and Market Research Report Subscriptions. This analysis does not include the potential for additional revenue based on third party licensing agreements, commission generated through the sale of products and services to consumers, or other revenue that is not a core focus of the MyHaystack.com business model.

7.1 Important Assumptions

The following table shows some of our important financial assumptions.

7.2 Break-even Analysis

Preliminary financial forecasts project a break-even point beyond year 3 of operations, the limit of the detailed financial forecast. Assuming consistent growth, break-even will occur during Q3 of year 4 of operations. However, market fluctuations, changes in the competitive environment, or a failure to effectively execute on the MyHaystack.com business strategy could further delay the break-even point.

An alternative, and more likely, scenario is that rapid expansion of the industry and rapid growth of MyHaystack.com will drive additional expenditures on customer acquisition, marketing, and product development. While these expenditures have the potential to substantially increase revenue and solidify MyHaystack.com as a leader in the online market research industry, they may also serve to further delay the break-even point.

7.3 Business Ratios

The following table contains important business ratios. The Industry Profile column presents ratios as described by the Standard Industry Classification (SIC) Index code 8732, Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling.

7.4 Projected Profit and Loss

MyHaystack.com is positioned as an early entrant into the rapidly growing market for online consumer research. As such, MyHaystack.com expects to enjoy significant first-mover advantages. However, the company expects to incur substantive losses during the first three years of operations. These losses reflect the initial investment necessary to establish a strong market position. This market position will serve as a strategic advantage and a potential barrier to entry as the industry expands. Once the industry matures, the company has the ability to garner additional revenue from the MyHaystack.com client base.

The following table shows our projected Profit and Loss for the next three years.

7.5 Cash Flow

The following chart and table outline anticipated cash flow for MyHaystack.com. The table contains yearly projections; for a monthly analysis, please see table appendix at the end of this plan.

7.6 Balance Sheet

The following table presents the Balance Sheet for MyHaystack.com.

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