Think Strategy not just Growth – while growing a business is beneficial in many ways including potential cost savings/economies of scale, more profit, ability to enter new markets, attract better staff think about how to get there versus just the end goal. In other words make sure you are putting in place all the strategies such as solid marketing plan, quality staff, product delivery systems etc needed as a base to grow your business. Focus on the process and the growth will stem from that rather than picking an arbitrary end number and just hoping to get there.

Don’t confuse your strengths with providing a competitive advantage. While in any facet of life and especially business it is important to play on your strengths and use them to guide your core business. But because you have strengths in certain areas it does not mean you have competitive advantage. Most companies with similar strengths will be seen as comparable to your customers/investors therefore continue to look to do something different than your competition to set you apart.

Budget time has arrived again.  While it seems to be everyone's least favorite task it is a perfect opportunity to review your business as a whole in todays environment and really evaluate your costs.  Here are a couple things to consider:

1. Start the process early.  This will allow you to have time to gather information both internally but more importantly from outside sources.

2. Get competitive pricing even if you are happy with your current vendors.  It's important to make sure they are being competitive in the pricing they give you and not taking advantage of an existing relationship.

3. Look at all costs and remember the little cuts can add up. How frustrating is it to hear our elected officials say things like, oh that only cuts $100 million, so it's not worth the effort.  However, if you find a few savings here and there, whether hundreds or thousands of dollars, it's worth the effort in any budget.

Good luck and remember that sense of relief when budgets are complete!

By Rory Underwood

The Federal Government is trying to calm fears over new debt rating and promised low rates for several years.  Even Warren Buffet indicated this was a promise that had little ability to be enforced and would more likely be dictated by the market forces.  The fact is that rates are low and that means cap rates are low if an opportunity comes in to sell, or refinance.  Now may be the best time to capitalize on the financial markets.
 

Seven Tips for a Healthy Website:

1) Make links to your properties or business segments easy to use.  One click versus cumbersome searches.

2) Have your site highlight your specialties.

3) Visible Contact Information

4) Eliminate unnecessary links or outdated information

5) Include Social Media Tools

6) Highlight a Niche Market or Trend in your business

7) Offline promotion - make sure through ads, business cards, etc. that you drive traffic to your site
 

What has always been referred to as a recession proof industry, self storage should now be considered as recession resistant. Self storage has always fared well in good times and bad and has always had the honor of having the lowest default rate of any sector of commercial real estate. This recession has been a challenge for every industry and every form of real estate. Self storage hasn't been exempt this time around and has experienced some declines in occupancy and value. However, not to the extent other commercial real estate sectors have, in particular office and retail which are both closely tied to employment levels, consumer confidence, etc.

While occupancies have dropped a little it appears they have stabilized over the past year. Transaction volume for the sale of existing facilities is considerably less today than what it was as recently as four or five years ago but not due to a lack of buyers. Demand for existing facilities exceeds the supply but we're seeing inventory rising as buyers and sellers are getting closer to equilibrium on current pricing. Cap rates are up from historic all time lows in early 2007 but they too have stabilized over the past six months. Combined, these factors tell us we may be at or near the bottom of the market.