As you grow your business, you’ll have opportunities to try some ambitious projects.
Buying new facilities, adding smart units… building your own self storage app?
Apps have a lot of great uses, but they’ve got real downsides too. Should you invest in building a self storage app? Read on as we lay out the pros and cons of self storage applications!
Your first self storage business did great - so you bought a second, a third, a fourth! You’ve got a big bank of capital to invest in making your brand even better.
Facility upgrades are one way. A great website, of course. But a self storage app? That’s a bit trickier.
First, you have to find someone that can build your app for a reasonable price, then maintain and even update it as your business grows and changes. Lastly, you have to get all your customers on board with downloading and learning to use a new app.
These challenges can all be worth it if you get an app that greatly improves your customer experience.
There are several reasons you may want to offer a self storage app to your customers. Some of our StoragePug friends - such as Bob White Self Storage - have had a lot of success offering a self storage app.
Their app offers a few significant benefits to customers who use it, namely:
All of the functions a customer might need, short of actually moving their stuff into a self storage unit, can be done on the app!
This can be incredibly convenient for your customers, and it can save you time and labor costs. A well-written app can help your customers do a lot of things that they might otherwise need you or a manager to do for them.
Every time a customer uses the app instead of needing your help, you’re saving a lot of time that can be spent elsewhere.
This benefit depends on the features you’re able to build into your app. If you can get all five of those above into one app, you’ll have created something that is very helpful.
If you can only manage some of them - for whatever reason - the benefit of your app goes down. The less helpful your app is, the harder it will be to get people to use it.
On the other hand, the more complicated your app is, the more expensive it will be.
Unless you’re a software developer who runs self storage on the side, you’re going to need to hire someone to build your self storage app.
There are many different companies that can help you do this - you could even hire independent coders that can make you a self storage app! Whoever you use, you’ll need to trust them with your customers’ information, including credit card information.
When you start looking for app developers, start by looking at their portfolio. If the company (or individual) has made similar apps before, they will be better equipped to work with your business.
You can check out websites like Upwork, Toptal, Freelancer, or Fiverr for freelancers.
Regardless of which path you take, it’s unlikely you’ll get a (functioning) app built for less than five figures. Velvetech estimates anywhere from $10,000 to $500,000 for an app, with a minimum of $50,000 if you’re building one with an established development firm.
Just like building additional capabilities into your facility, getting a self storage app built is going to take a lot of focus and attention from you.
Then when you have an app built, you’ve still got a lot of work to do before it begins to benefit your business: namely, getting your tenants to download it and use it.
You’ve built this app specifically to help your customers, but they may not be jumping at the chance to use it.
Maybe they’re not big fans of technology. Maybe they don’t want to learn to use a new program just for their self storage unit. Maybe they get really picky about what they download, out of fear or storage space.
Some won’t even have a mobile device that can support it - so make sure this new app isn’t the only way people can pay for their self storage unit.
To overcome these hesitations, you may want to implement some incentives.
Offer a discount if they pay with the app for a few months. Or be more creative - partner with local businesses for coupons or other incentives.
The idea is to get them to install and use the app once or twice, then see how beneficial it is. Once you get the majority of your customer base using the app regularly, you’ll begin to see those benefits you were hoping for.
Any time you’re spending money or time, you’re faced with this question: what else could I be doing with this?
Building a great self storage app would definitely be a benefit for your business - but is it going to be more beneficial than another option?
A good self storage website can do a lot of the listed benefits of a self storage app, and typically won’t cost as much to get started. This is one major reason we don’t recommend an app for smaller operations - unless you’ve got a lot of customers, the benefits of an app don’t outweigh the cost.
There are also companies you can hire to get some other app benefits - like Bluetooth facility and self storage unit access with StorageDefender™ or SpiderDoor.
Of course, these have their own costs, and once you’ve paid to develop the app, the costs to keep it running will be comparatively small. The problem is, you’re going to need a website anyways. Only your customers are going to download your app, and your website is the best way to get new customers.
So, is a self storage app worth it for your business? If you have the money, the know-how, and think your customers will make use of it, then it can be!
However, if you’re still trying to drum up demand, there are other tech solutions that can be more useful. The ultimate decision is, as always, yours!
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At StoragePug, we build self storage websites that make it easy for new customers to find you and easy for them to rent from you.
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