360. Self Storage Just Entered a New Era: What Small Operators Need to Know

Self storage just entered a new era. The industry isn’t shifting. The shift has already happened. Within eight days, we saw multiple instances of operator and data infrastructure consolidation. On the surface, these might look like normal acquisitions, but they signal seismic changes within the self storage industry that small operators can’t afford to ignore. The top 100 operators already control over half of the nation’s rentable storage space, and the top five alone control a whopping 35%. That number is growing. This is eerily similar to what we saw when online marketing came on the scene. The REITs and big players adopted search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising long before anyone else. Now, they’re on the move again. In self storage investing, data is king. Thankfully, access has been brought down to the level of mom-and-pop operators in recent years. But those who overlook what’s going on are at risk of losing their competitive advantage in the marketplace. I’m breaking down exactly what small self storage investors need to do to adapt and why the entire industry is in dire straits if they don’t. What you’ll learn in today’s show:   Two crucial areas where the self storage industry has consolidated What self storage investors need to know amid a major industry shift Major transactions from the last few weeks and their impact on small operators The parallels between self storage data and online marketing How mom-and-pop operators can harness AI within their self storage business __________ Grab AJ’s Book, _Growing Wealth in Self-Storage 2.0_ : https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Wealth-Self-Storage-2-0-Post-Pandemic/dp/1735258865 NowMetrics: https://nowmetrics.co/  Storelocal: https://www.storelocal.com/ TractIQ: https://tractiq.com/