With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, you might need a feasibility study:
1. If you want to get the highest return possible. From selecting a market with excess demand to pricing strategies to phasing recommendations, your self storage feasibility study provides a realistic proforma to determine your investment returns.
2. If your bank or investor needs third-party verification your self storage business plan is a sound investment.
3. If you own land or have identified a parcel and don't know if a self storage facility would be successful or not, (and if it will, how many square feet it should be, what the most profitable unit mix is, what supply and demand is…)
4. If you possess the knowledge to do a self storage feasibility study yourself but don’t want to.
5. If you have done initial research for your project and want an independent verification of your results.
6. If you are not sure if the risk of building is acceptable. And you know you want to be sure “if you build it, they will come!”
7. If you want to get into self storage investing and don't know what to do next. You may need help identifying the best market to build in, figuring out what size self storage facility you can afford to build, determining your risk tolerance. There is a lot about self storage you don’t know you don’t know that your self storage feasibility study teaches you.
8. If you want to compete with the REITs, the mom-and-pops, and everyone in between. And, you want to build before more competitors enter the market.
9. If you want to avoid expensive mistakes. From building the unit sizes your customers want, knowing your competitive strengths and weaknesses, projecting expenses and net operating income, self storage feasibility studies take the guesswork out of your project.
10. If you want to be confident your project will be approved before asking bank or investors for money. That’s ok, no one wants to be embarrassed, and everyone wants to make money.