Whether you have an existing self-storage facility or you’re planning on buying land for a new facility, one of the biggest hurdles many owner-operators face is how to make sure it’s tech ready in today’s tech-savvy market. And my answer is always the same. Pre-planning. That’s because it’s a lot more costly if you don’t plan for future needs. With the right pre-planning, everything is in place to add the technology that’s needed when your business needs it without disruption—and that can result in significant savings compared to what you’d typically spend on retrofitting your buildings.
Here's a case in point. We recently worked with a facility that needed to install a security camera in an elevator after several incidents occurred. Not a big deal, right? It wouldn’t have been with pre-planning, but this building had no cable pathways and no mounting points. As a result, we had to cut through walls and ceilings to run new conduit through multiple floors and then repair the damages of the retrofit. It involved multiple contractors and permits, disrupted tenants and racked up a bill for unplanned expenses just because of a camera. With pre-engineered pathways like we offer in the BETCO SmartReady™ package, this same situation would have saved the owner both money and time. And that’s just one example. Other owner-operators have spent six figures to retrofit their properties. But there’s a better way.
With a comprehensive plan for building smart technology into your next project, self-storage developers and owners can save time and money and be positioned for success with improved efficiency and safety and an enhanced tenant experience that supports higher rental rates. Read on to see what your plan should include and how to make the benefits work for you.
PROTECT YOUR CASHFLOW
When you’re building a home, you wouldn’t develop your electrical plan after the build. So why do that with self-storage? Instead, with pre-planning like the BETCO SmartReady package, we map out every potential tech location before construction even begins. Because these protected cable pathways and mounting points are built right into the building’s structure, it makes future technology upgrades, like security cameras and access control, simple and cost effective because there’s no drilling through walls or running cables after the fact.
And the big advantage here is that you’re able to start by rolling out as little or as much technology as you want. After all, cashflow is typically tight when you’re opening a storage facility, so a pre-planning approach allows you to add technology in phases —when your business needs it rather than all upfront.
DELIVER THE EXPERIENCE
The self-storage industry has typically looked at technology as something to worry about later, but that has started to change because tenants expect the same digital experience they have in their smart home or smart apartment buildings. The question is are you ready to deliver?
Think about it: Gen Zs, Millennials and Gen Ys who are renting storage want to do it from their smartphones. They want to be able to pick a unit, find a location, choose the size they need and onboard themselves. They want the digital key sent to their smartphones so they can go to their unit and open the door. They also want to be able to use their smartphones to pay rent, share the key with others, see what’s happening at their door and who’s accessing their unit. It’s all critical for a modern digital experience that provides better security and convenience —and we make it available today with our smart technology planning.
INCREASE YOUR REVENUE
A better tenant experience is also where the money is being made in storage. In fact, data suggests that many tenants will pay up to 20% more for facilities with premium technology amenities like smartphone unit management and digital access sharing.
With a plan like BETCO SmartReady, you can phase in these sophisticated features over time. You might start with basic access control. Then as your occupancy grows, you add in monitoring systems and alerts —and each upgrade creates an opportunity to adjust rates. While your competitors across town or down the road operate with traditional lock and key, better planning is leading to a better experience for higher occupancy and more revenue.
IMPROVE YOUR SECURITY
If a facility doesn’t account for smart technology in a proactive and strategic way, it’s not only very expensive, but it’s also not very safe or secure. By pre-planning smart technology throughout the facility, it’s like having a virtual security guard watching every corner of your facility 24 x 7.
Instead of having to worry about somebody reaching up and cutting a wire to compromise any of your security systems, you have thermal motion sensor systems built into the units that are working with surveillance cameras and Bluetooth access control to monitor who enters which unit and provide instant alert notifications about unauthorized access.
How do you get started?
At BETCO, we’re the experts at building you a scalable smart technology system. We’ll start with initial planning that involves reviewing your needs from a technology perspective. From there we’ll map security zones, plan device locations and cable pathways and then lay out a technology roadmap and implementation timeline that future proofs your technology investment.
What does a BETCO SmartReady package include?
BETCO SmartReady is an exclusive package that provides the blueprint to plan and lay the groundwork for a true smart building before the ground is even broken. It’s about having the vision to bring your smart strategy to life before you build, instead of trying to retrofit smart solutions into a building that was not made with the future in mind. BETCO’s 40 years of experience combined with the expertise of Access Control Technologies, JANUS International, and Nokē Smart Entry creates a package of components and design for your building’s infrastructure that will truly make you SmartReady™.
- BETCO SmartReady Cable Management Pathways (Protects your Low Voltage Cabling System)
- BETCO SmartReady Pre-punched Wall Columns for easy install and time saving for Smart Entry Locks
- BETCO SmartReady Strike Plates
- BETCO SmartReady Mounting Plates
Find out how your facility can be ready today for technology that comes tomorrow.
About Our Expert
Matt Maurer brings 14 years of self-storage experience to his role as a business development manager at BETCO, a division of Janus International that has been designing and manufacturing custom self-storage buildings of every shape and size to developers worldwide since 1984.
