Who's Who In Self-Storage: Peter Smyth, White Label Storage

White Label Storage is a third-party self-storage management company founded by Peter Smyth and Alex Hartman. It evolved from the tools, team, and technology they developed while scaling their startup, Local Locker Storage. Established in 2018, Local Locker aimed to bring storage closer to urban areas by converting unused commercial spaces into neighborhood storage facilities. 

Smyth and Hartman met at Harvard Business School (HBS), where they began developing the Local Locker concept. As former residents of small apartments, they understood the space constraints of city living. “We were confident in the demand,” recalls Smyth, “but spent time at HBS talking to landlords to gauge whether or not the supply was available.” 

Remote Business Management 

The first issue they encountered with Local Locker Storage was that the facilities were small, so having an in-store manager and staff made little to no sense. With that in mind, they set out to create a platform that made the business more profitable by allowing for their facilities to be managed remotely. 

In 2022, after scaling their remote management playbook to over 20 facilities, they were approached by the owner of an office building who had converted a floor to self-storage before realizing that he was not equipped to manage storage units on a one-off location. He did not have the technology or know-how to deal with individual customers, seamlessly collect payments, and maintain the storage units. That’s when they realized the platform and solutions they had created for Local Locker could help other businesses. White Label Storage was born that same year. 

According to Smyth, the company name was inspired by their idea to allow customers to keep their original name while under White Label’s management. “There is often a sentimental value or a brand value. We come in and run the facility in the background without forcing owners to change brand assets like signage and websites.” 

The company signed up a handful of customers during their first year. In the months after, as Smyth and Hartman expanded the team, growth started to pick up quickly, with more and more companies signing up for their services. Currently, White Label Storage has a portfolio of over 50 facilities under management. 

Increasing Profitability 

One of the differentials of third-party management is the structure they can develop to allow clients to save money and increase profitability. For instance, for companies that run into the same issue Local Locker Storage had in the beginning, where having a manager on site at all times wasn’t profitable or necessary, White Label Storage put into place a solution where they work with a few managers in different cities who manage a few locations, lowering the cost of operations and allowing for full utilization of labor.  

“There’s just not enough volume for some storage facilities to want a 9-to-5 worker,” he says. “For a 200-unit facility, you might get a handful of property visits per day, typically most of each are existing customers. So, there might not even be anything needed on that day from staff on site.”  

To make this work smoothly, the company offers remote customer service for clients. A team that was put together specifically for the task and works in conjunction with other solutions to eliminate labor costs. “This allows customers to set up a schedule for a part-time person to show up and handle the task needed.” 

Delinquency Support 

Another important solution when working with a third-party management company is that you can count on them to do dull tasks such as evaluating and dealing with delinquent clients. 

While this activity does require some human interaction, automation is a good idea to primarily check in with clients who missed a payment, before proceeding to call, as it can be a more cost-effective first attempt to resolve the issue. However, when that doesn't work, Smyth offers advice on how to proceed: 

1. Contact clients sooner in the month. “When tenants get behind on payment, it becomes hard for them to catch up.” 
2. Identify the tenants who are late. “Identify this early in their tenancy and try to understand if that is going to be a consistent behavior. If it is, try to get them out; usually, [with] someone who is late more than once, it’s a behavior you have to deal with long term. This saves you work and follow-up down the road.” 
   

Negative Online Reviews 

Negative online reviews can not only be detrimental to your business but also lead potential customers to seek out competitors who focus on maintaining a better online image. 

This can be tackled in many ways, one of which is to have your team contact the person who left a bad review and try to understand what happened. “We try to handle this when new clients first sign up,” says Smyth. “We try to be pretty high touch with our customer service team, and during their interactions with customers, we try to seek feedback through reviews. This effort over time gets your average Google or Yelp rating up.” 

When it comes to SEO efforts, what matters the most in reviews is the quality and volume. “Google is ultimately trying to present the best option for the searcher,” Smyth says. “So, if you are a facility that has pretty high reviews, then they know you have an active manager who is focused on providing a good experience.” 

Multifaceted Employees 

White Label Storage ensures employees focus on their strengths by dividing them into specialized teams. This approach guarantees that tasks are handled by experts, improving overall service quality. “Our philosophy is that the person who is answering the phone should never be the person who is sweeping the units—not just because [for instance] a customer service person is usually not of manual labor or a maintenance person, but also because when selling storage units, you need to be available when a customer calls. So, if you walk away from the phones, they are just going to call the facility down the road and likely book with them,” he says. 

Customizable Solutions 

While White Label Storage is a one-stop shop, its client base is diverse. Seventy percent of their customers are established businesses that have been around for a while, looking to improve efficiency, take a more hands-off approach as they move forward, or enroll in specific services. The remaining 30 percent are mostly new owners seeking a full-management solution. 

Their fully customizable, à la carte service offerings allow them to work with clients at different stages of their business. “Long-time owners usually aren’t facing major problems, or they would have changed their management long before that. However, new owners can make several mistakes, from choosing the wrong combination of technology to selecting an inappropriate unit mix that doesn’t align with market demand. These mistakes are more critical for new owners than for long-time owners who likely have some legacy tenants and consistent income,” he says. “For new owners, we tend to provide a full management solution, helping them get their business off the ground. For existing owners, we either solve a specific problem or propose improvements to what they already have.” 

Future Aspirations 

Looking ahead, Smyth hopes to collaborate with major self-storage companies. “We are ready for it,” he says, expressing confidence in White Label Storage’s ability to break new ground in the industry. 

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Victória Oliveira is a freelance writer based in Brazil.