eKourier Oct 2017

FEATURES

WHO’S WHO

10 Questions... With Mark Mallinson - Mittagong Centre Manager

Challenges Confront The Self Storage Disrupters con’t...

In this issue Challenges Confront Self Storage Disrupters 1/2 10 Questions with... 3 Team Member Profiles 4 In the Beginning... 5 Customer Feedback 5 Uncork Success/ Murarrie Huddle 6 What Drives Engagement 7 80% Blue, Momentum 2016 Strategy 8 From Avoidance To Self-Actualisation 9 Customer Feedback 9 The Great Achievers 1011/12/13 Let’s Hit The Refresh Button 14 Customer Feedback 14 Listen To The Growth Opportunities 15 Construction Pipeline 16 Spotlight On... 17 Wine Training 18 Google Reviews 19 Nev’s Notes 19 Kennards Community 20

platform will expand the market and also entice existing people to migrate from their current renting platforms. New ideas certainly get attention, and if they can successfully raise money this does pique media interest. Elegant lookingApps and slick web sites add some excitement, even perhaps a look of credibility for a new concept. Everyone loves tech and it is enticing to believe a fortune can be unlocked (sorry, bad pun) with the right solution and idea. Interrogating the corporate backgrounds in some of the web sites, the sponsors and founders of the disruptors often make claims about ‘revolutionising self storage’; becoming the ‘airbnb of self storage’ or have lofty ambitions of market share expectations. Curiously, I couldn’t find a single founder who actually came from the self storage sector. Maybe that doesn’t matter, but it does make one wonder if they genuinely appreciate the drivers, behaviours and preferences of self storage consumers and the market? Challenges and Obstacles... I have a number of observations of the challenges and obstacles the P2P storage operators need to overcome to go from all sizzle to some sausage. -> Security and Privacy - storage customer put great value in the privacy and security of their goods. If they use someone’s garage or shed, how much comfort can they have the owner won’t rifle through their gear or leave the room exposed to security breach? A common self storage buy-line is ‘you lock it, you keep the key’ which impresses the complete privacy and certainty enjoyed by self storage customers. Potentially the storer may have access to the house if it’s a spare room could be a security issue. -> Access, Convenience - having free unrestricted access is very important to storers. This poses 2 challenges, one from each side of the transaction. Firstly, the storer may feel uncomfortable coming to someone’s home garage or shed regularly, in the evenings and on weekends to go through their stuff. The established self storage operators invest heavily in making access flexible, easy and convenient. Secondly, the owner of the space may wish to protect their own privacy and restrict access to certain times. -> Tenure of Storage - Storage customers are understandably uncertain about the length of time they will store. In addition,

almost without fail they store for longer than they intend. Unlike short term rentals like car parking and AirBnB, storage is a long term commitment. In my business, the median length of stay is 36 months. The storers often move away too. This presents another two reciprocal challenges. Firstly, for the storer, they will want certainty. Certainty that the vendor won’t sell; have their lease terminated; move house or just be asked to leave at any time. Secondly, for the vendor - what if they want to move home and they have a storer using their garage? What if they simply don’t like it and want their garage back? They will be burdened with the additional complication of getting the storer to vacate. This is often not very easy. -> Scale and Network - There is an obvious circular challenge for the self storage P2P aspirants. They need scale (a lot of rooms available) and a diverse footprint to make their platform meaningful, useful and most importantly, viable. If they manage to attract potential storers on to their platform, and they repeatedly fail to have a space available to satisfy the query the user experience will be poor. They won’t come back. My instincts are that they will enjoy their best enquiry levels where space is already at a premium, and as such they will probably struggle to get the scale in listings. In my business, there are many high demand markets where I would like to build more spaces, but can’t. Similarly, I doubt they will be able to source space to match the users in the high demand areas. There simply isn’t that much spare space in the inner urban densely populated areas. The low barriers to entry for competing platforms to emerge could potentially also dilute their ability to get scale. Obviously without scale, the model won’t be viable long term. The 10-15% service fee will feel slim as they attempt fund operating expenses and product development, in particular battling for real estate on Google - which is akin to an arms race. In closing, scratching below the surface of concept and veneer there are real challenges with regard to consumer preferences and vendor obstacles. How the P2P storage providers overcome these will determine their future. I don’t see it as being very easy; as such it is reasonable not to harbour great concern about their impact on the self storage sector.

Neil (Right) with his son Dylan, ready to cruise the South Pacific

Next issue Deadline: December 1st, 2017 Editor: Sharon Dux Email: sharon@kss.com.au Distribution: January 12th, 2018

How many years have you been with KSS? You left us and then came back! I have been with Kennards for 11 years all up. I left for about three years only to return for the better. What centres have you worked at during your time with Kennards? I worked at Campbelltown1 for eight years as Centre Manager. When I came back to KSS I started back again at Campbelltown1 as Assistant Manager for nine months before taking on the challenge as Centre Manager of the new Mittagong centre at the time. When did you first become a Centre Manager? I first became Centre Manager in the January of 2004. What would you say is the best thing about working at Kennards Self Storage? People and Interaction with customers. There have been many interesting characters throughout the years with stories to tell. Also working with many great co workers. What have been the challenges along the way for you?

term goal to be heavily involved with the success of the company till retirement when ever that may be. Goals outside of the business is to be able to travel to as many different countries as possible. Would love to go back to Singapore to see the changes since I was last there in 1972. Unusual storer or things stored over your many years with KSS? The most interesting storer was at Mittagong. I have watched this storer in his spare time restore an old Boomerang War Plane. He has a couple to do, one of which was his grandfathers plane that he flew. The plane was one of the first off the ground to take on the enemy when Darwin was bombed. He also held the speed record in America for a single prop engine. The plane he used he is reshaping and has built a whole new engine which he believes will beat the current world record. He is planning to break the record and fly from Australia to America. This is all happening in one of our Enterprise Spaces!

Though it has been great working with different co workers, it has also been a challenge, as everyone has a different personality and a way of doing things. So the challenge has been to find the balance of harmony in getting things done, which may not always have been my way! Tell us about your role coming up at the new Warrawong centre? I will be Centre Manager at Warrawong, starting a couple of weeks before opening to set up. There is the numbering of all the units and setting up the office and merchandise displays. Also the marketing of the centre to get the message out there to ‘ Store with People who Care’ . What do you do in your spare time? Time seems to fly by when I have some. But when I can I like to garden, go walking along the beach. My wife and I also dine out and enjoy spending time with friends. What short and long term goals do you have for yourself inside and outside of the business? My short term goal within the business is to make Warrawong a success. Long

Upcoming events 20/10 - Hawkes Bay Anniversary Day (Napier/ Onekawa /Hastings Closed) (NZ) 23/10 - Labour Day - Mt Eden, Three Kings, Wellington P.H. Hours, All other NZ Centres Closed (NZ) 7/11 - Melbourne Cup (VIC) - PH Hours 16/11 - VIC Christmas Party 17/11 - S.A. Christmas Party 20/24/11 - NZ Christmas Parties 23/11 - Sunshine Coast (QLD) Christmas Party 24/11 - QLD Christmas Party

1/12 - Sydney ACT Christmas Party 25/12 - Christmas Day - KSS Closed

26/12 Boxing Day - KSS Closed 1/1 - New Years Day - KSS Closed 2/1 - Day After New Year’s Day - All NZ Centres Closed (NZ)

To sum up KSS in one word? Delightful

Sam Kennard Managing Director

3 Kennards Kourier October 2017

2 Kennards Kourier October 2017