John Manes shares how he moved from retail into self-storage and built companies through investor relationships and operating experience. He discusses raising capital, handling difficult market cycles, and lessons from acquisitions and exits.
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About the guest
John Manes. John Manes is chairman of the board for Store Suite LLC, a vertically integrated self-storage platform. He spent 17 years in retail, worked as a regional vice president for Uncle Bob's and as a COO for a regional operator, then built self-storage businesses and authored The Workingass Guide to Building Wealth with Self Storage.
Key takeaways
- Manes says he spent 17 years in retail before moving into self-storage, which he describes as selling empty space.
- Before starting on his own, he kept a list of people who said they would invest with him. His first deal required a $1.5 million raise, and he raised $900,000 of it.
- He says teaching operational topics such as revenue management and hiring helped him build credibility before he knew whether he could raise capital.
- His approach to networking is to get into the right rooms, offer resources without expecting anything back, and make an ask later when there is a basis for it.
- During difficult market conditions, he advises owners to answer investors' calls, be transparent, and keep talking with team members rather than hiding from hard conversations.
- When considering a sale, he weighed the proceeds and potential returns against his concern about laying off employees. He says the company kept its team and later rebuilt its portfolio.
- A $46,000 underwriting fee and a lender's late change in quoted interest terms taught him to do more due diligence on people and request contracts early.
- For storage property due diligence, he checks locks, maintenance, and capital improvements, and brings relevant vendors to inspect the property on the due diligence day.
- For an exit, he recommends having a specialist represent the seller's interests and help assess offers. He says he took the opportunity directly to seven major players rather than using a commercial real estate broker.
- Manes attributes his work style in part to being a visual thinker. He says he asks people to explain unfamiliar terms so he can connect ideas and evaluate how they fit together.
Best quotes
"I spent 17 years in retail like the Walmarts and Kmarts of the world. Uh, learned business with them. Been a student of business my whole life."
"I built a lot of credibility of going out and teaching people how to do this by being on stage. So I would teach them revenue management. I'd teach them how to hire store manager."
"Get in the right room, right? So, this is the right room. I don't care how you look at it. And what they were saying a little bit ago is finding resources once you're in that room."
"One of the things I pride myself on regardless of easy conversations or hard conversations doesn't matter I always answer my phone always."
"The best thing you can do is answer your phone and go through those awkward moments and go through those conversations, whether it's with your team member, like just don't give up."
"The reason I didn't want to sell is because I didn't want to lay people off. We're a people first company and we pride ourselves on taking care of our team and we look for that in return."
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