Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Beets
Hi Paul, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a software engineer by trade. I’ve spent 25 years developing electronics for the automotive industry. I began looking at creative ways to plan for retirement or maybe even position myself for an early retirement. I acquire 25 rental homes in Indianapolis prior to the pandemic. Because of the eviction moratorium, I began to diversify my investment strategy into self-storage. My partner and I now own 6 self-storage facilities in Michigan, Indiana, and Tennessee.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
If it was a smooth road then everyone would do it. A lot of stress and lot of doubt if what I was doing was the right path always questions what could I have done better etc. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart and having been on both sides I very much appreciate the draw of a steady paycheck.
I have had contractors under bid and then walk away from the job. I’ve had all appliances stolen out of a property that was listed for rent. I’ve had basements with 3″ of sewage in them. I’ve had a gun pointed at me and threatened to kill me because I refused to continue to rent a storage unit to them so they could live inside. So many stories I can’t even count.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Bigger Garage Self-Storage is a growing self-storage brand primarily in the midwest although we are looking to expand out to the south and possibly southwest. We specialize in. unique self-storage properties where there is a mix of commercial office / flex space as well as self-storage. This creates a unique diversification of income to help weather difficult economic periods. We prioritize the safety and security of our clients belongings. We invest heavily into security systems and make every effort to monitor and prevent theft and break-ins. We are very proud of this and our tenant insurance vendor assures us that we have some of the lowest claim rates of our peers of similar size.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Every day you walk out the door you are taking a risk. Certainly when you invest your own money and the money of you friends / family / acquaintances into any kind of performing asset you are taking a risk. The key thing to understand about taking risks is to understand those risks very well and take steps every day to mitigate those risks. Typically the higher this risk the higher the reward. So you have to find ways to balance those.
