Draft – in review. This guide has not finished operator review. Facts marked [SOURCE NEEDED] are not yet sourced.

Opening checklist: the 90 days before you open

By [AUTHOR NAME] · Reviewed by [REVIEWER NAME], [ROLE] · Review date [YYYY-MM-DD]

The last three months before opening are crowded. Construction runs late, vendors need lead time, and nobody can rent a unit until the systems work. This checklist splits the work into 30-day blocks. Each block ends with a short list of things that must be true before you move on. Adjust the dates to your own certificate of occupancy, not the other way around.

How to use this checklist

Count backward from the day you expect your certificate of occupancy. That date controls everything else.

Give each task one owner and one due date. Shared tasks tend to slip.

Review the list every week with your contractor, manager and any vendors. Move dates in writing when they change.

If you have not settled your unit mix or pricing yet, do that first. See setting rental rates for a new facility.

90 to 60 days out: systems and paperwork

This block is about things with long lead times. Software setup, payment accounts and insurance policies all take weeks.

Business and tax setup

• Confirm the operating entity, bank account and who can sign checks.
• Get an EIN if you will have employees. The IRS says the EIN is free and issued online.
• Register for any state and local tax accounts your state requires.
• Set up bookkeeping with a chart of accounts for rent, fees, merchandise and protection plan or insurance revenue.

Insurance

• Bind property and general liability coverage before the builder hands over the keys.
• If you will have employees, line up required coverage. SBA lists workers' compensation, unemployment and disability insurance for businesses with employees, and notes some states require more.
• Decide whether tenants will buy tenant insurance or a protection plan. Write the rule into your lease.

Software, payments and access

• Choose management software and load every unit with size, type, features and street rate.
• Test online rental from search to signed lease to gate code, on a phone.
• Open a merchant account. Anyone who stores, processes or transmits card data falls under PCI DSS.
• Connect the gate access system to the software. Confirm a new tenant's code works and a delinquent tenant's code locks out.
• Set autopay, late fee and lien timelines in the software to match your lease and state law.

Lease and policies

• Have a local attorney review the rental agreement against your state's lien law. Start with self storage lien laws by state.
• Write short policies for access hours, prohibited items, move-out, and lock cuts.
• Write a data policy. The FTC's guide suggests you take stock, scale down, lock it, pitch it and plan ahead with customer data.

Must be true by day 60: software is loaded, payments work in test mode, insurance is bound, and the lease is under legal review.

60 to 30 days out: marketing and pre-leasing

Renters search before they drive by. You want listings live and taking reservations well before opening.

Storagely's guide to self storage marketing covers channels in more depth.

• Publish the website with unit sizes, prices, hours, address and a working reserve or rent button.
• Create and verify your map listing. Use the exact business name and address on the sign.
• Put up a 'Now leasing' banner on the site and road frontage, if local sign rules allow it.
• Decide your opening offer and its end date. Write the terms so staff can explain them in one sentence.
• Set up a reservation list. Record name, phone, email, unit size wanted and move-in date.
• Plan outreach to nearby apartment managers, realtors, movers and businesses.
• Set up email marketing that meets the CAN-SPAM rules: accurate headers, honest subject lines, a postal address and a working opt-out.
• Get permission before you text prospects. [SOURCE NEEDED] (federal TCPA guidance from the FCC).

Pre-leasing without a finished building

Take reservations, not move-ins, until you have a certificate of occupancy. Tell each person the expected open date and that it may move.

Confirm by phone or email two weeks before opening. Release unconfirmed reservations so the units return to inventory.

Must be true by day 30: listings are live, reservations are coming in and you know each one's move-in date.

30 days out to opening: staff and walkthroughs

Staff

• Hire and onboard staff. SBA's hiring steps include W-4 forms, pay periods and payroll records.
• Train on the software: rent, transfer, move-out, payments, refunds and overlock.
• Role-play the five most common calls: price, size, hours, access and insurance.
• Write a one-page opening-week schedule with who is on site and who is on call.
• For staffing levels, see how many staff a self storage facility needs.

Walkthroughs

• Walk every unit with the contractor. Open each door, check latches and note damage on a punch list.
• Check unit numbers match the software and the site map.
• Test the gate, keypads, cameras and lighting at night, not only in daylight.
• Confirm accessible units are built and marked. The 2010 ADA Standards require 5 percent of spaces, and at least one, at facilities with 1 to 200 spaces, with more above 200.
• Check the office: signage, posted hours, fire extinguishers and first-aid kit.
• Stock locks, boxes and tape if you sell them. Load them into the software as merchandise.

Must be true by opening day: certificate of occupancy issued, punch list items that affect tenants closed, and staff can rent a unit without help.

Opening week

• Move in confirmed reservations first. Schedule them so staff are not overloaded at once.
• Run a full rental, payment and gate entry with a real customer and watch every step.
• Reconcile the cash drawer and card deposits to the software each day.
• Keep a log of every question you could not answer. Fix the website and scripts from it.
• Watch the gate and camera logs daily for errors or failed codes.
• Note any unit that does not match its listed size or features. Correct the software at once.

The first 30 days after opening

The first month tells you whether your rates, offers and staffing fit the market.

• Track rentals by unit type each week. Note which types fill and which sit.
• Track where each new tenant heard about you.
• Check every new lease has insurance or protection plan coverage recorded.
• Confirm the first autopay run and late fee run worked as set up.
• Review rates on fast-filling unit types. Review offers on slow ones.
• Ask the first tenants what nearly stopped them from renting. Fix what you can.

Keep the scorecard going past day 30. Compare physical and economic occupancy once tenants start paying full rate.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• How many staff a self storage facility needs
• Setting rental rates for a new facility
• Self storage security basics: gates, cameras, lighting, locks

Sources

1. IRS: Get an employer identification number
2. SBA: Get business insurance
3. SBA: Hire and manage employees
4. PCI Security Standards Council: PCI DSS
5. FTC: Protecting personal information, a guide for business
6. FTC: CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide for business
7. U.S. DOJ: 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design (section 225.3)