MANAGERS IN ACTION
approximately 900,000 people throughout the Pittsburgh area). Franchisees can then purchase more containers upon reaching a specified occupancy level. In less than three years, he’s already planning to pur- chase additional containers to meet growing demand and surveying a second location to further expand the operation. In the beginning, as the sole
employee of his franchise, Stapleford managed each facet of the business, from marketing and sales to container maintenance. Although his wife assists with the social media and he currently has some salespersons on board, he still oversees the entire operation and tackles many of the day-to-day tasks on his own. As a hands-on operator, he coordi-
nates all the pickups and deliveries of containers with his customers. Thanks to Go Mini’s proprietary software, scheduling is completed with ease through his phone, but that wasn’t the case prior to the adoption of that scheduling software. While he has been looking to hire a
driver, Stapleford still operates the truck and forklift, ensuring each con- tainer is handled with care and in the appropriate place at the prearranged day and time. He notes that each Go Mini’s container is outfitted with wheels to protect the ground; they are also designed to fit into tighter spots. “It can be tricky to maneuver them,” says Stapleford. For consistency with scheduling,
deliveries are only made on weekdays. However, he works “all hours on the back-end office work,” serving as the direct contact for all the local calls to guarantee 100 percent customer satis- faction. In fact, as of May 2024, Go Mini’s of Southwest Pittsburgh has a perfect score on Google—5.0 stars from 134 stellar reviews, many of which praise him for being prompt, flexible, professional, accommodating, responsive, and polite. Reviewers also frequently mention that the portable containers are
38 Self-Storage NOW! SECOND QUARTER 2024
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46
