I sure wish that I had addressed company organization when I was starting off as just myself.

Back then it was me doing virtually everything, so what need did I have for company structure! Well, a lot actually.

Had I began to design a company organizational structure then, I would have realized the different roles I was playing when doing different activities. It would have also made it much easier to grow and put the right people in the right places.

The ultimate success of your self-storage facility or company is a direct result of how effective you are at getting the right people in the right positions. I doubt if it is you for all of them!

Here is a basic organizational chart for a self-storage company (actually any company). Let’s address some of the positions starting with CEO. Later articles will address other roles and positions.

I am going to say it is you that needs to be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the head of the company. It is your vision that got the company started, your money, your risk, your neck on the line. Even if you are doing everything else at this moment, be clear your goal is to get to the position that when you wake up in the morning, you wake up as the CEO.

And what is the CEO of a self-storage company responsible for? Everything.

Even though the other three main positions report to you (Operations Manager, Marketing Manager and Finance Manager), you are accountable for the success or failure of every aspect of the company or facility.

With that said, in creating a “job description” for this position as I create my long overdue company organizational documents, I see four main responsibilities in the CEO position:

1. Setting the Strategy and Vision for the Company. Yes, even with one facility, your main accountability is to create a vision of how your facility will uniquely serve in the market, and a strategy for that vision. After you acquire more than one facility, the vision is for the company itself and the strategy is for the company’s growth into that vision. This is the main job for you as the CEO and your ability to inspire others about what your vision is, to a large degree, determines your success in this role.

2. Building a Culture. There are entire books written on this subject. Just know work gets done by people, and people are affected by the culture of the place they work in. Mostly, self-storage owners allow a culture to be created by not being responsible for it. It is just a by-product of their personality. Often, we have purchased facilities where the Owner did everything, then hired a manager and tried to clone himself. Then a part time manager, again cloning. On it goes. Often they are micro managed. Rarely are these fun environments to work in and when we attempt to set up accountabilities and rewards and consequences, they are totally lost. Rarely can we successfully keep the employees of the facilities we purchase. The culture was a reflection of the Owner’s personality, and the more controlling the personality, the more dysfunctional the culture. Be responsible for creating the work environment from the start. I sure wish I had been.

3. Manage and Oversee the other Key Management Roles (Operations, Marketing, and Financial). We are getting to size now where I am not all three of these above mentioned roles. As the CEO, I have created that it is my responsibility to work with, empower and direct these individuals so that they are (1) alive, fulfilled and growing professionally and personally as they execute their roles in growing the company and (2) all their activity moves the growth of the company towards the ultimate vision created for the company. Again, when I was doing everything, it is important to know what role I was functioning in, what worked and didn’t in that role, so when I filled that role with someone else, I am clear on the job and what it really is.

4. Capital allocation. Finally, I think the main role of the CEO in a self-storage company is the allocation of the money. Creating an overall financial strategy for the facility or company, and having all other parts of the company function within that creation. (More on this to come).

Remember, a company can only grow as far as the vision of the one at the top allows. Today, take responsibility for the design of your company, and put roles and responsibilities in place. Do this for each role required for your company, even if you are in all the position at this point. If you do this right, believe me, you won’t be for long.