Community Storage Startup Storageroomz Takes Advantage Of Shared Economy

How would you describe Storageroomz in a few words?

Storageroomz is community storage. It is an online marketplace that connects people looking to store their belongings with people with space to rent at a price they agree on.

Jeremy Suarez, CEO Storageroomz

What inspired you to create the storage space startup? How did it all start?

We were frustrated by the high prices and inconvenience of traditional big box self-storage. I have lived in London, San Francisco, and New York and dealing with storage has always been an issue. When you use big box storage it’s usually not close to where your new home is and it costs a fortune. Storageroomz allows you to find storage closer to your final destination and renters to make an extra income with their excess space. This is a win-win situation for all parties involved.

With many storage providers active the competition appears to be fierce. What makes Storageroomz.com stand out of the crowd? What is the key differentiator?

The key differentiators are:

1. Convenience – using the app to find storage at a location that suits you is much more convenient than using a big box storage company;
2. Cost – our community pricing model will deliver better value than traditional big box self-storage;
3. Quality – our community will validate and provide quality control through user reviews;
4. Availability – you can already use our service across multiple locations;
5. Innovation – traditional storage businesses are not innovative nor are they proactively identifying ways to deliver enhanced customer value. We’re very different in this regard.

Are you using your services internally? How does that affect the viewpoints of the team?

Yes, we are currently listing our own extra space and it helps the team think of new ways people would use the service. A good example is, someone on my team was showing the app to a student friend and he mentioned how helpful this is during university and college vacations. We are proponents of customer-led development so pretty much insist on dogfooding the product!

Limited space is a growing problem for cities around the world. In what ways do you think startups like Storageroomz contribute to solving it?

This is a great question and I think Storageroomz will help in a number of different ways. The easy one is allowing communities to share used space i.e. garage, spare room, and closet. We hope Storageroomz highlights the benefits of a shared economy.

What is the biggest challenge that the company has faced?

The biggest challenge we have faced is creating the marketplace and visibility of the app. I am working with a couple of third parties to help get us in front of our customers and start building the marketplace. We are also in discussions with potential partners to help create this ecosystem and let people know that they have alternative options to box storage. The reception we have gotten to the app has been great and we have a clear view of how we are planning to jump this hurdle.

What is the most memorable moment throughout the history of Storageroomz and what’s next?

The most memorable moment thus far has been the reception we have gotten after demoing Storageroomz in front of our peeps. The fear of people telling you that your idea is not as interesting as you might think can freak you out. Fortunately, we have gotten some very great feedback from the startup community and that fuels our desire to keep things moving forward. A close runner-up is being approached by angels to invest in our team and the idea. We have had multiple offers and are now working with investors to plan our go to market strategy.

If there is one thing you could wish for in improving the European startup ecosystem – what would it be?

Wow, that is a loaded question and I don’t want to bite the hand that feeds us. I think the main thing that jumps out at me is how the European ecosystem is a bit more risk averse than our counterparts in the Valley. This makes it hard to build teams and raise money on the back of an idea or a solid proof of concept. That being said, I have some major strides in the past few years about how people manage risk and look at it as an opportunity. No risk, no reward!

What’s one piece of advice you can give to fellow founders for their startup?

The one piece of advice I give all founders is, do not recreate the wheel. I see a lot of founders solving problems that have already been solved by existing tools. I’ve seen people build their own CMS, infrastructure, tracking tools, project management tools, etc. This, to me, is bonkers and a total waste of time and resources. The startup world has built some great tools to help you succeed and you should use them to focus on your own products.

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