Daniel Axsater started STORED with his co-founder, Peter Gentzel, back in 2014. The background to this was that they went through the hassle of moving flats, with some items always left out as they didn’t fit in the new space. “The hassle of doing that is just unprecedented. First I called around to try to haggle a price, then rented a van, asked a friend to help me carry or transport the items to a dark warehouse – it was all such a hassle! So, we decided that there must be a better way of doing this. STORED was the answer. ” That being said, STORED was the vision. How to get there was significantly more challenging.
“When starting something new and innovative, there are nothing but challenges. “You get told time after time that what you’re doing is ‘impossible’,” says Daniel. “But with tenacity and truly believing in your mission, you can always overcome any challenges.”
Below are the details of the interview conducted between the World’s Leaders and Daniel Axsater:
Describe STORED’s offerings that address the needs of your customers.
We have taken the “self” out of self-storage and made it a completely hassle-free experience for our customers that is “complete” in every sense of the word. We have left nothing for customers to do except book, and I think that is very important and necessary in this era. So to be clear, what they get here is a service where they book storage online and where we provide the manpower, van, fuel, and storage space—all on tap.
Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in this industry through your expertise in the industry?
Neither my business partner nor I came from the self storage industry. Instead, we leveraged our experiences from the worlds of branding, marketing, tech and finance to build a company that completely challenged the norms of the industry. So for us, not knowing what the norms were in the industry allowed us to think much more freely – to create something that didn’t exist and that probably still wouldn’t exist if we hadn’t invented it.
What are the challenges you and your team at STORED come across in your day-to-day operations?
I think our biggest goal, which is redefining the traditional way of storage as what we aim to do with storage and our baby, i.e., STORED, is perhaps more about adding and delivering value through our service. It is also about educating potential customers; they often think that our offering sounds too good to be true, but it is really just that good.
What people, what books, what life factors have influenced and impacted you?
I grew up in an entrepreneurial family, so I knew quite early on that I wanted to create something from scratch. I’ve also been lucky enough to count many smart entrepreneurs among my friends. That being said, the most inspiration I get on a daily basis is from our team and our customers. They’re the ones who push us to always improve and to always do better.
Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drive STORED.
At STORED we try to delegate as much ownership as humanly possible. It is only through real ownership that people thrive and want to do better. That culture of ownership is incredibly important to us.
Furthermore, we strongly believe in being open and honest with our staff and ensuring our interests are always aligned. They know very well that if the company does well, then so will they. And what’s also important is that we’re in this for the long run – and for any company that has a long term plan to stick around, customer satisfaction will always be a number one priority.
Where do you envision yourself being in the long run and what are your future goals for STORED?
Our ambition is to expand throughout the rest of England, and it doesn’t stop there.We see a very clear route to having STORED in several different countries around the world. We aim to take the company to the top, spread its roots and make it the number one brand for storage services.
And we won’t stop here. For us, it is not only important to grow our company but also to assume our social responsibility. So with this, we’re about to launch a “Greener Storage” initiative, through which we’ll transition to becoming a carbon neutral company.
What would be your advice to budding business leaders?
Stay true to your vision. Others will try to sway you time and time again – but they won’t know half as much about whatever you’re doing as you do. Believe in yourself.
