Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa March 2016 | Page 12

One of the key lessons learnt in the early days of
Stor-Age was that while business is business and it
is inherently tough, there is never ever an excuse for
someone to raise their voice and/or treat anyone with
disrespect. It is in recognizing and appreciating the
tremendous value that any given individual can bring
to the table, that the seeds of a successful business
venture are sown.

“Stor-Age also relies on detailed
consumer demographic research
in its projected catchment areas in
order to choose the sites where their
stores will be best located”
Two great personal insights have stood out for Gavin
Lucas over the past ten years. The first is that starting
small, which in their case was with a Joint Venture of
just one property, getting it right and then building
momentum from there is an excellent way to get going,
as opposed to starting with mammoth objectives of
taking over the world.
The second insight is that entrepreneurship
and what it means to be entrepreneurial does not
come in a standard package. ‘My personal image of
entrepreneurship at the time being someone wearing
trendy jeans, sneakers and a tee with a throw-over bag
on their shoulder!’ While the entrepreneurs Gavin
found himself working with did not fit with his
preconceived image, they put forward an incredibly
clever and sophisticated financing mechanism to
support the growth of what has since become one
of South Africa’s most successful start-up property
businesses. It was highly entrepreneurial.

“Accordingly, the company only
invests in new properties which
display outstanding fundamentals
and are of outstanding quality”
Looking Ahead

While Stor-Age remains customer centric in its
approach to retailing ‘space’, ultimately the business
is underpinned by real estate. Accordingly, the
company only invests in new properties which display
outstanding fundamentals and are of the highest
quality. Their growth targets, while aggressive in nature,
are balanced by the fact that they will not acquire new
properties that do not match up to their stringent
acquisition criteria.
For Gavin Lucas, the vision for Stor-Age is to be the
best self-storage business in the world.
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MARCH 2016 SA Real Estate Investor

The company’s business strategy is led off the back of
their property strategy, allowing them to plan forward
with a great level of focus and precision in achieving
their stated goals. Their strategic planning is done in
five-year tranches, with the current goal of doubling
the size of their portfolio in terms of value by the year
2020.

GAVIN LUCAS’S INVESTMENT
AND START-UP BUSINESS TIPS
Opportunities
People tend to get fixated on looking for the “big” opportunity as
opposed to collecting the low-hanging fruit. Invariably the person
that has become accustomed to utilising the small opportunities
is in a much better position to take advantage of the “big” one
when it presents itself.

Start small
When trying to buy your first investment property or trying to
start your own business, keep it small to begin with – small is
good. Purchasing large commercial properties can take a lot of
skill and experience. Likewise building a large business can take
many years. Starting small is the way to go. If your property dealmaking skills are improving deal by deal or your start-up business
is serving a good niche in the market and you have the expertise
to sustain the growth, it will grow quickly and the momentum will
build rapidly.
Use what you’ve got and that includes your salary
Property is capital intensive and start-up businesses consume vast
amounts of cash in the early days. If you have the benefit of being
able to invest in properties or start a business while still earning
an income from salaried employment, then I would strongly
encourage you to follow this path for as long as possible.
The earlier you start, the better
Once you’ve got some momentum and/or you’ve done your
research thoroughly, take the plunge and just go for it. You will
always find a reason to convince yourself that now is not the right
time. But the longer you wait, the harder it will become. It’s very
easy and common for people to hide behind “banners” in their
lives. This could be a partner, one’s parents or one’s family.
The truth is that we live in the most privileged generation
of all time. Our only restriction is our ability to think and our
most powerful tool is our own unique vision. Each one of us has
a responsibility to ourselves to add our own bit of unique and
special value to the world.
Not all risk is bad
Remember, that in