The Importance of Cybersecurity Training for Self-Storage Teams

Posted by Al Harris on

An estimated 30,000 websites are hacked each day. Don’t let your facility website be one of them.

In 2021, businesses experienced a 50 percent increase in the number of cyberattacks each week compared to 2020. Security experts warn that the rate and sophistication of such attacks are expected to rise.

As self-storage operators increasingly move towards online rentals, they are becoming more and more of a target for cyber attacks. Such attacks can compromise customer data and the damage can cost operators thousands of dollars to repair. Some attacks use a type of computer virus called ransomware to take control of your machine and hold it for ransom. Needless to say, any kind of cyberattack is bad for your business.

Identifying Cyberattacks

Most cyberattacks succeed due to a lapse in human judgment. For example, “spearphishing” attacks involve sending a personalized message to a target that imitates a genuine communication from a trusted source. Such messages commonly encourage the victim to click on a link. This often leads to the log-in screen of a spoofed website (of a bank or software service for example), where the victim types in their username and password.

Falling victim to an attack like the one described above can be detrimental to your business. Once a hacker gains credentials to one of your accounts, it is very often a matter of time before they can infiltrate others. This is the primary reason why it is never a good idea to use the same password for multiple accounts.

Aside from adhering to secure password protocols, the best way to prevent attacks is by training your self-storage staff to identify them.

Why Your Storage Facility Needs Cybersecurity Training

Your front office staff is often the first, and last, line of defense against cyberattacks. Without proper training, it is easy to be duped by spearphishing and other types of attacks that use social engineering. 

In the example provided in the previous section, a trained employee would hover over the link before clicking it to read the URL. They would then immediately notice that the web address is suspicious and not click through. The employee would flag the message as suspicious and report it, and potentially save you thousands of dollars and days of stress as a result

Spoofed websites are made to look real, but the URL will not be the same as the legitimate site. For example you might get a message claiming to be from LinkedIn that your password needs to be reset. You click on the URL and see that it starts with “linked-in.com” instead of the correct spelling. That is a sure sign you just landed on a suspicious website that is trying to steal your information.

Spotting phishing attempts isn’t so hard, once you learn what to look for. This is why requiring all employees to complete at least one cybersecurity training session each year is strongly recommended. 

Putting Cybersecurity Training into Practice

The more cybersecurity training you can give to your employees the better protected your operation will be. Training can be conducted online, with different companies providing educational platforms to businesses. Training consists of different modules, or lessons, that take place through a series of slides, vidoes, quizzes and interactive scenarios.

You can also set up occasional phishing tests to see how your employees respond to a simulated attack. If they fall for such tests, it is a sign you need to step up their training.

A good place to start is Google’s free phishing simulator. Here you can test your skills separating malicious email messages from safe ones.

Below are some more resources for cybersecurity training worth considering:

What Self-Storage Operators Need to Know About Stopping Workplace Harassment

Posted by Al Harris on

Letting harassment run wild at your self-storage facility isn’t only shameful, but it could be a costly mistake. 

Case in point, employers paid more than $68 million in 2019 to settle harassment claims made to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity commission.

Monetary disincentives aside, self-storage businesses big and small have role to play in standing against all forms of harassment in the workplace. Creating a work environment that is safe and free of unwanted harassment is an important responsibility that every employer must provide—not only because it is the right thing to do, but it’s also the law. 

Your storage business could be sued for creating a hostile work environment if you do not do enough to address all forms of workplace harassment. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, harassment is defined as unwelcome conduct based on one’s:

  • Race
  • Color
  • Religion
  • Sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, or pregnancy)
  • National origin
  • Age (40 and up)
  • Disability
  • Genetic information

Of course, you don’t want any type of harrassment going on at your workplace. But where should you begin when it comes to taking a proactive approach to preventing it occuring in the first place?

It is not enough to respond to and stop harassment in the workplace when it occurs. Self-storage operators should implement policies and create a culture where it is well known that all forms of harrassment are taken seriously and not tolerated.

Here’s three key actions to take to reduce incidents of harrassment from occuring at your self-storage facility:

1. Establish an anti-harassment policy

Having an anti-harassment policy should be your number one priority. Without rules in place, how can you expect to enforce them?

Your policy should be as specific as possible in outlining what constitutes harassment, what the consequences are for violating the policy, and how incidents should be reported. Visit the EEOC for additional guidelines on developing a policy.  

Also keep in mind how your policy handles harassment that takes place off-premises in a remote work environment. The rise in telecommuting during the pandemic has given rise to increased harassment over email, video and chat platforms. You’d be wise to cover such situations when developing a new anti-harassment policy or update your existing procedures if needed.

2. Make prevention training mandatory for all employees

Everyone at your self-storage business, whether you have four employees or 400, plays a role in the prevention of workplace harassment. To play this role effectively, employees need to be trained how to recognize harassment taking place and what to do in such situations. People often don’t know how to react in the moment when they witness harassment, but with the right training they will be able to respond better in the future.

You can either hire an instructor to visit your business, or organize training via an online provider such as HRDirect, Everfi or Easy Llama. Behave At Work provides a handful of free training videos in addition to paid training.

3. Lead by example

Self-storage business are often very tight knit, so it is important that the owners and management lead by example.

Company leadership should announce new anti-harrassment policies and trainings, and attend in-person trainings. This shows that the initiative comes from the top and is taken extremely seriously. In addition, leadership should pay close attention to employee interactions and stay vigilant for signs of any harassment taking place and step in if needed.  On the other end of the spectrum, leadership must also not undermine their own efforts by engaging in problematic behavior such as telling inappropriate jokes or dating subordinates.

Create a safe work environment

It is the job of every storage operator to make sure they offer employees a safe and secure environment to work. Hold the anti-harassment training now, before an incident takes place that requires you to hold a training session. By taking such steps you not only reduce your company’s liability, but also minimize the potential harms faced by your hard working staff.

How an ADA Lawsuit Could Cost You

Posted by Al Harris on

Many small business owners get caught off guard by ADA lawsuits, don’t let yourself be one of them.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a law that guarantees access to public businesses to people with disabilities. If you don’t adhere to these guidelines, you could face civil suits from individual plaintiffs, as well as fines or legal action from the Department of Justice (DOJ). This article will detail what ADA lawsuits are and how they can cost your storage facility.

What is the ADA ?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that requires private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies and labor unions to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees or applicants with disabilities. These protections also extend to anyone who visits a business that is open to the public such as a restaurant, hotel, store and, of course, a self-storage facility.

Reasonable accommodations are adjustments or modifications provided by a business to enable people with disabilities to enjoy equal employment opportunities. Common examples include providing a ramp for a wheelchair user or providing materials in accessible formats such as large print, Braille, or audiotape.

What are some of its implications for self-storage owners?

The ADA is designed to prevent discrimination against individuals with a disability and ensure they can participate in society as easily as anyone else. ADA lawsuits are not just brought against big corporations but also small local businesses. Cases can be brought by employees, as well as customers.

The ADA is very specific as to what accommodations are required.

If a person with disabilities visits your facility and discovers that any part of your property is not meeting those requirements, they have grounds for a  lawsuit. Some lawsuits are brought by serial filers, who visit businesses regularly looking for potential violations of the ADA. No matter the nature of the lawsuit, however, your business could be liable for every violation of the ADA.

ADA Liability

The requirements of the ADA are outlined in the document titled ADA Standards for Accessible Design (the Standards). These Standards include provisions regarding an establishment’s:

  • Parking lot
  • Walkways
  • Doorways
  • Restrooms
  • Other areas of a building or facility that are open to and used by public members. 

If a business fails to comply with these standards, it can be sued under Title III of the ADA. Title III covers any private entity that owns, leases, or operates a place of public accommodation—which includes retail stores, restaurants, and hotels—or commercial facilities such as office buildings and factories. It also applies to state and local governments when they provide programs, activities, or services that affect interstate commerce.

How much could an ADA lawsuit cost?

Suppose a business fails to comply with ADA regulations and someone files a lawsuit. In that case, it may need to pay compensatory damages—such as compensation for lost wages or medical bills—and cover that person’s attorney fees. On average, that could cost about $25,000—not including your own legal fees. The amount of money awarded in compensatory damages depends on what kind of harm occurred because of noncompliance. In addition, the business will have to spend money completing the needed repairs and upgrades to comply with the ADA.

ADA Compliance Checklist

While many businesses have taken significant steps to make their establishments ADA compliant, others have fallen behind or do not understand what these laws mean for them. To avoid a costly lawsuit, evaluate your property on a regular basis to make sure that it is up to ADA standards. If your facility isn’t compliant, start working upgrades into the maintenance schedule to protect your business from ADA liability. 

Entryways

Making your facility accessible to individuals with disabilities begins with physical access from public sidewalks, public transportation, or parking. Having only one step at the door can prevent wheelchair, walker, or cane users from entering and make entry difficult for many other people with mobility problems.

Where there are one or two steps at an entry, users can gain access in a variety of ways, such as by using an alternate accessible entrance, creating a short ramp, changing the area in front or to the side of the door to eliminate a step, or installing a lift.

Ramps

Curb edges and other dangers can be extremely harmful to those with impairments. The ADA curb ramp regulations are in place to help prevent persons from falling out of wheelchairs or scooters or tripping when walking with a cane or walker. Accessibility is also a consideration, as federal regulations consider barring access in public places as discrimination. 

Parking Spaces

The suitable stall sizes, markings, and slot positions must be considered and observed to fully comply with the norms and regulations for handicap-accessible parking. If you choose to apply new markings to a new parking facility or to restripe an existing one, these are the details you must be aware of to ensure compliance.

Accessible Storage Units

The ADA required self-storage facilities to comply with specific particular standards as of March 15, 2012. Here’s a breakdown of the rules:

  • A minimum of 5% of the first 200 units in each self-storage facility must be wheelchair accessible.
  • In addition, 2% of all units above 200 must be wheelchair accessible.
  • Wheelchair-accessible units must be available in all unit types that a company offers.
  • If a non-disabled renter requires a wheelchair-accessible unit, the business is not necessary to keep it.

Elevators

The elevator must be easily accessible in a public location (rather than, say, a cramped hallway). In addition:

  • Doors must be fully open for at least three seconds. 
  • Call buttons must be at least 0.75 inches in diameter. 
  • Button heights must be 42 inches above the floor.

Protecting Your Business from ADA Lawsuits

It would be best if you made your facility as accessible as possible. Some visitors may experience difficulties that have nothing to do with your business. If a disabled customer has an accident and decides to file a lawsuit against you, it’s your job to prove that reasonable accommodations were made—and that someone else was at fault for any injuries or property damage caused by their actions or negligence. 

To help protect yourself from ADA lawsuits, remember to always do the following:

  • Make accommodations in your facility to accommodate wheelchairs and strollers. Ensure that all entrances, hallways, and restrooms are wide enough for wheelchairs. 
  • Install ramps and grab bars in bathrooms, if necessary.
  • Install wheelchair-accessible equipment. If a customer requests assistance, train staff to provide adequate support to users of walkers and wheelchairs. Be sure to train employees on how best to assist disabled customers when they request help moving from one area of your facility to another.
  • Instruct employees on what they can and cannot do. If someone has a disability-related complaint against your business, it’s essential that you can prove your employee didn’t go above and beyond their responsibilities.

New Climate Report Warns of Greater Flood Risk for Coastal Self-Storage Operators

Posted by Al Harris on

A new government report on climate change warns of rapidly rising seas in the coming years.

The report projects that sea levels along the U.S. coastline will rise on average 10 to 12 inches by 2050. Levels are expected to rise up to 14 inches along the East coast, and up to 18 inches along the Gulf coast. The projected rise in sea levels over the next 30 years is equivalent to the rise that took place over the last 100 years.

The rapid rise in sea levels will lead to more severe coastal flooding, with damaging floods occurring on average more than 10 times as often each year as they currently take place. Major destructive floods are expected to occur five times as often.

What does the new climate report mean for self-storage operators?

Facilities in coastal and other flood prone regions can expect greater risk of being impacted by flooding events in the coming years—even if historically it has not been a common issue. While there is little storage facilities can do to reverse the trend of rising seas, there are steps they can take to mitigate the risk that surging waters pose.

To assess their risk, self-storage operators should check the flood maps provided by FEMA. They can also check out the coastal Seal Level Rise Viewer from NOAA to see how their facility may be affected by the latest climate change report. 

Floodproofing Buildings

Self-storage operators should consider several floodproofing techniques when constructing new facilities. Such measures can help protect tenants’ belongings and avoid disruptions to business operations. For new facilities, site selection is the first line of defense—building on higher ground is a common sense decision. 

Other methods of floodproofing that can be applied to new and existing storage buildings are divided into wet floodproofing and dry floodproofing approaches. Wet floodproofing are measures that allow floodwaters to enter a building but redirect it to areas such as a subbasement. This intent is to minimize damage to storage units and critical systems like HVAC equipment.

Dry floodproofing measures aim to block floodwaters from entering buildings by sealing all openings including doors, windows and utility penetrations. This approach is typically more cost-prohibitive and may be impractical when it comes to sealing roll up doors used by the vast majority of storage operations.

For more on these and additional approaches on floodproofing such as flood walls and levees, FEMA offers a comprehensive guide for non-residential buildings with lots of useful information.

Flood Insurance

In light of the latest climate research, now is a great time for self-storage operators to reevaluate their need for flood insurance for their facilities and for their tenants. With the rapid rise in sea levels, facilities that previously did not identify a need for flood insurance may want to reconsider. Remember typical business insurance policies do not cover natural flooding events—coverage requires a separate flood insurance policy. Tenants should be reminded to obtain supplemental flood insurance where applicable as well.

Making The Shift To Digital Practices

Posted by Al Harris on

E-commerce has been on the rise for years. In fact, in 2020, e-commerce grew by a whopping 32.4% just in the US. The self-storage industry is no exception to this digital shift. If we think back to the beginning of the COVID 19 health crisis, self-storage operators around the world saw a massive surge in online usage. Between quarantining, shutdowns and social distancing, the need for e-commerce transactions and contactless experiences for many businesses, including the self-storage industry, arose. This experience led to many storage operators implementing digital practices like online rentals, digital lease agreements, insurance signups and much more.  

As the self-storage industry continues to modernize and become more dependent on technology, management software and the considerations it brings become increasingly important when budgeting and planning for your self-storage business. In the not too distant past, running a facility was largely a manual process with pencil and paper ledgers. When you had a problem with billing or customer records, the staff on-site or owners were responsible to solve the issue and find the best solution going forward.

When you choose to use management software, some of that ability to directly control the situation is removed and placed with a trusted partner. Of course, the point of management software is to be a net positive for your business and the gains should far outweigh any inconveniences you may encounter. But what should you expect and plan for when you put management software in place? Let’s review some points to turn your experience shifting to digital practices into something easy and comfortable.

Match Your Business’ Needs

Firstly, choose the management software that fits your business and your unique needs. As self-storage operators, there are more choices to fill business needs than ever before. Recent growth in the market has also fueled expansion and growth in the management software industry. But each option available might not be the best fit for you. To select the best management software, consider your business needs.

Are you managing a single facility or are you managing dozens? Does your staff value simplicity, or do you need the most comprehensive feature set available?

Make a list of your company’s must-haves. This will help you narrow down your choice and find the software that best fits your needs. By identifying your needs and values first, choosing the platform and services to run your business will be a much easier decision.

Research Integrations

Management software is only the first step in your journey to digitalization. After narrowing down the software to manage your facility, the next step is to look into compatible integrations. As a self-storage facility, it’s increasingly more important to offer contactless rentals. This highlights the need for specific facility features that aid the contactless process, such as digital tenant insurance and access control. Many self-storage management software options don’t have the capabilities for these services but instead, offer integrations that allow the programs to work together. However, it’s important to keep in mind that not all programs and software work together. It’s important to research the needs of your facility and choose the software that will work seamlessly for you. 

After you’ve considered your business’s needs and researched integrations to further narrow down your choice of facility management software, you’re one step closer to taking on this new digital world within the self-storage industry.