In today’s episode, Nick answers a question about starting a business as a handicapped person, or a person who can’t physically do labor. If you have any questions, or want to join Nick’s new consultation program, reach out to [email protected] to get more info! We are offering ongoing consultation, one time consultations, as well as general questions that may get answered on the Podcast.
Storage Squad operates in 12 different states in many different colleges. Five of those colleges, which make up nearly half of their income, Nick has NEVER been to. When they first started, he and his partner were doing a lot of the work themselves. But as technology grew and as their business expanded, they were able to move to a nearly touchless system for most of their communication and hiring.
Owners and managers who are readily available create needy customers and employees. If you create an atmosphere where you are always checking in on locations, always available, or always communicating to workers, they become reliant on that. Now don’t just leave people out to dry, but give them a chance to be independent in their work. That creates less problems down the road, and less dependence on YOU for every aspect of the business.
Everything Storage Squad does, from hiring to training to management is done remotely. All of this remote work gives Nick the freedom to choose wherever his family wants to live. They love craft beer, sports, live music, and they wanted an area where houses were affordable. He’s able to enjoy all of this and have a nice house for a fraction of the cost of if they had to live near one of the sites.
Overall, this is definitely a possibility. There are several approaches you could take if you can’t drive, or can’t do physical labor. You could start off with a partner who can help with the ground work while you oversee the operations, accounting, and things like that. Another option is to hire an employee at the very beginning to go do a few jobs for you. Get someone to power wash a few houses to build up your customer base, or get someone to help you set up a business that you can thrive in. A third option would be to buy a small business that has already been in operation, and you can take over operations and management remotely.
You can ALWAYS hire people under you to do the hard work, the dirty work, or any jobs you may not be able to do. Remote management and computer work are doable, scalable, and sustainable even if you aren’t able to do 100% of the work yourself.