How Banana Box runs a Paris self storage site as a side business

A side business, on purpose

Camille is based in Lyon. Camille and two partners already ran businesses together, all in web marketing and digital agencies. None of them had worked in self storage.

Banana Box was a deliberate change of scene. It is still a side business, and that is the point: a way for the three of them to prove they could build something real outside the digital world.

A family connection and a site inside Paris

Self storage was not a random pick. The father of two of the partners already worked in the industry, supplying boxes to the French market. Through him, the team learned how the business works.

He also brought them an opportunity: a site inside Paris itself, in the 11th arrondissement. The building has 700 m² over two floors, in a city centre where people are always short of space.

Break-even on one floor, then double

The team fitted out the basement floor first, two years ago. It now holds around 140 boxes and broke even on its own.

The upper floor is about to open, which doubles the space. With the site paying for itself, the partners are now building up cash to open new sites.

Build it, or buy it?

With a web marketing background and a CTO among the partners, building their own software was a real option. They even thought about building a platform and selling it to other operators.

In the end, they chose Storeganise. A platform made for self storage, by a team that knows the industry, was simpler than building and maintaining one themselves.

Setup was smooth. Camille says the data model was quick to understand, even for a team with no self storage experience.

One platform for the whole journey

Other software vendors still call Banana Box to try to win them over. Camille has not switched.

From booking to payment to checkout, Storeganise covers the whole process. The team can also see the platform keep improving, with new analytics features along the way.

What Camille would tell other operators

• Use a platform made for self storage. Building your own means maintaining it forever. Banana Box had the skills and still chose not to.
• Keep the whole journey in one system. Booking, payment and checkout in one place is what keeps a side business manageable.
• Let customers serve themselves. Online booking, access codes and remote move-outs keep daily admin to a couple of calls.
• Start where demand is. A central Paris site filled one floor fast enough to break even before the second opened.

What's next for Banana Box

The upper floor opens next, doubling Banana Box's space in Paris. After that, the partners plan to use the cash the site generates to open new locations.