He Doesn’t Chase Every Squirrel

Benjamin has a squirrel problem.

Not a bad one. He’s gotten better with age. But every now and then, one bolts across the yard and he’s gone — full sprint, ears back, completely committed to something that was never going to end well for him.

He never catches them.

He comes back breathing hard, a little embarrassed, ready to do it again.

I watch this happen in self storage all the time.

A new market opens up and everyone pivots to chase it. A competitor drops rates and suddenly your whole strategy is reactionary. An operator hears about a facility three states away that sold at a strong cap rate and starts wondering if they should sell too. Someone pitches a conversion project and the momentum of the idea takes over before anyone’s asked whether it makes sense for this owner at this time.

The squirrel-chasing instinct isn’t stupid — it’s wired in. Opportunity looks like momentum. And in a market that moves as quickly as self storage can, standing still feels like falling behind.

But the most successful operators I know have one thing in common: they know which squirrels to ignore.

They’ve defined what they’re building. They know their market, their portfolio, their goals. When something shiny crosses their path, they can evaluate it quickly — is this on our path, or is this a distraction dressed up as an opportunity?

That clarity doesn’t come from being less ambitious. It comes from knowing exactly what you’re running toward.

Benjamin’s getting there. One squirrel at a time.

We work hard to keep the strategy focused — not reactive. If you’re weighing something big and want a second opinion before you run after the squirrel, that’s what I’m here for