I got the initial idea of self storage year 1987 when I was at a 15 years class reunion with my high school class in Faifield, Iowa where my progressive and visionary parents had sent me as an exchange student 1971 – 1972.
A fellow student had established a succesful self storage company in the town and he showed me how it works. In the US the business of self storage had already begun in the 70’s, but we did not have any in Europe at the time.
At the end of the 80’s time wasn’t right to begin in Finland because business on the whole was booming, but the economic recession in the 90’s changed everything.
Suddenly there was a lot of moderately priced bulk storage space in the market and I established the first company in this line of business in Finland, Espoon Minivarasto Oy in 1993 with my business partner at the time. I was the managing director of the company from its founding 1993 to 1996 before moving to Stockholm. . In Sweden I was the managing director of Minilager i Stockholm AB 1996-1998.
We grew the business to a chain of eight self storage sites in Helsinki, Tampere, Turku and Stockholm, Sweden. We were the first in this line of business in each of these cities.
Year 2001 I moved to London and worked for a couple of years for the biggest self supplier to the self storage industry in Europe, Steel Storage Ltd, as a contractor building clients’ self storage facilities all over Great Britain and continental Europe.
Years 2003 trough 2010 I worked again as the managing director of Espoon Minivarasto Oy. In March 2009 we sold the whole company to Pelican Self Storage. At the time of the sale I owned 71% of the company, the rest of the shares being owned by members of my family, who had invested money in the company already at initial stage.
I had been following the Estoninan market a long time, especially in Tallinn, and realised there were no companies there in the field. After having left Espoon Minivarasto Oy one and a half year after having sold it, in August 2010 I immedietely established Minilaod Oü, that was the first in this business in Tallinn. At the same time I established Mini-Holding Oy, that owns Minilaod Oü 100% and has been financing it and investing through it and providing the working capital.
More information:
Equity offering
Company name | Mini-Holding Oy |
---|---|
Investment range | 60.002 – 240.008 € |
Equity offered | 5.94 – 20.17 % |
Price per share | 38,00 € min investment 8 shares |
Number of existing shares | 25,000 |
Pre-money valuation | 950.000,00 € |
Start date | 15.4.2016 |
End date | 31.5.2016 23:59 |
Location | Espoo, Finland |
Field of business | Other |
Development stage | Early |
Reference number | 503 |
In addition to investing in the company, there are various ways that you can help the entrepreneurs out.
Perhaps you know some key people that you could introduce the entrepreneurs to, or maybe you have advice that is relevant to the company’s business.
Just telling a friend, or sharing the pitch on social media is a big help.
You have the power to help make the dreams of these entrepreneurs come true and to support Northern European growth entrepreneurship.
A little help can go a long way. So think outside the box, and think of how you can support this important cause!