Storefriendly self storage: Franchising for growth
The case offers a unique perspective into franchising as a business model for growth and a reduced-risk entry path to entrepreneurship, with an application in the Singapore self-storage market. In 2011, Jes Johansen, a Swedish national, sensed an opportunity to innovate self-storage in Singapore: smaller facilities, with smaller rooms, located closer to the customer and at a higher price per m2, resulting in a smaller rental bill but much higher convenience. He had seen the concept implemented in Hong Kong by a colleague, Kevin Chang, under the StoreFriendly brand name. Jes decided this might be the opportunity he had been looking for. After convincing Kevin to become his partner, Jes set up StoreFriendly Singapore. After testing and implementing the concept in a single first outlet, proving the value proposition and getting a bit of traction, he decided to accelerate growth through an original franchise system. Over two years StoreFriendly grew to ten franchises and two owner-operated branches. In 2015, SingPost, as part of a broad logistics diversification, approached him to acquire StoreFriendly. With a catch: they wanted to own all the outlets directly…
- Franchising as business model for growth
- franchising as lower risk entrepreneurial path
- growth management
- scaling up
- business models
- franchise relationships
- incentive structures
- exit management
StoreFriendly Self Storage, Logistics and Supply Chain
2012-2018
Cranfield University
Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]
Harvard Business School Publishing
60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]
NUCB Business School
1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]
IMD retains all proprietary interests in its case studies and notes. Without prior written permission, IMD cases and notes may not be reproduced, used, translated, included in books or other publications, distributed in any form or by any means, stored in a database or in other retrieval systems. For additional copyright information related to case studies, please contact Case Services.
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Family-run companies have unique challenges—balancing family interests with the goals of investors and the company itself. Yet there is not enough clarity on how this affects performance in different countries. We wanted to fill that gap. Our work...
Via a choice-based conjoint experiment and Hierarchical Bayesian Analysis (HBA) of 2538 decisions from 141 entrepreneurs, we model opportunity evaluations as a utility maximizing response to identify and compare part-worth utilities for distinct l...
Across various European regions, particularly in areas rich in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we find vibrant networks of family firms that contribute to both economic vitality and social resilience. These entrepreneurial ecosystem...
Michel Galeazzi and Felix Ackermann, founding partners of the private equity firm Evoco, sat with the rest of the team pondering the latest strategic issues. Evoco had evolved significantly as a fund manager since its creation in 2012, taking adv...
The study aims to assist small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in preparing for the retirement of their owner-managers and smoothing their management transition. It explores how owner-managers perceive and navigate their retirement journey fr...
We seek to make ethnography more intelligible and accessible to entrepreneurship scholars. We begin by defining ethnography and discussing the promises and challenges of conducting ethnographic studies in entrepreneurship. Next, we offer practical...
in FamilyBusiness.org 6 October 2025
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Economic Letters October 2025, vol. 256, 112634, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2025.112634
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Capital Insights July-September 2025, vol. 2 issue 3, pp. 73-75
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research 12 September 2025, ePub before print
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 25 August 2025, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587251364820
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications