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A QUICK INTRODUCTION ABOUT WHAT YOUR COMPANY DOES/YOUR VALUES/MISSION.
Bien Sûr‘s mission is to make Europe’s most customer friendly and easy to use self-storage service. Customers can book their units directly online and move in instantly, even a Sunday at 10PM. Our units have best in class security, with motion detectors, alarms and CCTV on every square inch of our property. We’re opening our
TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF?
A mechanical engineer by training I worked for a solar energy startup based in New York after university which scaled from 17 to 300 employees in the 3 years I was there. I loved that experience and hence wanted to one day found my own startup. After a brief stint in finance and then an MBA, I created Bien Sûr in 2019.
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME A YEAR OR TWO, WHAT PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOURSELF?
Think less and do more. Confront ideas to reality. You’ll learn so much more from a half baked idea that has user feedback than from a perfect idea with no user data
WHAT PROBLEM DOES YOUR BUSINESS SOLVE?
We solve people’s need for space and storage. As real estate prices increase, space becomes harder to find. We help people store their objects when they are moving, during big life events (birth, death, divorce), when they need storage for seasonal or large items and for businesses. For businesses it’s typically for local stores to store inventory, local workmen and the archiving.
WHAT IS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND YOUR BUSINESS?
When living in the US, I put my stuff in a self-storage. 6 months later they increased my price by 25%. Meanwhile I was on the other side of the Atlantic and was outraged, I felt trapped. I thought there must be a better way, and hence why I founded Bien Sûr.
WHAT IS YOUR MAGIC SAUCE?
We let customers book online and move in immediately, a first in France. We also have very granular data which we built up to identify the best locations to open up a self-storage facility.
WHAT IS THE PLAN FOR THE NEXT 5 YEARS? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE?
We’re currently opening 2 sites. Our goal is within 5 years to have over 20 self-storage sites and keep improving the customer experience.
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE YOU’VE FACED SO FAR?
We’ve pivoted twice so far. The second was the most brutal, as everyone in the compamy left. I was by myself after having raised 4M€. Personally it was tough and self-storage sites takes years to develop. I rebuilt a team and now we’re weeks from opening our first facility. It’s a massive relief. In the worst of times I felt like a fraud, like nobody believed in the project. Times have fortunately changed!
HOW DO PEOPLE GET INVOLVED/BUY INTO YOUR VISION?
If you have available industrial or logistics real estate in France we’d love to hear from you! If you’re looking for storage too, we’d be glad to have you. Feel free to reach out to me personnally
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