How Three Women Founded Bahrain's First Self-Storage Company
These three friends never imagined that they
would open A2D, Bahrain’s
first self-storage facility, as all-female partners. Yet with true
entrepreneurial prowess, Dalal Bucheery, Doa'a Essa Abdul Wahab, and Alia Murad saw a
market need that hadn’t yet been filled.
The three close friends—who had previously worked together, and
respectively have backgrounds in accounting, business management
& marketing, and quality systems auditing —faced difficulties
trying to find a place to store their own things.
“We are all married with children,” Dalal tells me. “And we find
that things accumulate in a matter of months! In fact, throughout
their life, people amass an amazing quantity of objects. The
problem arises when they don’t have enough space in their home but
at the same time, they are reluctant to part with items. “
When the partners couldn't find a space to meet their own needs,
they conducted a feasibility study and made field visits to
self-storage facilities in Dubai.
“We saw that the Dubai market was very mature with a lot of demand,
so we conducted research in Bahrain and found that this was a
promising business as self-storage was still a very nascent
market,” Alia explains.
“We weren’t interested in repeating businesses that were common,”
she adds.
Focusing on Convenience and Security
Using personal savings of BD 80,000 (approximately US $212,000) and
financing from the Bahrain
Development Bank (BDB), the women launched A2D in December 2010
as the first space in Bahrain to serve the community's
residential and commercial storage and moving needs. Their customer
demographic ranges from individuals looking to store their
household items to commercial customers warehousing merchandise or
storing records and documents for safe-keeping.
Unlike other self-storage facilities, which subsequently opened in
very remote or industrial locations, A2D opened in A’ali, a
residential area close to the school district. Located near a major
highway, the facility is conveniently accessible from many other
places in Bahrain as well as Saudi Arabia, and provides 24-hour
access.
Among the challenges A2D faced was the cultural adoption of a new
concept; initially, most of their customers were expats who were
more familiar with self-storage. However, A2D quickly began
spreading awareness and educating the local market through
brochures, meetings with prominent cross-sector organizations, and
going on popular local TV shows like Hala Bahrain. One
challenge they actually did not face is the social stigma of women
running a conventionally male business.
Doa’a, who also runs a restaurant,
Salad Boutique, says that despite the novelty of having women
in this particular line of business, the founders’ family and
friends were extremely supportive.
“People are always amazed when they visit our facility and can’t
believe it was completely built by three ladies!”
Doa’a, Alia and Dalal took an empty 1150 square metre space and
remodelled and constructed 44 individual units ranging in size (66,
100, and 130 sq. feet)—each featuring adjustable and portable
partitions so customers can expand or contract the space as
required.
“Customers want a secure location so we have installed CCT security
cameras. Each unit has its own safety measures, including a fire
extinguisher and water sprinkler, and the entire facility is
insured. We also offer insurance for individual units for customers
who want to store valuable things,” Doa’a explains.
As part of being green and reducing costs, A2D has an energy saving
system, and uses special sandwich panels imported from Dubai that
provide temperature control and insulation.
A2D is already reviewing growth and expansion plans, and has met
with several major storage companies in the region to explore
collaborations.
I ask what they’re looking for in a potential partnership, and they
tell me “A good investor who believes in our concept, and who
believes in us as ladies to run and manage the business.”