Having lived in South America, the US and the UK, Miles (pictured left) felt it was time for him to experience Asia and moved to Hong Kong in 2006. Soon after arriving, he was hired by Goldman Sachs and worked with them for in Hong Kong and Tokyo – but turned his gaze to the logistics industry after five years in the investment banking space. Miles then worked as the general manager for LifeStyle Logistics, a Shanghai-based company serving lifestyle and fashion brands.
From investment banking to logistics, Miles then decide to return to Hong Kong and co-found a valet storage startup with his brother Charlie. Besides going full-time with StuffGenie, Miles is also the co-founder and partner of VPG Asia, an investment syndicate that helps fundraise, co-invest in and help startups grow their presence in Asia.
What is your startup?
StuffGenie revolutionises how we store and manage our stuff. We provide on-demand storage for individuals and SMEs, giving our customers complete flexibility and visibility to manage their things from wherever they are. Our service removes the barriers that traditional self-storage companies bring by removing all minimum space and contract requirements so that people have complete and timely access to their things whenever they need them.
Our motto is simple – “We collect, store and deliver. You Relax. Storage the way it should be.”
The process is really simple with four easy steps and everything can be done online:
- Simply create a StuffGenie account on our website and order the number of boxes you need at $65HKD per box/ month. We will deliver the boxes within the next 24 hours free of charge. No need to sign any contracts and no minimum number of boxes required. Each box has a tamper-proof locking system.
- Through your StuffGenie account , you can add a title, description and upload photographs of your items in each box so you can always see a complete inventory of the stored items.
- When you are ready, we will come to collect your boxes free of charge and place them in our secure, temperature and humidity-controlled warehouse.
- When you want your items back, just log in, select the items you want and let us know where and when you want them delivered. We can deliver your items within the next 24 hours.
- We also provide customised hanging garment boxes so that you can store your winter coats and party outfits without wrinkling your clothes. Aside from the garment or standard box options, we also offer storage for bulky items such as sports equipment or luggages.
Here is a good example of how easy and flexible our services can be: If you stored your golf clubs with us and have plans to play a round on Saturday morning, simply log in and schedule a delivery of your clubs to the course. We’ll have them there in time for tee off. Once you are done, login on your phone and schedule a collection from the course. You can go to and from your Saturday game hassle and luggage free.
Our platform is first class from a technical point of view and incredibly simple to use. The initial feedback from users has been hugely positive. We can’t wait to spread the word and help our customers create new space in their homes all over Hong Kong.
How did you come up with this idea?
We are all familiar with how much stuff people accumulate nowadays but also how small living and working spaces have become. This dichotomy is especially true in Hong Kong. We want to provide a solution for this contrast. A solution for people and businesses to free up space in their homes and offices but also be able to manage and keep track of their things online.
The concept of valet storage itself is not a new one. However, we felt that no one else was managing the solution in the best way possible. We wanted to provide a great experience for our clients with complete visibility and control over their stuff. Which is why we have invested so much time into developing a user friendly interface giving users the ability to add titles, detailed descriptions and photos to each of the boxes or items they store. This way you never loose track or forget what you have stored away.
Who are you targeting and how big is the market in HK/Asia?
With a no-commitment service and storage for each StuffGenie box at HK$ 65 per month, our solution is both affordable and flexible. Initial delivery and collection is also free because most people in Hong Kong do not have cars. We believe our streamlined service is versatile enough to be suitable for all types of individuals and businesses alike. We are now working on a number of marketing initiatives to inform customers of the benefits we can bring them.
The storage industry in Hong Kong and across Asia is a really exciting one to be in at the moment. The last 12 months has seen the establishment of the Self Storage Association Asia and a lot of investor interest too. The capacity for self-storage in Hong Kong is estimated to be 2.8 million square feet, whilst the demand is estimated at between 6 to 12 million square feet, so the industry outlook is spectacular (2014 Colliers Self-Storage Report).
We have also conducted our own market research into the market in Hong Kong. At the moment, only 10 percent of households use self-storage but more than half of those that don’t said that if they didn’t need to leave home and had the flexibility StuffGenie is offering, they would definitely make use of it. We are confident that when people learn about our service, they will be scheduling a box delivery in no time.
What are your futures plans for your startup?
Aside from our recent launch in Hong Kong, we are working hard to set up an all-rounded operation, system and customer interface such that we can easily apply the same in other locations. Right now, we don’t have any concrete plans for our next location, but this would likely be in another major city in Asia.
We are also pushing to integrate updates to our system at least once a week with new offerings (such as adding the garment box option), shortening our delivery windows, serving new locations (Park Island, Tung Chung) and other changes to improve the interface for our clients. We are constantly listening to feedback from our clients and are able to implement changes within a matter of days.
1 Benefit and 1 Challenge in the HK startup scene?
Hong Kong is a really exciting place for any startup these days and I think it has done a great job the last few years to solidify its footprint as the startup hub of Asia. The legal framework, financial system, ease of company setup are all major benefits for starting up a company in Hong Kong.
It is the support system that exists for any startup in the city that is really a big win for any entrepreneur looking to get something going here. The establishment of numerous co-working spaces, accelerators, tech sites like StartupsHK, government-backed initiatives and conferences focusing on startups, all work together to make Hong Kong a great place to get something going.
In addition to all this, and perhaps most importantly, is that Hong Kong people have a culture of being early adopters in many respects and this means they are very receptive to new ideas and products. For me personally, I have a very personal link to Hong Kong as my wife is from here and most of my friends live here too, so I feel very much like a Hong Konger myself.
While Hong Kong is a very receptive place to new things, the biggest challenge has to be with respect to marketing and informing the public about our service. When we talk to people, there is a very positive response to what StuffGenie has to offer to Hong Kong, but the challenge is being able to get this message across to the masses (both local and expats). We have been working with a great team to market our service since our launch on December 10th and we are starting to see some great traction from that. Nonetheless, this will no doubt continue to be one of the largest challenges over the coming few months.
One other area which we found challenging was getting automated billing setup in Hong Kong. It is not as developed as it is in places like Europe or the US. We spent a lot of time searching for the right solution and partner to work with for an appropriate setup. Thankfully, the hard work has paid off and our next system update addresses this so we can move on to focus our efforts on the product and service rather than having to manage manual billing.
Miles Davison on Startbase.HK: Miles Davison
StuffGenie on Startbase.HK: StuffGenie
Boxful, stuffgenie, GNL, all three are the same….