Steven Hylands

Steven is Stora’s COO. With a background in building software businesses, he's using his expertise to help move the self storage industry forward and make it better for everyone.

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Artículos de Steven Hylands

February 26, 2026

Reducing everyday friction: thoughtful improvements across Stora

When people think about product updates, they often picture big, headline features.

By Steven Hylands

February 18, 2026

Self Storage Insurance: A Practical Guide for Facility Owners and Operators

Self storage is unusual as a business model. You are responsible for providing a secure space for other people’s property, but you do not automatically insure the items they store.

By Steven Hylands

December 29, 2025

Self Storage Website Design: 5 Ways to Build a High-Converting Website That Drives Growth

In the self storage industry, most customers now book online. In the US, more than 70% of storage customers start their search this way.

By Steven Hylands

November 21, 2025

Your Guide to Syncing Stripe and Stora With Your Accounting Software

Operators often ask the same question: what’s the simplest way to get Stripe and Stora sales into my accounting platform without manual work?

By Steven Hylands

October 13, 2025

Introducing Advanced Checkout — the next evolution of online self storage sales

Operators using Stora already grew 32% on average in 2024, compared to 6% across the industry. Today, we’re taking that momentum further with a major release: Advanced Checkout.

By Steven Hylands

October 13, 2025

What to sell in your self storage checkout (and how to start today)

Most operators sell storage space. But the best ones sell everything their customers actually need — and make it effortless to buy.

By Steven Hylands

August 25, 2025

From live to thriving: getting results from your Stora Storefront

Hundreds of operators use Stora to generate thousands of online bookings each month. ~50% of online bookings come directly from search engines like Google — through organic listings or paid ads.

By Steven Hylands

May 20, 2025

How to Find the Perfect Location for Your Self Storage Business

Opening a self storage facility is a rewarding opportunity, but selecting the right location is key to long-term success. In this blog, we guide you through the process of selecting a suitable site…

By Steven Hylands

February 12, 2025

Introducing Price Increases: A Must-Have Feature for Self Storage Growth

For self storage operators, increasing prices is one of the most effective ways to grow revenue without significantly increasing operational costs. While many facility owners hesitate to implement…

By Steven Hylands

February 7, 2024

How to Dominate Local Self Storage Search Results

Self storage is a needs-based product, for that reason, search engines tend to be the predominant acquisition channel for new customers (our own data shows ~50% of online bookings come from search).

By Steven Hylands

December 22, 2023

Stora’s 2023 Product Year in Review

2023 has been a busy year here at Stora. We trebled our customer base, hosted a live podcast and Stora social for 60 people, won an SSA Innovation Award for our Next-Generation Site Maps, and…

By Steven Hylands

June 29, 2023

Offer Customers One Minute Move-ins With Stora's Latest Automation Features

Let your potential customer get from outside your front gate to inside their new unit in 60 seconds, thanks to our One Minute Move-ins.

By Steven Hylands

January 17, 2023

Major Self Storage Website Design Mistakes To Avoid

Today, our digital design expert Steven mines his 15 years' experience to explain the common design mistakes operators make online.

By Steven Hylands

June 9, 2022

Self Storage Innovation Highlights from Stora Social 2022

We kicked things off with a twist on traditional networking. No awkward icebreakers full of personal facts, spirit animals or trust falls here! Instead, we all got acquainted over drinks and a good…

By Steven Hylands

March 24, 2022

Join the New Self Storage Community & Forum

The Self Storage Community is a new space to get firsthand advice, share learnings, and connect with fellow operators to improve and grow your self-storage business.

By Steven Hylands

February 16, 2022

How To Be A Customer-First Self Storage Business And Reap The Rewards

Customer-first means you endeavor to put the needs of your clients before anything else. If you’re operating a true customer-first business, you’ll look to design your products, services, customer…

By Steven Hylands

November 15, 2021

Stora Roadmap Is Live!

At Stora we’re on a mission to create the best software solution for the self storage industry, whether you’re an existing facility wanting to upgrade your operations and website, or a self storage…

By Steven Hylands

November 2, 2021

Your Self Storage Website Can Be Your Fast And Efficient Sales Team

Hi, I’m Steven, a web specialist and CPO at Stora. Let me show you how to turn a small investment in your website into an automated sales machine!

By Steven Hylands

October 28, 2021

Get A Storage Space Calculator On Your Storefront With Calcumate

Stora have launched an integration with our friends at Calcumate that enables you to add a unit size calculator to a page on your Stora self storage website.

By Steven Hylands

June 10, 2021

Why You Need To Launch Your Self Storage Website Before Opening

As you get ready to open your self storage facility, you’ll have a daunting list of tasks to complete: site or property acquisition, site preparation / fit-out, signage, smart entry systems,…

By Steven Hylands

March 18, 2021

Introducing the Self Storage Brand Marketplace

Here at Stora, we want to help the next generation of self storage startups get up and running as simply as possible. The main way we’ve done that to date is through our web software product (which…

By Steven Hylands