From left to right: Kirit Patel – Director of Sales & Marketing, Rakesh Rajani – Director of Finance & Operations, Ketan Patel – Director of Internal Operations
It’s been three years since Kuboid was acquired by three entrepreneurs. Under their leadership, the team has propelled Kuboid to become a dominant force in the self storage construction market. We recently sat down with them to understand more about their backgrounds, how they got into the industry, and what their future aspirations are for Kuboid.
Tell us a little about yourselves?
Kirit:
My background is in technology, with a particular focus on solutions that support the Office of the CFO. I started a consultancy business back in 1996 which was sold to one of Africa’s largest technology company’s back in 2016. After a successful MBO of its UK operation in 2020, this was consequently sold to a Private equity-backed business in 2022.
From a personal perspective, my wife and I have recently obtained the status of ‘empty-nesters’. As you can imagine, it’s awfully quiet in the house now! My daughter is a Physiotherapist in Leeds and my son is studying Civil Engineering at the University of Liverpool.
Ketan:
Similar to Kirit, my background is also in technology. My focus has been more around database engineering and innovation. I joined Kirit on the journey in 1999 and we’ve had the privilege and fun of building a fantastic company filled with some outstanding individuals.
I’m also married, an empty-nester and an avid Man U supporter. My daughter is a management consultant and my son works as a corporate performance analyst.
Rakesh:
I established my own practice in 1998 which was focussed on providing finance, accounting and tax solutions to business leaders and individuals. After 25 years at the helm, the practice was sold in 2023. Like my fellow partners, I’m an entrepreneur at heart and have held the position of Finance Director across various business ventures.
I have a daughter who is working in Clinical Services and a son who is about to start his undergraduate journey in Banking, Finance & Economics. I’m a passionate Liverpool supporter which often leads to lively debates with Ketan!
How did you all get involved with Kuboid?
Rakesh:
The previous owner of Kuboid used my old accountancy firm to provide a variety of services. In 2020, he had approached me with a view to sell his business. To cut a long story short, after a potential buyer fell through, he approached me and asked whether I would be interested in acquiring Kuboid.
Now, here is the interesting part, perhaps it was fate. Ketan, Kirit and I are close friends. In fact, we have known each other since our university days. I also acted as the accountant for Kirit and Ketan’s consultancy business, so there’s a very long personal and professional history amongst us. About six months prior to the offer to buy Kuboid, we were having a few drinks and were discussing aspirations about the future. The conversation went along the lines of, we were all ready to take on a new challenge and, wouldn’t it be good if we could do something together again?
Roll forward to a rainy Friday evening in February 2021. We had a call and explored the idea of buying Kuboid. To be honest, it wasn’t a very long call. I already knew the financial background to the business and I was confident that with the combination of the entrepreneurial skills covering finance, sales, marketing and technology, we could elevate the business to new heights. Perhaps more importantly, we could have some fun together along the way. The transaction was completed on March 30th 2021 and the new journey began.
What were your initial observations about Kuboid and the self storage industry?
Ketan:
Firstly, I liked the people. All be it on a smaller scale, it had a similar feel and culture to the company we had built in the past. It was clear that after speaking to the previous owner and the team, their ethos and core principles were very much aligned with ours. Uncomplicated stuff really – provide a quality solution at a competitive price and strive to be a partner for life. That all said, I could clearly see some immediate areas where we could improve upon to make the business stronger and as a consequence, upscale it.
As far as the self storage industry goes, as you know, we were the newbies back then. Of course, we did our due diligence as part of the acquisition process, but the reality was, it was only once we started to truly get under the covers, meet the customers and attend events, did we really get a true sense of this amazing industry and ecosystem. Firstly, the resilience and growth of the sector was great and it didn’t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down. Secondly, we were quite surprised as to how much innovation was happening within the space. From the adoption of technology including AI and automation, new products and the myriad of creative ways operators were found to use physical buildings and structures for self storage. Last but not least, the eco-system of people within the industry. From the customers themselves to the wide range of suppliers, everyone was willing to share their knowledge and experiences to help one another. This felt pretty unique.
What has changed since you acquired Kuboid?
Kirit:
Crikey, that’s a long list, but to summarise, I think Kuboid is pretty unrecognisable from when we first acquired the business. Other than the name, we’ve done a full rebrand. From a new logo, website, social media platforms and probably the most important thing, a new and deliberately ‘open-ended’ strapline which describes our purpose, ‘Redefining Self Storage’. This extends itself to all aspects of the products and services we provide to our customers and encompasses consultancy, planning and design, manufacturing, construction and aftercare.
Our presence at the two premier self storage tradeshows has grown immensely. We were platinum sponsors at the recent SSA UK event in April and are also platinum sponsors at the upcoming FEDESSA event in Stockholm in November. We’re also sponsoring the welcome dinner at the iconic Vasa museum, the regions most visited attraction. So, if you’re attending, make sure you come and say hello!
The size and scale of our customer portfolio has grown tremendously. If I look back 3 years ago compared to now, the volume and scale of our projects has totally changed. As of today, we’re building several floor facilities for international operators such as Shurgard, across the UK and Europe.
A lot of what I’ve spoken about is on the front-end but, we’ve also made considerable changes and improvements on the back-end and operational side of the business. This really has helped improve our processes and the quality in which we execute and discharge our construction projects.
Finally, as a result of our growth to date and, planned future growth we envisage, we’ve actually moved office twice in 3 years. We’ve now settled into our new home and are just in the process of applying some finishing touches. One of the final conundrums we have is where to install the office bar. I should state, this will be purely for out of office hours use only!
What’s next for Kuboid?
Rakesh:
Growth, resilience and customer satisfaction. These are three of the fundamental tenants we will continue to focus on. We already defined a clear strategy at the outset of this journey. As you’d expect, we’ve encountered some business as usual, hurdles and challenges along the way, but all in all, we are tracking well against our plan. I’m confident that if we remain agile and focused, we’ll achieve the growth targets we’re aspiring for.
As part of my role as Director of Finance and Operations, I also ensure we continue to innovate and work with our suppliers and partner ecosystem to bring the very best set of products and solutions to our customers.
Ketan:
One of my key focus areas as Director of Internal Operations will be to continue to make investments in technology that will help provide more actionable insights for the leadership team. In turn, this will drive more efficiencies and enforce better processes across all of our business functions. We’ve been busy in developing our own proprietary system to enhance business operations. In the first phase it will cover areas such as opportunity management, expenses, procure to pay, order to cash, management reporting and analytics. As you can imagine, there is a lot more in the pipeline to come.
Kirit:
As Director of Sales & Marketing, my primary focus is driving the front-end of the organisation. We’ve experienced a good level of growth to date, but as always, we have to keep driving forward and finding new and innovative ways of maintaining the ‘trusted partner’ status for our customers.
I’m a firm believer in the saying, ‘people buy from people’, so a key focus area this year will be to double down on all things to enhance the customer experience. It’s imperative that we continue to provide an agile and comprehensive service that takes our customers’ concept, to completion and beyond.
That all said, I’m sure my fellow directors will agree, what’s paramount is that we continue to build an organisation for our people where they can learn, grow, thrive and enjoy the journey. As a famous business coach once said, “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.”
Keep up to date with the latest self storage industry news here.
Find out more about the Kuboid team here.
