This is your daily real estate syndication show. I'm your host, Whitney Sewell. I love hearing about entrepreneurs who are solving problems, right, and creating businesses out of that and experiencing lots of growth and success by diving in. And our guest today has done just that. You're gonna hear about a different model than we've talked about on the show before.

And as they're growing and buying large pieces of real estate and doing something different than you've heard before, I have no doubt. His name is Chris Long. He's the founder and operator of Longyards Storage. After nearly a decade as a carpenter and business owner of Conrad Construction, Chris ventured full time in the realm of self storage. Having created the very first longhard storage in his hometown in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, he immigrated to the United States to pursue the international build out of the company.

He's responsible for the construction, stabilization, and management of the assets. Chris and I go into some detail about his plan and how he has grown, how he got started, even now franchising this model, how he presented it to investors early on, some lessons learned there, to even say how he's doing that now. You're gonna learn a lot from Chris today. Well, I love hearing about new things, new ideas, especially new niches and ways that people are creative about different business models. Our guest today has done just that and seems to be taking off, looking forward to learning from him and how we can implement maybe some strategies in our own business.

Right? You know, as listeners, as you are looking at commercial real estate, you're gonna learn a lot from Chris Long today. Chris, welcome to the show. Thank you. Looking forward to it.

Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, Chris. I'm looking forward to hearing about this strategy. But who's Chris? And give us a little bit about your background, about how you got into this space, and we'll go from there.

Yeah. Great. So basically, blue collar. It's carpenter. Worked in the trades.

I had a daughter young, and I was like, I gotta go to work. So I got into construction, got into the construction I enjoyed the most, carpentry. And basically ran an construction business for almost 12 years, became licensed as carpenter. And on my journey, I got into real estate. I always loved real estate.

Right from a kid, I just loved passive investing and loved the idea of building real estate. Got into residential, got my first house, turned into duplex. Okay. This is cool. I got a tenant that's paying me and paying my mortgage.

I like this. Did the same thing, bought a second house, same thing. And I was, now I had 2, bought a commercial property and and life was going pretty good. And basically, I came to this fork in the road with the light bulb going off. I'm like, oh my god, I'm a contractor.

I have all these tools, all this equipment, and I don't have space for it. Like, it's not your mini storage model. And I didn't wanna lease a big space. So, like, what's in the middle? It doesn't really exist.

So I had this commercial property close to my house. It's funny. My brother and I owned it. We couldn't agree what to do with it. I ended up buying them out, going all in by myself, a whole story with that.

And that's how it started, you know, it was tough because no one would get behind me. They're like, I told them the vision. I'm like, I need a yard. Right? So I'm gonna start building yards.

And I couldn't get investors because they're like, you're crazy. Like, who needs a yard? And it wasn't really a thing in Canada. I knew it was a thing in the states. So it was very, very early on in the in the process.

So anyways, I started with 5 yards. I could barely afford to put the gates on the front yards. I had to pre sell them to afford to put the gates on. But sure enough, I had the yards full, rented within a short period of time. The rest is history.

We built out. Now we're in the states expanding, and, you know, we built out a franchise model because we believe it's a skillable business. And that's a little bit about me, how I started, and where I'm going. Wow. Now, so you came up with this model, You said you started with 5 yards.

I want to dive into that a little bit, but just so the listeners understand, what is a yard? What are you doing with these yards? Who's the client? Who's your renter? Right?

How did you come to know about, and I know you shared a little bit about this and you and I talked about it beforehand, but I want the listener to understand. How did you know about this client, right, and that this was going to work? Well, it was simple because I needed it myself, and I figured if I need it, someone else need it, and that was the formula. So my avatar of my ideal client is basically someone like me. Now we have different boxes of clients.

We have corporate clients. We have Ultramar. We have people that from all walks of life, we have Hydro Ottawa. So we have really everyone that you can imagine needs the space. So just starting off, I figured, again, keeping it simple.

If I need it, someone else needs it. And and that's how I started understanding the language and how to target them the most because I was one of them. Yeah. So you mentioned, though, you you started with 5 yards. Yeah.

Why not 1 yard and test it? Or, you know, how how do you just you were that confident to start with 5 yards. How did that work out? Well, yeah, I I was confident. Honestly, if I could afford to do 20, I would have done 20.

But I could only afford like I said, I could barely even afford to put the gates on the 5. I had to pre sell them by the year to put the gates up. So I think as an entrepreneur, when most entrepreneurs are problem solvers. And when you believe, you believe. And if you're not all in, then who's gonna be believing in all in around you?

So I just believe in that. Like I said, if I could have sold my house and convinced my wife to do it earlier, I would have done it. And would have built that puppy right out. We would have probably been better off. So, yeah, I mean, I would have built as many yards as I could, but that was my financing cap at the time.

Yeah. And did you find these local to you? Did you start close to home? Or how did you think through where these 5 were gonna be? Or or maybe it was just the yards you could afford at the time?

So great question. Basically, just to clarify, like, it's 5 yards in the yard. So I have my Okay. It's one location. It's not like 5 full corporate locations.

Like, that would be quite that'd be a great start. But no. It was 1 yard. And and it's funny. It is quite literally a long yard.

It's 200 feet by 2,000 feet. You got one road in the middle, different size yards on both sides. Chris long, long yards. It all went together. So that was even that itself was a journey because it was a forest.

It was a rundown house. Like, it was a journey just to get to to that point. But, yeah, it started off with one location. Now that okay. That helps a lot.

So it's one massive yard. There's like 5 spots, right, that could be rented in this. And speak to I was thinking about this and you were talking about you mentioned, like, going to investors for this, and they're saying you're crazy. Obviously, you know, you mentioned you gotta be passionate about it. You know, if you want people to invest with you, you better darn believe in it yourself.

How did you present it to investors? Maybe early on, what did you learn from how you presented it to investors early on? And then to now, how's that what does that look like now? Yeah. Well, it was a lot more personal at the beginning because I wasn't, you know, I'd say as experienced with the investing side as I have now.

So it's more like relationship building. And I didn't even know I've never raised funds. I bootstrapped all my first residential properties. I just used my construction funds. So I was never really had the experience or knowledge to talk to investors.

So I just started just going at it, basically. I'd cut down trees. I'd bootstrap it. I'd get it going, and then I just share my journey with people. And I would, you know, I would go to a it's the funniest thing.

I was just at a I think it was a Halloween party, and I was talking. And then all of a sudden, someone mentions, oh, my neighbor's interested in in investing in in projects like that. Why don't you talk to him? And sure enough, he was my first investor, and he carried me through that whole project as one investor. And I would prelease yards.

He lent me x amount, and we just did that throughout the whole thing. And he got you know, he lent me over a $1,000,000 for that one build out in total because he took out the 1st mortgage, which was a vendor take back. And it was wild. So, you know, I I didn't have no secret sauce. I just had simple hard work ethics, and I was transparent and excited about what I was doing.

And then I find, you know, people get behind you when they when they believe in it. And that was my formula to get it started. Talks a little different now, but it's still the same. I I believe in people want to get involved and everyone's making money. So it's good.

Yeah, no, I love ideas like this. And especially when they're successful and watching somebody grow in this way, you know, now that you're, you know, you've done, you know, got this yard that's going, now you're expanding. Right? And you're Yep. Thinking about the US and now in Canada as well.

It helps set you from there. Right? I think it would be harder for me to expand into Canada, you know, not not being from there. But it's incredible. I I mean, I just I love the growth.

Speak to some challenges maybe you're facing now in this kind of growth. And even as you push towards more growth, which I hope we all are, what are some challenges that you're facing now in in this type of business? It's a great question. I got tons of challenges. For 1, you know, I went from basically being a carpenter, blue collar business owner to now trying to build an international real estate development and franchise company.

So, yeah, I'm in some waters where I've had a lot of growth, but I love it. I love every day of it. Some of the challenges are just moving money across the border. Some things from simple and the pain. That's why America's the one invested in Canada because the dollar just why?

Moving it across, it hurts. So team building is a big one. Getting the right people behind you. But I think when we have the right vision, the right people are coming in the team, and it's just a matter of molding them and putting them in the right seats based on their strengths and having a clear vision with clear company values. So I'm learning on building a great team and just surrounding myself with great people and leveraging their skill of genius.

And that's one thing that is in front of me. And then, obviously, we're building out franchising. We're doing syndication corporately, and we're doing joint ventures with people who own the land. So we just finished building out a 3 year strategy. And, you know, we have some good advisers behind us that are really helping guide the path, and that's what we did recently.

We put the pencil to the paper, did it for your strategy plan, and really created a lot of clarity. Because recently, I was just kind of a little over the place. I was like, no. You gotta stick to a path, and you gotta really hit the ground running. So it's been fun, but I I feel like clarity is finally coming.

So I've been in the storming phase. It's like, oh my god. So much opportunity. But, really, the only way you're gonna make it work is if you focus and stick to a path. Yeah.

I love even what you said there too. I've not heard this mentioned to me about times before, maybe ever. I think I have. But but, anyway, you mentioned JV with people that own land and get so creative. I mean, how do you keep control of the land?

How do you what happens there if they say, oh, wait a minute, Chris. This is my land, and get out of here? You know? What does that look like, that partnership? Yeah.

So, basically, we've been spending a lot of time on 2 of the 3 strategies on more corporate location and franchising. So the third one, we just invested in the great software, and this will allow us to target these parcels with the property owners. And so we're still, you know, in full transparency, very preliminary with how that molds out. But we believe there's 3 options. There's one where look.

You know, you fund the project, and we'll build and manage, and we just do a simple split on profits. Whether it's an 80 20, we're happy with 20 percent profits, but we go in there and we take care of everything. And it's on your land, so it's secure. And a lot of people just they don't wanna deal with the headache, and they want us to run the business. Now we do have franchisees that we can also secure a lease.

We can do a 10 year triple net lease on your land. You got an extra 4 acres on the side of your facility you're not using. Great. Then we'll we'll sign a franchisee, and he's happy because a lot of these people just want a cash flow in business. They don't necessarily need to own the land.

So we're just a middleman in building the bridge. So we've got the land, and then we'll put the franchisee on it. So, basically, that's the 2 structures. It's either joint venture with a split equity or split profit share and or doing a lease. And then we either corporately run the lease or we have a franchisee that wants to operate that lease.

Interesting. It's incredible. Speak to franchising, like starting down the process of, you know, becoming your own franchise. So let's say you wanna start a franchise. Basically, you would start by, let's make sure that you're in the right area.

I say no more than I say yes. And it's and some people get frustrated because they're like, Chris, I believe in this market. And I'm like, no. It just doesn't match the data. And we know people that are trying to do what we're doing in Ottawa, and they're not successful.

They're investing tons of money in real estate. They're putting up all the operations, and they're just not leasing up because they didn't pick the right area, and they didn't do the right target marketing. So it definitely it's very feasibility heavy and data heavy based on, you know, our long years processes to make sure that, a, it's even gonna work. And then we have prequalify you. We're gonna make sure that you're a good fit for the long years model because that's obviously important for both of us to to get to date before we get married and make sure we like each other.

And then it goes out to basically franchise model. It's like there's multiple steps. We're gonna help you find the land, and we have what's called a go long or go home guarantee. And it's very simple. It's $5,000 and then we do is we protect your site, your area, and then we'll help secure land.

So you're in it for not much. And then it's a simple 5 grand. And if you then we're gonna help identify real estate together. And then once Longyear says, okay. This real estate works for this area.

We've targeted it. The feasibility study comes back at this, then we merge. Then the franchise can get married. So it's a little bridge. Right?

Because people need to understand the real estate in order to understand the whole package. So once we get the real estate, then we help you throughout the whole process. We're gonna provide you a highest and best use layout. We're gonna provide you with business plan templates, provide you with all the construction details. We do have great supplies, also that we're saving you tons of money on.

And all those systems, all the software, all the lease up, we're basically holding your hand right from, okay, you're here. You know nothing about it. Let's show you everything about Longair's, and let's get a home on. And that's basically what we're focused on for because I will personally be working with the first 10 franchisees, and I want them to hit home runs. And it's so important for the business.

So that's why I'm saying no more than yes, but the people I do say yes to, it's important, and I strongly believe they're gonna hit home runs. Love that. And is the the long yard model, is this something you you see to expand to really large pieces of property as well, or is it mostly 4 5 acre tracts? Is this nationwide? How do you see it growing in that regard?

Yeah. So we see it definitely growing internationally. That's why we built the franchise system throughout Canada and the states. Now you start with organic and opportunities. So if there's a great franchisee, strong candidate, he's in a great area, well, let let's capitalize on that.

I'm more focused corporately on organically where I am, just quality control, and that's Florida and maybe Carolinas, Georgia. So, yeah, to answer your question, we see it internationally. And with the stronger partners and the stronger team, then the more confident I am building out internationally. But in the short term with what we have, it's, I'd say, 70, 80% local and opportunity driven for the rest. Wow.

What about I know you mentioned your challenge, finding the right people. And, I appreciate what you said, you know, just about promoting the right culture, those things. I've noticed the more I am open about our culture, the more I am talking about those things even online. And people are coming to us even though we're not even posting a position for what they're looking for. You know?

And so it's interesting to see that. But how are you finding the right people? What's been some techniques you're using to do that? Well, it's almost the same thing like I found my first investor. I'm just socially out there.

I joined, you know, going Clubhouse. Clubhouse is a great app just to talk about who you are and what you're doing and and get a lot of like minded people. Yeah. Just, I mean, you podcast just like this, and then it just spiders off into so many different conversations. And then people find out what you're doing.

They're like, oh my god, I want in on this. Going to networking events, real estate events, business events, masterminds. Just kind of at the beginning, you wanna be everywhere and know as many people as you can, and then kind of pick the cherries, get the highest elite players, and then stick to a road and hit the ground running. So I feel like that's what I've been doing is just kinda casting a wide net, getting great people, and now we're getting focused on where and how we're gonna get there. Anything else unique that I wouldn't even know to ask you about your model?

Unique? I don't know if unique is the right word, but one, just different, different mindsets, very territorial. Right? Because you got gridlocked properties. Once you secure, like, a 10 acre site in a great town, like, there might only be that 1 10 acre site available.

So some people, they're they're kinda hemming and hawing, and they're not sure, but they like the model. Well, pretty soon, that property might not be available. And now all of a sudden, that territory is not available. It's done. And we're not you know, it's very protected by the franchisee or corporately or whatnot.

So that's one thing I just like to remind people of. It's like, this is a great opportunity, but the obviously, industrial land in itself is a whole challenge. Right? And then my corporate my clientele matches a certain density and population around it. So once we secure these territories with grade a players, that's it.

That territory is done. And if you like the opportunity, well, too bad, the ship has sailed. Yeah. No. That is unique, for sure.

What about you know, I was thinking about to your team, and as we were talking about hiring and and you mentioned that, like, Clubhouse and getting your name out there. I guess, how are you finding these pieces of property? What are you using to find the land? Is that some kinda I I don't know. What are you using?

Some kind of special software you mentioned earlier? What does that look like? Yeah. So basically, I mean, we had different systems. We were using virtual assistants and having them go through a bit of a lengthy process.

But we just invested in the software that allows us to target the exact location, the exact zoning, exact demographic income, and we just have this list spit out to us. And then we have different strategies where we can do drip campaigns. And one of the classics is just mailers and how we send out those mailers. And we're very data driven. So, like, we were doing different campaigns in different areas, then we're doing, like, a 1000 here, a 1000 here, a 1000 there.

And then we'll let the data come back to us and be like, okay. Which one works the best and which strategy we're gonna stick with? So there's a few layers to it. But, yeah, we've been pivoting as we've been growing, but we are relying heavily on software for the acquisition strategies. And besides networking and a lot of brokers, you just talk to brokers, they have pocket listings.

And you just go and drive your neighborhood. Sometimes I find myself in a computer for 3 days, and oh my god. And then I go drive down the street, and I found more opportunities to sit in front of my computer. So sometimes you just gotta get out there, but at the end of the day, it's just a hustle, and what hustle works for you is and works for the, you know, the company is what you gotta stick to. What's the long term strategy for a property like this, or investment like this, and even for you all, or your investor, or even the property owner?

So the long term is let's say the example of the property owner. You own, I don't know, whatever property matches the zoning we're looking for. And let's say you own, I don't know, a HVAC business. You got 4 acres beside your property, and you're not really using it that much. We'll go.

We'll set up, and then we'll just do a 10 year as an option, a 10 year triple net lease. So now you're happy, and now you're serving you're getting your name out there to all these businesses coming in. So now you got contractors, you got general contractors, you got property maintenance guys, and you're the HVAC guy that is the leader of the community. Because Long Ards is more than just building storage yards. We are building a small business community that supports each other.

So it's like a hybrid of just different businesses of people that really are coming together for a common goal, and it's to help each other. And it's all affordable. It's all adaptable. And that's so long term play for the business. The landowner would be capitalizing on that that simple 10 year triple net lease.

And then even if they go to sell it, the person who's gonna buy it wants that 10 year triple net lease. It's like, great. It's just extra income for my property. So it automatically increases the value of the property. So I think it's a win win.

So you got that scenario. The invest let's say a franchisee is on the corporate side. What we're trying to do is we're trying to get corporate owners, investors to have 3 locations in their territory, and we work with them to build out for 3 locations so the royalties drop. Because franchising has royalties. Right?

You go, we start at 6%, and then after $50 a month, we go to 5%, and after $80, we go to 4%. So what we want is 1 investor to have 3 locations. The beautiful part about this is it's you own a 100% of the equity. So this investor is owning all the real estate. We're just think of it like an incubation process where we're gonna find this investor who doesn't know much about real estate or the whole acquisition or the whole business model.

We're gonna teach this guy how to acquire a bunch of real estate, and we can even put management systems in place. So this is, like, really unique to the marketplace because this doesn't really exist like that. You know, a lot of people wanna do joint ventures and all this jazz, but, you know, we'll take this investor, and we'll let you own all the real estate. It's it's that's why it's so different from the syndication. It's unique.

So then they're they own 3 locations. And for that, the beautiful part some of the most beautiful things about long years is it's low on supply lines. Like, a lot of businesses you get into, you know, like think of the restaurant industry with COVID, how it got hit. We're not worried about food supplies. We're not worried about material supplies.

No. Once you're up and running, you don't have supply issues. And the second part, best part is you don't have labor issues. You got one employee for 3 locations or a part time employee for 1 location and you're up and running. So it's heavy lifting at the front and we help you get through the heavy lifting, and then you take the pedal off and you're coasting.

So it's really unique to the marketplace. And I think it caters to everyone at different stages of their investing or life journey. So what's the risk? What did you go wrong? What are you hedging against, or what do we have to look forward to on the negative side?

Well, yeah, there's always pros and cons. Sure. The beautiful thing about it is we're investing in real estate. So the risk is like, let's say you purchase 6 acres of industrial real estate. Okay.

Now you're setting up a long yards, right? Now the beautiful thing about long yards is it's not very capital intensive. Like, look at what we're doing, right? We're doing contractor storage yards. We're doing we introduce long boxes.

Okay. So we actually sell and rent containers and offices to the public and in our yards at our long yards. So it's a bit of a hybrid extension, but the risk is just the capital. And I I don't say lightly just that, but it's the capital upfront. However, I think to hedge that risk, you're investing in industrial real estate.

And it all worst case worst worst case. You shut the doors, close everything down, you still have your real estate. So that's what a lot of franchises are looking at it like. They're like, you know, okay. I got the risks, a lot of capital, but you've got this foundational real estate land.

And as we all know, real estate's one of the most recession proof industries you wanna be in long term. And a lot of people right now with the way crypto's going and inflation, they want a place to put their money. So obviously, I'm biased because I believe in this, blow my heart. But the risk, I think, is hedged by the real estate, and that's what we focus on. What's your best source for meeting and finding new investors now to invest with you?

I'd say just PR. We're not going too hard with social media yet. We do plan on expanding that later on with our strategic goals. But right now, it's just, public relations, podcasts, just networking with local events. I'm in a great area like Tampa.

It's not far for me to go to Miami or Orlando or in and they always have real estate or business events. And I I like to meet local people, and I like to I'm like an old school, like, let's shake hands and meet at the site kinda guy, and and that's what I like. And I think investors like to feel the dirt of the real estate and see me, and it just puts more context to the whole business. So I'm focused on local relationships, but we also have just like this and people reach out and they love what I'm doing, and I'm happy to chat with them. I'll put my phone number at the end of every podcast, and I'm just excited to chat with whoever wants to call.

Awesome. I love hearing new models like this and seeing it take off. It's incredible. Chris, a few final questions, though. Chris, what are some of the most important metrics that you track?

Could be personally or professionally. Well, personally, the most important metrics is definitely very data driven. I mean, a few high level things are in terms of the real estate would be like traffic, income, you know, we're making sure the unemployment, crime rates, and there's gotta be something like we'd like to label as sexy in the area. So up and coming, new permits, new retail going up. So there's a lot.

Like, we have a very in-depth feasibility study to really make sure that this location's gonna work. And there's a lot of metrics right from the real estate metrics, which is more common in the syndication world. But then you go into the business side metrics of our avatars and what they're doing and then how we target them. You just don't forget people don't know long ears exist. Like maybe half the people here in your podcast are going to be like, what is this?

Well, think of it from the consumer side. They don't know it exists either. So we really have to understand where they are and how to contact them. And that's really where a lot of our focus has been going. It's reeducating our consumers to let them know who we are.

And that's just internal long years data. But you know, the real estate's one part, but the business is another. So yeah. Stand out in front of Lowe's at 6 o'clock. At 6 AM, hand out your card, you know?

There's different ways to do it. I'll tell you at the beginning, I would run up at a red light with a company in front of me, and I'd just hand them my card. And this is who we are, you know, because I've just never been afraid to knock on doors. I'm literally watering the plants in front of long earrings to see companies drive by, and I close these deals just like that. So that's how it started, and now it's just on a bigger scale.

So, yeah, it's just, you know, putting your neck out there and letting people know who you are. Obviously, we've gotten more granular and very detailed with it, but that's the gist of it. You're just hiring other people to jump out at stoplights now. Right? Yeah.

I think we're the clowns here. What are some habits that you have at that have produced the highest return for you? You know, I don't know if this will be the best answer, but I think it's just a work life balance. I used to work 12, 14 hours a day and really just be stressed out and, you know, phone call after phone call. But I find, like, now that I'm spending more time with family and actually even just breathing more and relaxing, the habit of just getting well rest good sleep.

I'd say good sleep is a massive one, and just breathing during the day more and relaxing. Then when you spend that time, you're in a deep focus and really concentrated. So I would say I probably discovered that the last 6 months or a year, actually, that the habit of probably deep sleep and just relaxing, to be honest, has been really powerful. What about the number one thing that's contributed to your success? I'd say tenacity.

I just don't give up. If I believe in something, I don't care. I'll find an answer. My grandfather, Conrad, had an extraction company, Conrad Heating. He was a stubborn old German, and I remember working with him, and he would just get the job done.

I feel like that just stuck with me. Like, I persevere, you know, like, worst people give up at, you know, halfway through the alphabet, I'll go all the way to z, and I'll I'll start all over again. And I think that's been my step to success. I just don't give up. How do you like to give back?

Oh, I love giving back. And that's the thing about Longair. It's a community you're building and like just meeting and shaking people's hands and trying to provide value to the business. So I just like giving back by providing value to the small businesses in my community. And we're about to launch a podcast and part of the podcast is actually how to help and support these small businesses through especially troubling times up ahead, but just anything, pricing jobs and networking and everything else.

So giving back to the to our small businesses is is my way of giving back. Awesome. Chris, grateful to meet you and have you on the show. I'm always encouraged by hearing, like, somebody saw a need. Right?

And, typically, it's in our own lives. Right? There's something that's frustrating us, and then that entrepreneurial strive comes out and figures out a way to solve it. And sounds like you've done just that. Appreciate you sharing that today.

Need help starting your podcast, let me know. Our team at Vox Valens are helping numerous people produce podcasts now, so a little shout out there to them. But, Chris, thank you again. Tell the listeners how they can get in touch with you and learn more about you. Awesome.

Appreciate that. So it's my cell phone, 941-278-1995. You can email me at clonglongericks.com or or check on my website and you can get a hold of us there at longaricks.com. Thank you for being with us again today. I hope that you have learned a lot from the show.

Don't forget to like and subscribe. I hope you're telling your friends about The Real Estate Syndication Show and how they can also build wealth in real estate. You can also go to lifebridgecapital.com and start investing today.