Sy grandson raring to build own SM empire

Howard (left) and Hans Sy

This grandson of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr. is determined to build his own SM empire. StorageMart, that is.

StorageMart is a newly opened self-service storage facility on Yakal Street, Makati City, that seeks to move ahead of the pack and inevitably discover the golden opportunity in offering Filipinos—like those who live in condominiums or travel regularly—an alternative storage space.

It is the first entrepreneurial venture of 28-year-old Howard Sy, the third of four children of Hans Sy, the second son of the founder of the Sy group and Director of SM Prime Holdings Inc., one of the largest integrated property developers in Southeast Asia.

StorageMart today is a modest operation with a staff complement of just four people and quite a departure from his posh office at Macquarie, where he worked as an investment analyst . But for the young Sy, who wants to march to the beat of his own drummer, it marks just the beginning of his journey to carve his own space in the local corporate world.

Sy, who graduated with honors from the University of Melbourne with a degree in Commerce, major in Finance and Management, tells the Inquirer in an interview that even while he was still with the Macquarie group, his heart was already set on striking out on his own, of building a business from the ground up.

Not that he did not enjoy his life as an analyst, as challenging and pressure-packed as it was, with him being involved in a Philippine infrastructure fund and the management of an oil storage facility.

“The hours were ridiculous. There were days when we would start at 9 in the morning and finish way past midnight. Some weekends were also spent at work. You do get paid so much, but you end up throwing away your life. On weekends, you don’t have much energy left to go out and have fun. But it was great training and exposure to the business world,” shares Sy, who worked with Macquarie for about four years.

He absorbed all that he could and took to heart all of the lessons that he learned while on the job.

Sy also saved all of his money and when the right time came, poured it into StorageMart, the idea for which came after watching an episode of Storage Wars, an American reality show featuring people bidding for the contents of abandoned storage units.

He was entering his second year at Macquarie when he chanced upon the show that brought to mind the idea that there should be a market for self-storage in the Philippines.

“I researched on it and saw an opportunity. It is not that big a need now, but it already is abroad. And the market will eventually grow here,” Sy said.

It took about two years from the time he came up with the idea to the day StorageMart finally opened its doors to the public in November last year.

“I saved all of my money and threw it all into this business. That is something I am proud of,” Sy says.

Like most entrepreneurs starting out, Sy had his share of mistakes, like having wrong sizes for the storage units. He initially thought the market would want medium-size spaces, but as it turned out, the market immediately snapped up the smallest and biggest units—1 and 21 square meters with the rental ranging from about P2,000 to P30,000 a month.

StorageMart on Yakal offers 161 units, of which about 40 percent have been taken up, with leases ranging from a month to a year.

Adjustments have already been made to the configurations of the units to meet the demand.

To attract clients, StorageMart offers 24/7 access to customers and round-the-clock security.

As an added layer of security, every storage space is fitted out with an individual door alarm. In the unlikely event of a break-in, the unit’s alarm system will notify both central security and the owner of the room that it has been accessed.

Such features, plus the bright interiors, combine to hopefully get more corporate as well as individual clients to rent storage space.

Sy says he now has a better grasp of the growing self-storage business in the Philippines, and he will take note of the lessons as he plots his next moves, such as looking for the location of the next StorageMart facilities.

The second one will soon rise on Kalayaan Avenue to service potential clients in the bustling Bonifacio Global City area.

Sy does most of the work himself and pores through all the details, all part of the training that he got from his years at Macquarie.

“That is what they emphasize in the banking industry, the attention to detail,” says Sy, who does not regret his years in the world of finance even if running his own company was what he always wanted.

“I liked the challenge. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. But after a while, I was not too happy anymore. I wanted my own business, something to call my own,” says Sy, “And I wanted a business that is scalable, not a one-off thing like a restaurant.”

It has been a “slow and steady” growth for StorageMart, a welcome change of pace from the frenetic life that he used to lead, and he would not have it any other way.

“It feels nice to have your own. This is my baby. All of my life savings is here,” says Sy, adding that he is fortunate to have the full support of his family, including his father, Hans, and grandfather, Henry.

“The nice thing about them is that they push you to do what you want,” says Sy, “I was not obligated to come home and work for the family. Sooner or later, I may join but I don’t want to go in there without any experience. I want my credentials to speak for themselves.”

In the meantime, Sy is committed to blaze his own trail through StorageMart, guided by the most important lessons he learned from his family—to know the business first-hand, take care of all the details himself and realize that there is always a solution to a problem, no matter how serious it is.