他她話題:爲什麼說人們比松鼠還傻?

THE best businesses take unpromising inputs and conjure from them a stable stream of profits. Self-storage firms fall into this category. They offer space-strapped customers a secure nest in which to store things they don't need right now but can't bring themselves to throw away. They invest in land Most developers would shun and use tenancy contracts that would make other landlords shudder.

最好的生財之道是在看上去暗淡無光的資產上投資，但卻能從它們身上創出穩定的利潤。私人倉儲公司乾的就是這行。這類公司爲空間緊張的顧客提供一間安全的小屋，存放他們暫時用不着卻又不能扔的東西。這種公司所投資的地盤，大多數開發商都會避而遠之，而此類公司所籤土地租賃合同的期限也另很多地主瞠目結舌。

Yet they are big business in America, where one family in ten uses one of the countries' 50,000 facilities. It's a sector that has seen robust performance and rapid growth, according to the Self Storage Association, an industry body. It is popular elsewhere too: Britain has seen an 8% growth in the number of stores in the past year.

然而私人倉儲公司這種生意在美國卻做得相當有規模——此類公司在全國約有50000家，有十分之一美國家庭都是它們的客戶。美國私人倉儲協會（一行業機構）稱該行業發展良好、增長迅猛。該行業在其他國家也方興未艾：英國倉儲公司的數量去年增加了8%。

To appreciate the magic of the business model, start with the ropy ingredients. The base is in commercial property, a sector hit hard in the financial crisis. The facilities are generally in unglamorous locations, on noisy roads or the outskirts of town. Tenants renting space pay little or no deposit, and are free to leave at a moment's notice. It sounds like a recipe for ruin. Yet storage firms make stonking profits.

要想理解這種商業模式爲何能有如此魔力，得先從其糟糕的構成要素談起。該行業根植於在金融危機中遭受重創的商業地產；其選址欠佳——位於喧鬧的街旁或遠離市中心；承租商只付極少的定金，或者乾脆分文不交，只需要提前很短一段時間打個招呼就可以走人。這麼做聽起來像是在自尋死路，可幹這行的商家偏偏賺得盆滿鉢滿。

Structured as Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS), which pool cash to invest in property, they have avoided the sinking feeling that has dominated the REIT sector for the past five years. While property values have fallen, profits and cash-flow have held up, lifting share prices. Public Storage, Extra Space and Sovran, three publicly traded American self-storers, were up between 30% and 140% since August 2007, while REIT indexes have lost ground.

房地產投資信託基金籌款投資樓市，不料過去五年行情不佳，一直籠罩在頹靡的陰雲中。私人倉儲公司與其採用相同的組織架構，卻逃過一劫。當樓市房產一路貶值時，利潤和資金流週轉不開，從而提高了倉儲公司的股價。大衆寄存、額外空間以及鎖萬等三家公開上市的私人倉儲公司，自2007年8月以來業績上升了30%到140%不等，而同期房地產投資信託基金的業績卻看跌。

There are two reasons for the storage firms' success. The first is that demand keeps growing. American workers are quite mobile, and often need a temporary spot to stash their stuff while they line up a move. More importantly, they keep acquiring stuff that cannot be consumed and never rots or rusts: plastic toys, metal garden furniture, porcelain knick-knacks. For some reason, they seldom chuck any of this rubbish out. This baffles economists, who assume "free disposal", meaning that things that aren't needed can be thrown away without making anyone feel bad about the loss. The fact that so many hoarders pay lots of cash to keep things shows the assumption needs a rethink.

倉儲公司成功的原因有二。其一，寄存的市場需求一直在上升。美國從業者的流動性很強，行來走去之時往往需要一個臨時寄存處。更重要的是，他們所得到的東西還在不斷增加，像塑料玩具、金屬製的花園傢俱、瓷質的小玩意兒等這類物品既不能消費也永遠不會腐爛或生鏽。出於某些原因，人們很少會扔掉這些垃圾。這種現象讓經濟學家們十分困惑，因爲他們想當然地以爲“想扔就扔”就是說東西一旦用不着了就可以拋棄，誰也不會心疼。可事實是相當多的人願意花大價錢把東西留下來，這樣來看，“想扔就扔”這種臆斷得重新考慮才行。

The second is that a short-term contract does not mean short-term profits. Stored stuff is like a bank deposit-it's contractually short term, but usually stays where it is. Contracts are often only for a month or so, yet hoarders stash things away for far longer. At Big Yellow, a British firm, 37% of space is filled with stuff that has been there for over three years. A cynic might compare human squirrels unfavourably to the wild sort, which usually remember to dig up their nuts come springtime.

其二，合同時間簽得短並不意味着收益期也跟着短。存東西就像存錢——合同期限雖短，但錢卻長存銀行。倉儲公司的合同往往只籤一個月左右，但人們實際存東西的時間卻要比這長得多。據英國一家名爲Big Yellow的倉儲公司稱，他們公司37%的倉儲空間都被佔用超過了三年。玩世不恭的人可能認爲人類松鼠不如真松鼠，因爲後者還記得春天來的時候要把果子挖出來。

Self-storage firms are also well-placed to deal with the problem other landlords dread: non-paying tenants. They have the upper hand because they have your stuff. If you don't pay up, they will flog it. This last trend has even spawned a television show-Storage Wars-in which rent-dodgers' possessions are sold, often for surprisingly high prices. The lessons of hoardonomics are clear: don't store your stuff, sell it. Then invest in a storage business.

私人倉儲公司也有妙招應對房東們經常碰到的難題：不交房租。倉儲公司佔據主動，因爲他們手中握有你的東西，你要是不把錢付清，他們就把你的東西賣掉。這一最後傾向甚至已經拍成了一個電視節目——寄存戰爭——演的就是一些人逃租金，導致存的東西被賣掉，售價通常還出奇的高。這就給那些愛存東西的人提了個醒：別存了，把這些東西賣掉吧！然後咱也幹這行！