Al Vaks, the Founder of Gadabox, speaks to My Startup World about his new venture focused on on-demand micro storage.

Tell us about Gadabox. What’s it all about?
We are an on-demand micro storage company. Gadabox offers fractional storage space by offering its customers the opportunity to declutter their apartment/flats and or offices by storing anything such as say winter clothes, files, books, skis, luggage and etc.

We basically will drop off the boxes they require for free, pick up the boxes for free, store them in secured facility for nominal fee and deliver them back when ever they need them. You can think of us like a cloud storage service, but for your actual physical stuff.

When was the company founded?
Gadabox was originated in 2014. The idea came to me when noticing a lot of the flats here have limited space and most likely you have no room to store anything and the idea of actual storage units can be costly and/or big hassle.

What makes you different from existing options?
Currently, the traditional storage units are the only option which they can be expensive, hassle to go, and somewhat not practical if you have only few stuff you want to put away.

What is your growth like? And what milestones has your startup achieved so far?
We are a start up so the growth is steady and that’s a great achievement so far. Any business has its challenges on its own. Gadabox is a new wave of business like how microwaves were for stoves, iTunes for CDs and so on.

Most expats in this region are living in flats with very limited and/or no space. This gave me opportunity to come with a service not only to close in on the gap but to bring in quality service.

What have you learned so far from launching your idea?
We are still learning things. In any business or new idea, you have to believe in your product and be able to show intrinsic value to your customers. Our revenue is based on monthly subscription and as well as for delivery charges which both are nominal fees.

What are the benefits for the customer?
Most importantly having space in your flat and not worry about having a cramp space. By using Gadabox we are your endless closet space so you can go and do more shopping you want and not worry about not having enough space.

How did customers find out about you?
Mainly through word of mouth. We are also quite active on social media – mainly Facebook and Twitter.

Where do new customers come from and what makes new customers try you?
Mainly from communities such as JLT, Marina, JBR, Greens and so on. We are always offering promotions and free stuff to our customers like our last just when Christmas was over we offered free storage for their Christmas tree for one year.

What’s the biggest missing feature? The one thing customers keep asking for?
The only missing feature I can think of was there was no just service does exactly was Gadabox does and so its no longer a missing feature. One thing customers ask for is “where have you been”.