DEAR WALDMANS: We are one of those facilities that are not run with a computer.Our business seems to run just fine, but I get tired of people telling me I need to becomputerized--that I would make more money and that it could save me time. Honestly,everything works just fine now. I have all my paperwork in order, my tenants are happy andI am not committing a crime by having my papers here and there. Why can't peopleunderstand that I am not a failure because I am not a computer buff? So, in all thesuccess I've had without my computer, my best friend recently told me how I was losingmoney without one. He, of course, has a computer (even though he doesn't know a whole lotabout it) and said I was losing money each time I pro-rated a unit, such as when thetenant moved in on the middle of the month. Of course, I didn't believe him--until heshowed me. Now I'm beginning to believe that a computer system would indeed help. He neverexplained his theory of pro-rating with and without a computer. What's your take on thesituation?
--Counting My Cash in Dallas, Texas

DEAR COUNTING MY CASH: I'll bet you were floored when you found out you werelosing money. It is always a hard thing to swallow when a friend tells you how you arelosing your own money. After all, what are friends for? This is so simple to understand,you will hate yourself for not figuring this one out. But, that's OK, your friend makesmistakes, too. You'll just have to find one of his mistakes and throw it right back athim. Now, let's look at pro-rating a unit by hand. As an example, let's use a unit thatcosts $100 a month. Say your tenant moves in on the 10th day of the month. By hand, youwould take $100 divided by 30 days and it equals $3.33 a day. So, now you subtract 10 from30 to get to 20. Now 20 days multiplied by $3.33 equals $66.60. If the computer calculatesthe same pro-rated situation, it would take the day the tenant is actually renting theunit. This would give you 21 days instead of 20 days. Therefore, 21 multiplied by $3.33equals $69.93. You are shorting yourself $3.33 by calculating the equation by hand becauseyou are starting with the next day, instead of the real day the tenant rents the unit. Ifyou rent 300 units a year by the hand calculation (losing the day the tenant actuallymoves in) then you will lose $999 a year. What a loss to your business. If you want togain this money by hand, make sure you add that extra day back--the actual day the tenantsigns the lease. See how simple that was? So easy to lose so much money.

There are so many things that we do in business without thinking. Friends are reallygreat to discover some dos and don'ts. By sharing information, we gain knowledge byexperiences and we learn by our mistakes. Never be afraid or embarrassed to ask for helpor an explanation of those things we don't understand. All of us had to learn, and all ofus make mistakes. Intimidation sometimes occurs with such rapid technology. If you feelgood about your system, don't ever let someone pressure you into moving into something youdon't feel comfortable with. That goes with everything in life. However, always take thetime to investigate new technology. You might find some other money-saving features justby looking and listening.

The Waldmans, a father-daughter team, are self-storage owners/operators and attorneys.In addition, Ms. Waldman holds a Master's degree in Labor and Employment Law fromGeorgetown University. The Waldmans are co-authors of the industry's leading series ofbooks on self-storage operations: Getting Started, Forms, Policies & Procedures andSouth Carolina Tools. Another creation of Ask the Waldmans are their colorful postersdesigned exclusively for the self-storage industry.