香港初創企業開發蝸居生態鏈
Entrepreneurs in Hong Kong are developing innovative ways to help inhabitants of tiny apartments as the Chinese territory embraces a micro-living trend that is catching on in London, New York and beyond.
香港企業家正在開發創新方法來幫助居住在微小公寓的市民，這個中國的特別行政區正在擁抱倫敦、紐約和其它國際都市正在興起的“微型生活”趨勢。
From suitcase rental to external goods storage managed by smartphone apps, businesspeople in Hong Kong have established a range of start-ups designed to capitalise on the lack of living space.
從行李箱出租到通過智能手機應用管理的外部儲物，香港商人創立了一批旨在獲利於居住空間狹小的創業型企業。
Hong Kong has the world’s most expensive residential property after Monaco, according to estate agents Knight Frank, with tiny 20 sq mapartments on sale for as much as HK$4.5m ($580,000). Three-quarters of apartments in this densely populated city of 7m people have no dedicated storage space, according to Colliers, another estate agent.
根據地產代理萊坊(Knight Frank)的數據，香港住宅價格在世界上排名第二，僅次於摩納哥，區區20平方米的狹小公寓每套售價就高達450萬港元（合58萬美元）。另一家地產代理高力(Colliers)稱，在這個700萬市民的人口密集的城市，四分之三的公寓樓沒有專門的儲物空間。
As they struggle to afford decent housing, young professionals from London to Hong Kong are increasingly opting for micro-apartments that range from ill-fitting conversions to slickly designed buildings with shared facilities such as gyms and lounges.
從倫敦到香港，年輕的專業人士在很難負擔體面的住房之際，越來越多地選擇微型公寓單位，此類住宅既有不怎麼宜居的舊樓改造，也有設計新潮、配備健身房和休息室等共用設施的新建公寓樓。
“Prices are rising all the time and apartments are getting smaller by the day,” says Rachel Cheung, a former public relations officer who launched Hong Kong’s first suitcase rental business in October. “A suitcase takes up a huge amount of space at home but doesn’t get used that often.” Her company, Rent-a-Suitcase, leases upmarket Rimowa suitcases from HK$68 a day and she has served 300 customers so far as she looks for investors to help expand her business.
“樓價不斷上漲，公寓單位一天比一天小，”前公關人員、去年10月推出香港第一家行李箱租賃公司的Rachel Cheung表示。“行李箱在家裏佔用大量空間，但用得並不是太頻繁。”她的公司“租遊列國”(Rent-a-Suitcase)出租高檔的Rimowa行李箱，每天收費68港元，迄今她已向300位客戶提供服務。目前她在尋覓投資者以求擴大業務。
Norman Cheung, a former investment banker, has got much further with his micro-storage start-up, which has raised $8.1m since January from some of Asia’s best-known investors, including the founders of Ting Hsin group, the world’s biggest maker of instant noodles.
前投資銀行家張迅豪(Norman Cheung)的迷你儲物服務創業型企業走得更遠。自1月份以來，他已從亞洲一些最知名的投資者募集810萬美元，包括世界上最大方便麪生產商頂新集團(Ting Hsin group)的創始人。
Mr Cheung’s company, Boxful, offers a much more flexible version of the traditional self-storage model, where customers have to travel to a distant warehouse and hire large amounts of space for fixed periods.
張迅豪的公司寶易存(Boxful)提供遠比傳統自助儲物模式更爲靈活的自助儲物服務。傳統的自助儲物模式要求客戶親自往返遙遠的倉庫，租用較大儲物空間，而且期限固定。
Boxful’s staff go to the customers, providing standard-size crates, and offer an on-demand pick-up and drop-off service from HK$49 a month.
寶易存的員工上門取送，提供標準尺寸的儲物箱和預約取件/送件服務，費用從每月49港元起。
Boxful, like US counterparts Boxbee and MakeSpace and London’s SpaceWays, has an app that allows users to photograph their belongings and generate an electronic inventory.
就像美國同類企業Boxbee和MakeSpace，以及倫敦的SpaceWays那樣，Boxful有一個應用，允許用戶對入箱的物件拍照，生成一份電子清單。
“Most of our customers have never used self-storage before and that is unexpected but very encouraging because we’re creating a new market,” says Mr Cheung, whose company stored 3,500 boxes as of April, with growth accelerating month by month.
“我們的多數客戶以前從未用過自助儲物，這是令人意外但又非常鼓舞人心的，因爲我們正在創造一個新的市場，”張迅豪表示。他的公司截至4月儲存了3500個儲物箱，業務增長速度逐月加快。
Stuart Cerne, who co-founded Boxful’s main Hong Kong rival Spacebox, says the business model will generate economies of scale as individuals outsource personal storage and the companies buy warehouse space in bulk.
寶易存在香港的主要競爭對手Spacebox的聯合創始人斯圖爾特張尼(Stuart Cerne)表示，隨着人們外包私人物品儲存，隨着企業批量購買倉儲空間，這種商業模式將形成規模經濟效益。
Spacebox is also working on a new service that will allow customers to share boxes of their belongings, whether they contain baby clothes or electronics.
Spacebox還在研究一項新的服務，讓客戶分享裝有自己物品（從嬰兒衣物到電子設備）的儲物箱。
Mr Cerne says his company, which has 500 users and is targeting 5,000 by the end of the year, is not just about storing goods but “using technology to unclutter your life”.
Cerne表示，他的公司有500名用戶，爭取到今年底發展到5000名，其意義不只在於儲物，而是“用科技去除你生活中的雜亂”。
Boxful’s Mr Cheung is convinced the service will take off around Asia as property prices rise sharply in developed and developing cities alike. “We’re thinking about expanding internationally from next year and we’re looking at Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing in China as well as Singapore, Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok and Tokyo,” he says.
寶易存的張迅豪確信，隨着發達國家和發展中國家的城市樓價大幅上漲，他的服務將在亞洲各地起飛。“我們正考慮明年開始國際擴張，我們在研究中國內地的深圳、上海和北京，還有新加坡、雅加達、馬尼拉、曼谷和東京，”他表示。
