# About

Building for portable storage since 2020

## Software written for the way portable storage actually works

Stella exists to give storage companies of all sizes one cloud-based system for sales, operations and billing — and people on the other end of the phone when they need them.

Why we built it

## It started in June 2020

- Stella exists to give storage companies of all sizes, whether they rent, sell, rent-to-own or anything in between, one cloud-based system for sales, operations, inventory and billing.
- Portable storage has a workflow of its own. A lead becomes a quote, a quote becomes a signed contract, a contract becomes a delivery on someone's calendar, a delivery becomes a box sitting at an address, and that box becomes a recurring invoice. Stella was designed around that sequence so it happens once, in one system, instead of being retyped into five.

What Stella does

- Managing sales leads
- One-click quote generation
- Calendar push for deliveries
- One-click contract signing
- Google Maps integration with box placement and inventory
- Seamless inventory management
- Automatic recurring billing
- Pre-payments, partial payments, refunds and auto-prorating

What we believe

## Six things we won't compromise on

- Built for one industry — Stella isn't a general-purpose rental tool bent into shape. It was written for portable storage from the first line — box placement, relocations, delivery routing and R2O are first-class, not workarounds.
- One system, not five — Sales, operations and billing live on the same customer record. Quotes, contracts, calendars, inventory and invoicing all read from one source of truth, so nothing gets re-keyed.
- Fewer clicks, fewer errors — One-click quote generation, one-click contract signing, automatic billing with refund, credit and void handling. The work your team repeats every day should take seconds, not screens.
- All-inclusive onboarding — Build your custom Stella, create your contracts/rental agreements, set up all aspects of your QBO account and its integration with Stella, set up your eSigning license, design your e-Quote, get all inventory set up and migrate your existing customers. If Stella Plus, design your Quote Tool for your website (Lily Pad), all with your approval.
- Training plus some — Training your staff is the most important bridge to your success with Stella. Our team offers 4–5 one-hour training sessions on all aspects of Stella, often providing consultative approaches based on our knowledge of best practices. Once training is complete, we provide a solid runway of unlimited support questions.
- Support that answers — One-click support button, 800# or email, and the Stella Library. Our support team promises a response time of less than 24 hours, but in all honesty, it's more like an hour or less. Stella's support reputation will crush any competitor's response time. Support packages are available for those who know they'll need a little “extra extra.”

The road so far

## From first commit to Stella Pro

- 2020 — ## Development begins — In June 2020 work started on the next generation of portable storage management software for rentals — built for storage companies of all sizes, not just the biggest operators.
- Today — ## Rentals, Sales, R2O, Relo Services, Self-Storage — all in one place — Stella runs rentals, sales, R2O, relo services and even self-storage with an integrated quote tool, dispatch, eContract, Google Maps integration, seamless inventory management, automatic billing and billing-related functions, and deep-dive reporting, including detailed P&L reporting by location or salesperson.
- 2027 — ## Stella Pro — The next level of Stella is in development, arriving in 2027. It will include a deeper set of CRM functionality with a more inclusive dispatch process. Get in touch if you'd like to be on the early access list.

Meet the team

## The people behind Stella

![The Stella and Lily Pad Connect team](https://runstella.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MTMxLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--ce0391b27ec0841202387e14193c0480845d7fc1/group.jpg)

The Stella and Lily Pad Connect team

In their words

## The part we're proudest of is the support

Onboarding, weekly tutorials and published how-to videos come up again and again in customer feedback. Read it from the operators themselves.

- Customer testimonials — What operators say about running their business on Stella, published verbatim. — Read testimonials — /testimonials
- Case studies — Longer stories from yards that consolidated onto one system and stayed there. — Browse case studies — /case-studies

Ready when you are

## See Stella running your workflow

We'll show you how a yard actually runs — quoting, dispatch, billing and all.

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Source: https://runstella.com/about
Updated: 2026-10-12