Invested in commercial property but not getting enough revenue? We know the pain! While commercial properties themselves can be a great source of cash flow, most investors find it difficult to pay high property taxes and make ends meet. Thankfully, you can now generate a stellar return on your investment by providing excellent tenant experience. 

Here are 5 ways in which commercial property can maximise revenue and help you find creative ways of generating additional income.

1. Increase Monthly Rent Strategically

One of the best ways in which commercial property can provide maximum revenue is by increasing the monthly rent. However, this decision should be taken strategically when the timing is right. It can be done when the real estate market is doing great. Now, for example, would not be an appropriate time to employ this strategy. With many companies being hit by the impact of the global pandemic, it would be an unfair time to start asking for a higher rent. You must ask yourself as a property owner: “What are my values and how do they influence my business?”. Many business owners are showing compassion in times like these and are in fact lowering their rent, which only helps to create long term loyalty and satisfaction from your customers.

When the time has come to incrementally increase your rent. The sudden rise in the rent should not make your tenants uncomfortable. Instead, announce it with ample warning, providing an explanation as to why the rise is needed. An example could be rise of costs, inflation or an improvement in facilities. Provide at least a few months of notice before the new rent is due so that they have time to make adjustments. Remember, your impatience can force them to look for another place and leave a negative impact on your business too. Timing this right allows your tenants to budget the rise into their financial plan too.

2. Offer More to the Tenants

Your commercial property shouldn’t only provide space to your tenants. Instead, your commercial space should offer more than just 4 walls. Not sure what this might be? Let us share some ideas that we love.

One of the most obvious, and common services, is cleaning. Most tenants will value having their office spic and span. With a commercial property big enough, you can eventually scale your cleaning team to such a level that it becomes a business in itself, offering services to neighboring businesses.

You can provide your tenants with internet services or access to high-tech appliances such as Administration hardware and facilities. Having a dedicated copy room, high-quality scanner, dedicated meeting room with conferencing abilities or, if your target customer base fits: a podcast studio. It isn’t often that a commercial property will include something like this, so that immediately justifies a higher fee.

A quick, but effective addition is vending machines. It will not only add value to your property, but it will also help you gain revenue with ease. Although the option to make use of these services lies with your client, it is hard to resist. Since people love how conveniently they can grab a bite with a vending machine, it should be placed in a common area so that more people have access to it. There will always be a considerable amount of traffic to the vending machine, especially when it is loaded with yummy snacks! A simple revenue-generating tool that requires little maintenance and can be serviced on a schedule by guess who? Your cleaning staff!

3. Make Way for Paid Parking Spaces

Another way in which commercial properties can maximise revenue is by turning a free parking space into a paid one. If you were not charging your tenants for keeping their vehicles in the parking lot until now, it’s time to change that. Few people will mind paying extra in order to keep their vehicles safe, guarantee the availability of a space and having the option to grant permits to visitors. 

Here is how you can make it justifiable. In the parking lot, you can offer some covered area which will include some fee. While some people would love to make use of this luxury, the rest of the people can make use of free parking. 

The easiest way of justifying this is that, in the end, it creates a better experience for the tenants and their visiting guests too. By using some of our integrated systems, you can ensure that not only your customers have a smooth experience, but you can also begin maximising revenue from what was previously “dead space”. Here are the key technologies that can make a difference when setting up your car park for success:

• ANPR – ANPR stands for Automatic Number Plate Recognition. ANPR gives you a day and night overview of your site. This makes it ideal for enforcing maximum stay limits – limits which can be tricky to control otherwise.
• Pay & Display Systems – Provide easy access to your facilities and consistently generate income using a fair parking system that’s easily understood by visitors.
• Permit Systems – These help to provide access to your tenants and their visitors, through customisable permit applications and cloud-based, paper and linked permits that save you the time and cost of all that permit application processing and approval, production, allocation and monitoring.
• Car Park Enforcement – Professional car park enforcement services can help drive revenue and create a better experience for your customers with dedicated patrol staff.

Besides, you can also provide your tenant with paid storage space. It can include lockers in which the tenants can keep extra stuff by paying some amount of money to you. 

4. Ensure Proper Maintenance

Not maintaining your commercial property can surely help you save money and maximise revenue – in the short term. However, it may backfire and eventually, you will lose your tenants’ loyalty, and in turn, your tenants.

Commercial properties are like residential properties. They suffer a lot of wear and tear, arguably even more. Therefore, it becomes essential to carry regular inspections. Look out for water leakage and make sure that your commercial property has no electrical faults. It will help you prevent expensive repairs in the long run. It will also provide reassurance to your tenants that you actually care about their working environment and take pride in your property,

In addition to this, look out for external repairs as well. If the outer appearance of your property looks outdated and looks like it may make a good location for a horror film, make practical changes. Update the windows and improve the appearance of your property without spending unnecessary expenditure. There are many resources online about ways of improving how your building looks, without having to take out a loan to do so.

You can also ensure 24×7 security to your tenants by providing them with security cameras and alarms. It will ultimately increase your property’s value and further improve that sense of trust from your tenants. 

5. Convert Available Areas to Hold Events

The rooftop of your commercial property can be used to hold events like corporate parties – adhering to social distancing rules that is. So, make the most of it by making some smart renovations and bringing in some hip, affordable, but practical decor. Your tenants will love this idea and will happily agree to pay money to use this space (there’s another example of how looking after your tenants – will help you too). Apart from being an additional source of income, it will also bring more visitors to your property, which will ultimately bring in potential customers. 

As mentioned before: You can also provide your tenants with conference halls or meeting rooms with high-tech equipment. It will also be a wonderful source of additional cash flow. 

Bottom Line

If you are in the real estate investor, you can always find new and creative ways to make more of your commercial property. By setting aside time to get creative and put ideas to paper, you will be surprised at some of the solutions you can come up with. The key is to withhold any judgment on ideas, simply get them out. Innovation often comes in times where you have to create solutions. If you are looking for ways to generate more revenue, rest assured, because there are always more ways.