If you have always had the dream of becoming your own boss, investing in a commercial property can be lucrative. Of course, the main objective when running such a business is to generate enough revenue to earn a living. However, you should also strive to maintain, if not improve, the value of the property if you plan to sell it in the future. The following tips will ensure you’re taking good care of your commercial property.
1. Ensure The Landscape is Well-maintained
There are many moving parts involved in running a successful business. You not only have to provide quality goods and services that keep customers coming back but also have to ensure you create a positive experience when a customer enters your commercial property. Customers will often form opinions about your business at first glance. Therefore, the best you can do to attract customers to your business is to show them that you care for your commercial property by ensuring you have a well-maintained landscape.
The fact is, running a business in itself can be very demanding. As a business owner, you may not always have the time to oversee all maintenance work required on your commercial property. Sometimes, your best option is to delegate tasks to experts.
For example, consider hiring a commercial concrete contractor to maintain the concrete pavements on your property. If installing a fence around your property is also necessary, you should hire contractors to go over your alternatives, some of which may include commercial wood fencing. If you have any trees on your land, consider employing a professional arborist to assist with tree care.
2. Hiring Commercial Cleaning Services
For most companies, hiring a commercial cleaning contractor to help clean up a premise isn’t a top priority, but it should be. Research indicates that even a seemingly clean commercial space can benefit a great deal from commercial cleaning. The truth is, cleaning your property is not only to remove dirt but germs that may not be visible to the naked eye.
According to the Kitchener Clean blog, your computer keyboard hosts about 7,500 bacteria. If that’s how bad one keyboard is, what about the rest of the space? The surest way to care for your commercial property and minimize the risk of diseases is to hire a professional. According to statistics by Desert Oasis Cleaners, the average cost of hiring commercial cleaners ranges between $52 to $110 per hour, depending on the space’s size, the contractor, and the type of cleaning services you need.
As tempting as it is to avoid such costs by doing the cleaning by yourself or with the help of your employees, you may not have the necessary skills and equipment to clean some areas. For example, suppose you have a kitchen on your commercial property. In that case, you need to regularly clean the hood to get rid of kitchen odors as well as minimize the risk of fire. For this, your best bet is to hire commercial hood cleaning services.
3. Prevent Pest Infestation
It’s important to proactively develop a plan to mitigate pests in your commercial property. Pests on a commercial property will not only turn away potential customers and tenants but also compromise the structure of the entire commercial building. Ensuring you regularly check for gaps on doors and windows and any other access points will help to care for your commercial property by ensuring no pests gain access to your property. You should, therefore, hire a pest control service to monitor your space for any pests present and to come up with ways to get rid of them and prevent the problem from returning.
Examples of pests that are commonly found in commercial properties include mice, spiders, cockroaches, flies, and termites. One of the biggest concerns for most commercial property owners is whether or not the tenants have to vacate the premises during pest control. The answer is no. You can opt to work with a company that uses non-toxic treatments to avoid inconveniencing your tenants, who would otherwise need to close their businesses and incur the additional cost of hiring moving companies if the chemicals used during the extermination are toxic.
4. Repairing Damages
Another great tip for ensuring you care for your commercial property is keeping up with all necessary repairs. Some repairs may appear as minor and are often overlooked. However, ignoring minor repairs will only escalate the issues and potentially result in expensive damages.
For example, if you ignore replacing a missing shingle on your roof, you may be forced to replace the entire roof, which will cost you a lot more. According to Jose Rodriguez, the average cost of replacing a commercial roof ranges between $5,000 and $50,000. So hire a commercial roofing company for reroofing services when the need arises.
Your HVAC is a vital system within the commercial property. Over time, dust may accumulate in the filters, causing the system to malfunction. Buckeye recommends ensuring routine maintenance checks at least once each year. However, it would be best if you considered factors such as age and region when scheduling your frequency. Ignoring any minor problem with your system will not only cause the system to fail but also add to your monthly bills.
5. Upgrading and Renovating
Upgrading your commercial building is a great way to show you care for your commercial property. It not only enhances the appearance of the property but also helps to improve efficiency. As opposed to rebuilding an entire building, a few renovations can go a long way in improving the overall appeal and consequently attracting more tenants.
However, it’s essential to note that renovations can be costly depending on various factors. According to Buildout Pros, the average cost ranges between $20 to $500 per square foot. It is, therefore, essential to come up with a checklist of all the areas that need upgrading to draft a practical budget.
Although some renovations can be simple DIY projects, especially for owners who are looking to cut costs, others are best left to professionals who are better equipped to execute the projects. For example, the entryway plays a vital role in commercial buildings. If not well-maintained, it can potentially hurt sales, everyday operations, and employee and customer experience. Therefore, if you want to expand and upgrade this space to accommodate more visitors, you should consider hiring professional commercial builders who offer land clearing services to get the new space ready for construction.
6. Invest in Commercial Property Management Software
Typically, maintaining a commercial property entails a lot of work. You have to keep track of the monthly expenses, rental income rates, and tenant turnover rates. You also need to arrange regular maintenance and inspections. Even though it’s possible to complete the tasks manually, it is time-consuming, and you may end up overlooking certain crucial ones.
Fortunately, remote-operated property management systems powered by recent technological improvements have made it simpler for you to care for your commercial property. It’s easier for commercial property owners and managers to monitor all activities using these remotely operated systems. When managing your business property, integrating management software also ensures that you save time, improve communication, manage tasks efficiently, and are up to date with maintenance.
7. Maintaining Shared Spaces
The COVID-19 pandemic saw a major revolution in how commercial buildings are managed. Unlike before, when an organization would rent out an entire building to conduct its business, today, most commercial buildings house different businesses that have a few shared spaces. For example, if your commercial building is an office complex, there may be a common break room that is accessible to all tenants. If your building houses residential apartments, your tenants may have a shared laundry area that they can all access. Other areas that may be shared on a commercial property include lobbies, parking lots, restrooms, and elevators.
Since these shared spaces are the most frequently used spaces, they are bound to need maintenance more frequently than other spaces on your property. You should, therefore, care for your commercial property by ensuring they are well-maintained. If you notice the lights in the lobby keep flickering or the switch is malfunctioning, hire an electrician to help address the issue. The lobby is probably the first area of contact with anyone who walks into your building. Its condition will either attract or shun tenants away.
8. Ensure the Building is Energy Efficient
According to Bartingale Mechanical, an average building wastes 33% of the overall energy usage; considering the impact of energy waste on your monthly energy bill, this statistic can be alarming. As a commercial property owner, you should strive to minimize, if not eliminate, energy wastage on your property, and the good thing is that there are measures you could put in place to ensure this.
For example, you could choose to insulate your property. Commercial insulation will not only create a comfortable environment by regulating the temperature inside the building, but it will also help to create a healthier and quieter environment. This way, your commercial building will enjoy a competitive edge. In addition, insulation will help to save 10% of your energy bill. Therefore, get commercial insulation services from a reputable contractor to ensure installation is done correctly.
9. Enhance Security
As a business owner, running a successful commercial property business comes with a list of responsibilities, key among them is ensuring security. Just as it is with many other businesses, operating a commercial property exposes you to a variety of risks that could stem from thieves, tenants, pests, or even the staff. It’s, therefore, your responsibility to care for your commercial property by putting in place measures that help to mitigate all potential risks.
For example, you could set up access control. A commercial building is a public space that can be accessed by anyone. However, if you carelessly allow everyone into your property, you could be opening your doors to strangers with ill- motives. Therefore, it is important to vet all people accessing the building and limit access to sensitive areas on the property.
It is impossible to keep an eye on everything that is happening on your commercial property. However, you can ensure all areas are covered by installing surveillance cameras throughout the property. This way, you’ll have eyes on everything that goes on, even in your absence. You could also link the cameras to alarm systems so that you are notified if anyone tries to access the property illegally.
10. Balance Your Tenants
If you have just finished constructing your commercial building, you must be eager to have the building fully occupied to start earning from your investment. However, don’t rush the process. It would be best if you were meticulous as you lease out your property to different tenants. Ensure they all serve in different industries.
Why? You ask, well, if all your tenants offer similar goods and services, it means they will all be competing for the same limited resources, making it difficult for them to earn from their businesses. If a tenant isn’t profiting from their business, they can’t comfortably pay rent, compromising your income as the property owner in the long run.
Moreover, if that specific industry incurs losses at a specific time, it means that all your tenants will be affected. Some may be forced to close down, and those who stay open may struggle to meet the rent obligation. The phrase ‘never put all your eggs in one basket’ is the most fit to describe the situation. Diversification when choosing tenants will help ensure regular income.
11. Hire Help
As a commercial property owner, you can’t do everything on your own as much as you would like to. The best way to ensure you care for your commercial property efficiently is by hiring a commercial property manager to help you run your business. You may not want the help due to the cost involved in getting the help, but you stand to lose a lot more by choosing to do everything on your own. Whether you’re hiring a renovation contractor or a commercial property manager, ensure you work with certified personnel. Your investment will thank you later.
As a commercial property owner, you have to ensure you care for your commercial property. Create a conducive environment for your tenants to operate and have open communication channels to ensure you address all grievances that may be raised. Taking care of your property will help to attract new tenants and improve tenant retention rates.
