Depending on where you are located, a parking lot business could be an untapped goldmine for you. If you’re living in a city sprawling with businesses and events centers or popular local destinations with limited parking, then you should totally consider putting one yourself. Parking lots can be a potential source of income if you have an empty property sitting idly next to commercial areas such as stadiums, event spaces, or tourist locations. Any area that is attracting enormous crowds of people is a great opportunity waiting to be realized.
But first, before you go and put your money on the line to start your pay parking business, it’s important to first prep yourself up and consider the following factors:
- Location
Pay parking is all about location! Your location will either make or break your business. That said, you need to be extremely careful about picking the location of your parking lot otherwise, you might end up losing all that cash for nothing. It’s great if you have a deep knowledge of the neighborhood or city you’re planning to operate. And it’s a plus if you already know which areas are teeming with cars and people with inadequate space to accommodate all its visitors, but if not, we suggest that you give enough time to do your research. After all, the most critical decision and the biggest investment you’re going to make here is in its location.
- Initial Capital Investment and Costing
At this point, we assume that you have found the perfect location to begin your parking lot business. The next step then is to start computing for the initial capital investment and your projections for at least the next three years.
Let’s begin with the initial investment. If the land is not yours, then how much is the lease on the land you’re planning to turn into a parking lot? What are your terms with the owner? How many parking slots are you planning to install? Aside from these, another key component that you should look into is hiring skilled professionals to pave your parking lot to give it a smooth blacktop finish. According to Home Advisor, the average cost of paving a parking lot is between $2.50 to $4.50 per square foot depending on the prevailing market prices in the material and labor costs in your city. You can seek the help of local paving companies in your area by simply performing a Google search or asking your peers for recommendations. We also have a parking lot paving contractor in North Carolina you can check out if you’re around that area.
In addition, you’d also need a couple of equipment to ensure the safety and security of your customers. Some of those pieces of equipment that you’ll need are CCTV cameras, transaction machines, lift gates, and a good amount of lights to keep your business well-illuminated.
Now if you got that figured out, the next course of action is to determine how to price your services. Ask around and check out your competitors. How much are they pricing their parking services? How do they charge their customers?l Make sure that you come up with a price point that is competitive yet profitable for you.
- Registering Your Business
Now that you’re all set and keen on making this venture happen, let’s make it official by registering your pay parking business. Take note of the city’s laws and regulations on parking taxes because that differs from place to place.
- Operations
Once you have ironed out all the documents and preparations necessary, it’s time to get down to business! In essence, there aren’t that many things to do during operations other than to hire a staff of people to take shifts in manning the cashier (depending on your operating hours), some security personnel to safeguard your parking lot, maintain peace and order, and ensure the safety of your customers and their vehicles. See to it that the automated payment systems and all the lamp posts and security cameras are working properly.
- Maintenance
It’s one thing to open a business, but it’s another to keep it profitably sound. A key element to a successful parking lot business aside from its location is its maintenance. Eventually, your beautifully paved asphalt will wane and deteriorate from constant wear and tear, and it is your duty as the owner to maintain it in its best shape, free from major cracks and potholes that could risk the safety of your customers. A battered parking lot is not only an eyesore, but it could also damage the rubber tires of your customers’ vehicles or could even potentially cause an accident. Hence, see to it that you conduct regular inspections and conduct commercial parking lot repairs when necessary.
Starting a parking lot business is simple considering that it only requires minimal supervision to operate. Nonetheless, like any other startup venture, it demands thorough planning and consistent monitoring. With this, we hope you were able to piece together all the things that you would need to get you started. Good luck!
