As a business owner, you want your company to appeal to customers and employees alike by being well-maintained, clean, and on brand. You’ve probably spent a lot of time creating a beautiful interior that displays your products or services and ensures anyone who enters that your business is reliable. What you might not realize is that people begin making assumptions about your business as soon as they see it from the street. This means you need to ensure your parking lot is just as nice as the rest of your company. That’s why we put together this guide on how to improve your parking lot.
Increase Security on the Lot
Whether your Northern California parking lot is for customers or employees, you want everyone who uses it to feel safe. Part of that safety means using sufficient lighting to avoid shadows for thieves to hide in. While the middle of many parking lots is safe, it’s important to think about the edges of your lot, around the sides of the building, or anywhere else that tends to be darker and used less often. Add surveillance cameras and emergency phones as extra precautions.
In addition to ensuring people feel safe leaving their cars and walking to and from them, it’s important to do what you can to prevent accidents in your lot. About 20% of car accidents happen in parking lots. You can help to prevent them by ensuring your entrances, exits, crosswalks, stop signs, and other designation signs are high enough for people to see in their vehicles and bright enough to be viewed in the dark. Create a clear traffic pattern by painting arrows to make lanes one way, and ensure your emergency lanes, crosswalks, and other road paints are highly visible.
Use the Right Material
Choosing the right material is essential for keeping your lot in tip-top shape. If your business caters to a lot of large vehicles, concrete is the best idea. It has a higher load-bearing capacity that holds up well under heavier vehicles, especially in high-traffic areas. Concrete is also easier to maintain, creates a more modern look that can be enhanced to fit your company’s brand, and reflects more light.
Asphalt is another option. Although it takes more effort to maintain, some businesses, such as stores, prefer this material because the color allows white and yellow lines to stand out more easily, making it easier for people to see where one parking spot ends and the next begins.
Create More Curb Appeal
As important as safety is, so is curb appeal. A lot that looks good is one that helps employees feel proud of where they work, and customers feel safe in trusting your business. Repair any cracks or potholes as soon as possible to create a smoother, more visually pleasing surface. Provide garbage cans around the lot to encourage people to keep it clean and ensure it remains free of rodents and other pests. If you have empty land surrounding your lot, plant trees to provide more shade. Flowers are also beneficial for curb appeal, as well as for improving your local ecosystems. A well-maintained lot shows that you care about your business and its professionalism.
Whether you own a single business or you are a property manager for multiple locations, you want your parking lots to be safe, secure, and pleasing to the eye. Get in touch with DRYCO to find out how we can help you achieve your goals and improve your parking lot.