Your business requires regular maintenance to stay in shape. Maintaining the interior comes naturally, but many business owners forget to maintain the building’s exterior.
It’s an understandable slip-up. Your employees and customers spend most of the time inside, so it makes sense to keep the floors polished, the shelves organized, and the doors in working order.
But how often do people hang around outside your business? Unless you’re a garden center, the answer is probably “not very often.” But just because the exterior doesn’t get as much use as the interior doesn’t mean you should neglect it. Here are some reasons exterior maintenance is important for your business.
Improved Curb Appeal
The interior is where customers spend most of their time, but the exterior is the first part of your business they see. And if people don’t like what they see, you’ll have a hard time convincing them to head inside in the first place.
A well-maintained exterior will boost your business’s curb appeal, and everyone knows that immaculate curb appeal is a great way to draw in customers.
Customer Safety
When’s the last time you conducted maintenance on the automatic doors? The last thing you want is for them to malfunction and close on unsuspecting customers. What about the security system? Do the cameras function correctly? As for the lights in the parking lot—they’re not supposed to flicker.
Failure to maintain the exterior can turn your business into an enormous hazard. Customers can become gravely injured by doors that act on a whim or trip in a dimly lit parking lot. You could be held liable due to negligence. The expense of regular maintenance is a small price to pay compared to how much a lawsuit will cost.
Keep up to Code
The final reason exterior maintenance is important for your business is because it keeps the building up to code. Most commercial buildings need to follow certain codes to comply with health and safety standards.
A poorly maintained exterior can result in mold growth, infestations, structural collapse, and other hazards. Not performing regular maintenance on your business’s exterior can be a breach of code. If you want to avoid hefty fines and other sanctions, draft up a detailed exterior maintenance plan.
