When running a small business, marketing skills are a must for success. Today’s business owners know how important advertising is in a media-driven society. Yet, there’s one ad your marketing strategy may overlook: your business building.
You may not see the building itself as a kind of advertisement, but it does all of the things that ads do. It reflects the character of your business, your commitment, and helps visitors decide whether they can trust you. Appearance is a factor that can make the difference between one-time customers and repeat clients.
The business’ exterior design is the first thing clients notice when they arrive, setting first impressions. Interior business design makes its mark from the time they walk in the door. If you don’t know how to tweak both to make your business shine, it could affect your success.
Take a look at these quick steps to help your business building look as good as possible.
1. Start With Memorable Signage
No matter how much you advertise on billboards, online, or TV, nothing draws in clients like a good exterior business sign. Signage helps companies reach people driving by and those visiting nearby establishments. Some of these folks would never see or hear about your business any other way.
Legibility, spelling, and working electrical components are your top priorities. A sloppy and hard-to-read sign or one with burnt-out or blinking bulbs drives potential clients away. They look unprofessional and can fail to communicate what your business offers.
If you have enough room in the budget, you might consider working with a typographer or graphic designer. An artist’s creative exterior business sign ideas help your business stand out from the rest. So long as the sign is still easy to read, eye-catching fonts and design elements make your business hard to forget.
2. Get Rid Of Dirt and Grime on Your Business Building
Getting rid of dirt and grime is one of the most basic, affordable, and literal steps towards making your business shine.
At its best, a dirty business building looks neglected and makes potential clients doubt the quality of your services. At its worst, it looks like the building owners downright abandoned it. Either way, unwashed buildings don’t tend to boost traffic.
Those ideas might seem silly if you’re proud of your business and spend time in the building day in and day out. Yet, you’re biased and the wrong person to judge whether your building is among the better business exteriors or the lesser-quality ones.
Current and would-be clients all have varying ideas of what a business should look like. They don’t know what your business is like, and they won’t find out if they’re not inclined to walk through the doors.
If you’re proactive rather than guessing and waiting to see if you lose customers, you’ll appeal to more clients in less time. When used on the right kind of siding, power washers are a quick way to make a dramatic difference. Be careful and do your research before starting, as the force can damage some kinds of siding.
To make an exceptional difference, upgrade your exterior business lighting, as well. You’ll transform the cruddy back alley look into a shining facade that looks as good as new. A clean business is approachable and gets more attention than scummier establishments offering similar services.
3. Freshen Your Building’s Floors
The flooring might not be the central visual feature of your business interior design. Yet, floors’ importance can’t be discounted. First, there’s a functional aspect because damaged floors can be tripping or slipping hazards.
Second, the visual effect of business flooring becomes a major factor from the moment clients notice it. They may not be looking at their feet when they first walk in, but if they happen to glance down and see some torn-up carpet or nasty scuffs and stains, their view of your company could tank. Chipped tiles, dirty grout, and warped and bouncy floorboards aren’t good looks, either.
Replacing the building’s carpet with a durable, stain-resistant variety is more affordable than you might realize. Replacing chipped tiles, cracked boards, re-staining wood, and waxing are all quick projects that make your business look a lot better. A nice floor looks professional and shows customers that you value details.
4. Apply a Fresh Coat to Anything Painted
Refreshing paint jobs might seem simple, but the impact of doing so either inside or outside can’t be ignored. Covering faded and inconsistent spots makes your building interior look new again.
Apart from its renewing effect, painting surfaces also offers a chance to update color schemes. It’s an opportunity to change your branding and feature more modern, sophisticated colors. That quick update can turn your reputation around by making you more relevant.
People want to look at businesses without faded, garish, or clashing paint. While you want paying clients, not gawkers, clients don’t want to spend time at buildings they hate the look of. The attitude might seem petty, but it’s often not a conscious reaction.
Mismatched paint between business interiors and exteriors is awkward and gives the impression that your company is out of place in the location. Redoing them to match is an easy way to fix the issue.
Repainting also offers a chance to change colors to match a new logo. Slapping some paint on old furniture and fixtures gives them new life and vibrance. Lighter colors are eye-catching, encourage you to keep your building clean, and show off your hard work.
The best part about a fresh coat is that while it has so many effects and makes a major difference in how people view your company, it’s also very affordable. If you take the job on yourself, your only costs are paint and supplies.
Learn More Tips for Small Business Success
Now that you know these tips for making sure your business building shines, you’ll be sure to impress clients. If you want to maintain your reputation with the other aspects of your business, it’s important to learn all you can to do so.
This site is a great source of small business tips and tricks to help you succeed. Click on another article to pick up more valuable know-how today.