Construction Impacts Convenience
There’s been a lot of news lately about well known and well established community staples closing their doors for good, and even more struggling to stay afloat.
While the reasons vary depending on the business, for some, major construction projects are hurting their bottom line.
For example, in Orlando's Ivanhoe Village, the Hammered Lamb recently threw a fundraiser to help make up for fewer sales thanks to infrastructure improvements along Orange Avenue.
And in Daytona Beach, improvements to the beach ramp on International Speedway Boulevard and A1A have led some businesses to close.
John Crossman is the President of CrossMark Services in Winter Park. He said long construction projects can negatively impact revenue for surrounding businesses as it affects their convenience factor.
“If (the construction) goes on for a period of time and people have trouble getting in and out, or they can't get to parking, it definitely can cause short term decrease in sales, which obviously is a direct impact on revenues in a negative way,” he said.
Crossman said if that lost revenue forces business to close, it can have a domino effect on our local economy as people lose jobs.
“If it's something that's causing a double digit hit on sales volume, that's going to be a double digit hit on revenues,” said Crossman.
Temporary Loss for Long Term Gain
The impact of construction on surrounding businesses can vary depending on the length of the project, but Crossman said businesses that do survive often see a boost in revenue once construction is completed.
“You can have a short term pain, but then it's a long term gain if it increases overall traffic,” he said. “Now, that's not always true, but that can be true.”
Crossman said we’ve seen similar scenarios in other parts of Central Florida, like in College Park, downtown Orlando, and Winter Park.
“Most areas that are older have had some level of something like that, that's needed to happen over time,” he said. “But again, the hope is that the backside of it is more traffic.”
To alleviate the impact of construction on local businesses, Crossman said there are things municipalities can do.
“For example, be really mindful in the front end when you're doing construction and minimizing impact, (like) helping the small businesses, and that could be in tax incentives and or marketing, like sharing that news and leaning in,” he said.
Surviving the construction
When construction impacts the traffic and sales at your business, Crossman said it’s important to dig deep into your entrepreneurial brain.
“Maybe it's doubling down on social media or tripling down on UberEats, or it's volunteering and getting out there,” he said.
Crossman said to keep trying as you never know when greatness will strike.
“Publix was formed during the Great Depression, and so there was a lot of lessons they learned (from) that hard time that's kept them going for years,” he said. “I don't mean to minimize the pain, because situations like those are very, very painful. At the same time, it's using that energy in a healthy way to try different things.”
For businesses that make it through periods of construction impacting their traffic and revenue, Crossman said it doesn’t take long for them to bounce back.
“It's typically pretty immediate. I mean, as far as the impact is pretty immediate, depending on the business,” he said.
Crossman adds that during time of construction, business owners who don’t own their building could leverage the construction for store improvements.
“Maybe if one of those tenants has a lease and they're unhappy with their lease, maybe it's time to try to renegotiate your lease,” he said. “Or maybe do some exterior paint at the same time. Those are extra things you could do to try to make the situation better and only drive sales on the back end.”
