A Mine of Business Opportunities

Shopping centers are taking India by storm. The popularity of lifestyle centers is driving growth and innovation that is in turn creating new opportunities and challenges in the way that leases are negotiated and structured, both for developers and tenants.
When lifestyle centers first emerged few years ago, their locations and upscale ambiance targeted mainly high-end, urban shoppers. But now, their exploding popularity is driving more to be built in suburban locations where real estate is at a cheaper price. Further, in order to accommodate the push for “smart growth,” different uses are being incorporated into these developments, such as office and hospitality, to offer people the opportunity to meet, mingle, shop, work, play and live in the same area.
Lifestyle centers are here to stay. With thoughtful planning at the initial stages of development and careful attention to lease negotiation, these centers will continue to thrive and provide people with a fun place to shop, work, play and also make a home if they so choose.

A mall not only offers a great shopping experience but is also a mine of business opportunities, .......Why??
It starts right from the point you enter the premises of a mall – bright, colorful outdoor hoardings, and then attendants assisting with parking of vehicles. At the entry points, guards frisk visitors for security assurance, also installed are CCTVs and surveillance cameras for ensuring a threat-free environment. Then there are kiosks here and there displaying and promoting the latest products. Escalators and lifts for comfort and convenience, with the housekeeping team making sure that the ambiance is simply perfect. Of course, there are those with the walkie-talkies who are always around to help out visitors and deal with their grievances.
Ever wondered who is running these shows, behind the scene? More importantly, how big is this business?
Is there an opportunity window?
Right from the day a mall is constructed, it becomes a mine of opportunities for a lot of businesses. Besides the shops, restaurants, and entertainment hubs, there are hundreds of opportunities in every mall. These are mall management, facility management, creative firms, and design houses specializing in mall interiors, promotional events, kiosks, and hoardings to advertise products or services, to name a few opportunities. Considering the ever-growing retail sector and the growing prominence of malls in this sector, let us take a quick look at how big a business can some of these services be.
Mall Management
A mall management company takes care of the entire operations of a mall, which includes procurement of various equipment and maintenance. This means, broadly all the FMB operations (Facilities Maintenance Operations) such as, leasing out shops and advertising space to interested parties, procuring all necessary equipment, to maintaining the mall. To get all of this done, a mall management company usually outsources many of these functions to facility management companies that deal in specific services.
Mall management encompasses operations, facilities management, security, accounts, common area maintenance, marketing, leasing and all the other functions even remotely related to a mall.
Revenue Generators
Since a mall management company gets involved right from the inception of a mall, it should be involved in the pre-launch, launch and post-launch promotion of the mall. And together with proper mall promotion, good revenue can be generated through kiosks, hoardings, events and other promos.
So if we take this revenue model into account, then the income from mall management could range anywhere between Rs 5 crore and Rs 50 crore annually, and that is from just one mall! The biggest advantage in this opportunity is the fact that there is no single mall management company that is into catering to malls other than their own (all the malls have their in-house mall management).
Challenges
The biggest challenge in this industry is finding the right kind of tenants. While leasing out space to tenants, it is important to keep in mind the image that you want to create in the customer’s mind. The right kind of tenant mix ensures the right footfall for the mall, and sustainability of the mall.
Facility Management
A company providing specialized services to malls is known as a facility management company. Mall management companies outsource usually many operations to these companies like parking, security, housekeeping, and cash management.
Vipul Facility Management, Knight Frank and JLLM etc.. currently provides services and manages malls across India. What do they do? They handle electro mechanical services like fire detection and suppression, power management, access control, water management plumbing, etc. Besides this they also handle business services like guest relations, help desk management, etc. Also provide soft services like cleaning and pest control, physical and security surveillance, concierge services, and administration services.
There are a few other functions that facility management companies are also taking up. These include conducting research for malls to find out their requirements before actually starting to service them. Going one step further, facility management companies are also indulging in providing human resources for each of the services.
Advertising opportunities
As the number of malls in the country is growing at a rapid pace and with it the number of people visiting these malls burgeoning, advertising and promotional activities in malls have become a hot opportunity.
The BTL (below the line) advertising activities have grabbed a 30% share in the overall advertising market from what used to be a space dominated 100% by ATL (above the line) advertising. With companies realizing the importance of promoting their products in a way in which people can actually touch the product and get a feel of it, more and more companies are opting for putting up kiosks and promoting their products, in addition to going for outdoor advertising and promotion.
A creative agency takes care of all the aspects of advertising, starting from conceptualizing the advertisement to leasing out the space on behalf of their clients, to putting up hoardings or setting up kiosks or conducting events.
Specialty Leasing
Just starting your business?

Specialty Leasing is a great opportunity for a new entrepreneur. In a mall you can be offered Retail Merchandising Units, Floating Retail/Kiosks, and Temporary In-Line Stores. This gives a great opportunity for test marketing your product and if some changes and improvements need to be done.

It’s a great way to keep current update on the latest industry trends.

Have a product and want to sell retail?
Finding product distribution in today’s crowded marketplace is difficult. With Specialty Leasing, it is an efficient way for you to get your product out there and grow your profitability. It increases your sales by giving your product exposure to millions of visitors that shop in shopping malls.
Want to expand your existing retail business?
If you are already operating your own retail showroom in other high street or local market locations, then you can take your business to the next level with the right combination of local and national support, which you get in a shopping centre.

Shopping Malls are Gold mines, only thing is its right product positioning.