Start A Parking Lot Business - Business Ideas

Updated: September 15th, 2022
Start A Parking Lot Business

Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.

More people are purchasing cars, and the demand for parking spaces has increased significantly. Finding a safe parking lot is becoming a problem, and this is where the parking lot business opportunity emerges.

A private parking lot business provides customers with a convenient and safe space for automobiles.

Starting a parking lot business requires ample space, a parking attendant, a surveillance system, and payment collection software. To increase your income, you can introduce an EV charging station.

A parking lot business is an excellent low-maintenance business since you do not need to be there physically, as you can fully automate the parking lot as a self-service facility, available 24/7.

Starting a parking lot business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.

If you're interested in how to sell parking, or selling parking online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.

Want to learn more? You can check out our full guide on how to start a parking lot business ➜

Key Stats

revenue (monthly)
$80.8K
starting costs
$23.9K
gross margin
20%
avg product price
$10
time to build
300 days
growth
Organic social media
time investment
Full time

Startup Costs

Min Startup Costs Max Startup Costs

Office Space Expenses

$0

$7,000

Employee & Freelancer Expenses

$151

$352

Website Costs

$223

$7,215

Business Formation Fees

$5,600

$20,400

Equipment & Supply Expenses

$66

$700

Retail Business Expenses

$1,250

$5,450

Software Expenses

$162

$3,094

Advertising & Marketing Costs

$75

$3,386

Total Startup Costs

$7,527

$47,597

Successful Businesses

Business URL Rank

Parking.com

parking.com

177,764

Icon Parking

iconparkingsystems.com

183,239

Parking mobile app & payment solution

paybyphone.com

191,925

ParkMe

parkme.com

217,352

LAZ Parking

lazparking.com

219,803

AIMS Parking Management Software

aimsparking.com

259,531

SP+ Parking Management Services

spplus.com

334,001

On Air Parking

onairparking.com

409,451

smarking

smarking.com

675,781

Ace Parking Management, Inc.

aceparking.com

837,624

Premium Parking

premiumparking.com

876,572

Pros & Cons

Pros Description

Flexibility

You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.

Meaningful business connections

You never know who you will meet as a parking lot business. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity!

High customer retention rates

Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer.

Pick & choose the clients you work with

Parking Lot Businesses have the ability to choose the clients they work with. You have the freedom to work with only a few loyal clients or with hundreds of clients!

Control of workload

With starting a parking lot business, you have the unique ability to choose how little or how much you want to work. You also have the freedom to decide which projects you want to work on, and can turn down the ones that do not interest you.

Unlimited income potential

With starting a parking lot business there is no cap as to how much income you can make. The stronger your business skills and the more energy/time you put into your career, the more you'll make.

Cons Description

Motivation of employees

If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.

Longer Sales Process

A parking lot business can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers.

Low margins

The gross margins for your parking lot business are typically around 20%, which can make it more challenging to incur new expenses and maintain profitability.

High employee turnover

In the parking lot business, employee turnover is often high, which can be quite costly and time consuming for your business. It's important to try and avoid this as much as possible by offering competitive pay, benefits, and a positive work environment.

Taxes

As a parking lot business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.

Niche Market

A niche business is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can be the key to your success. However, it can be more challenging and time consuming to find the perfect niche market and target audience.

Marketing Ideas

  • 1

    Direct Sales

    Direct sales strategy implies a direct contact between a seller and a consumer without the involvement of any third party. Direct selling is popular in sectors where sellers communicate with their clientele personally. The sales technique occurs at non-store locations which include at home, work, or online.

    For direct selling to succeed, hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process. It's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.

    Learn more about direct sales ➜

  • 2

    Word of mouth

    Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.

    Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.

    According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.

    Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.

    Learn more about word of mouth ➜

  • 3

    Partnerships

    A partnership is a formal agreement between two or more entities to oversee business operations and share profits and liabilities.

    Creating strategic partnerships with an existing business can be a huge win for a startup.

    This is considering that a partnership creates a new slate of future options for your startup.

    On the other side, pursuit of partnerships could suck up a ton of time, and bunch of resources, and fail to materialize.

    Therefore, entrepreneurs need to do proper research and evaluate the possibilities of achieving success through partnerships.

    Learn more about partnerships ➜