Location Management Software is a Must-Have for Commercial Portfolios

There’s nothing special about most “lease management” software. They only store lease data and remind users about rent increases and lease expirations. But there are dozens – potentially hundreds – of other things you need to track, remember, and monitor to run a portfolio. That’s why you need location management software.

Lease admin is only foundational functionality.

Location management covers all standard lease admin and accounting needs. But it does so much more by reducing friction and keeping every business-critical, time-sensitive event in one place.

Beyond the Basics

Soon after launching Leasecake in 2017, we noticed a void with typical lease administration platforms. Looking at the needs of multi-location tenants through a wider lens, we spotted opportunities to track critical data points about physical spaces and business operations.

For example, some quick-service restaurant (QSR) operators want to track which locations have double drive-through lanes. With that attribute as a data field for each store, users can quickly apply a filter to see all single- or double-lane restaurants. Or they can create reports based on multiple attributes such as the number of lanes and geography.

A location management system enables collaboration with internal and third-party stakeholders and serves as the sole source of truth about the portfolio. As a commercial tenant, the information you store might include:

• Anchor tenants
• Backflow testing
• Business license renewal
• Fire suppression system inspection
• Food permit
• Franchise agreement
• Health and safety inspections
• HVAC warranties and maintenance
• Insurance policies
• Internal and external contacts
• Janitorial contract
• Kitchen equipment warranties and maintenance
• Liquor license
• Location type (end cap, standalone, inline)
• Lot size
• National tenants
• Number of employees per location
• Security system contracts
• Tax ID numbers
• Tax rates
• Trash vendor
• Uniform vendor
• Utility bill reminders

Easy Access to Documents

The way we see it, storing the start and end dates for something like an insurance policy isn’t enough. Those data fields are only half the solution. You should also upload the insurance documents.

Like Dropbox and Google Drive, Leasecake is a cloud-based platform. So our customers can save, access, and share documents within the application. When a date, detail, or deadline has a corresponding document, the doc should also be in Leasecake. By making everything accessible, team members can quickly answer questions and respond to situations as needed.

That easy access is why we say Leasecake is more than lease and location management software. We’re really in the answer business.

Keep Things Fresh

Few people know more about multi-unit operations than Ed Rensi. Ed is the board chairman at FAT Brands and former chief executive of McDonald’s USA. His mantra is that owners should remodel restaurants every five years to stay relevant and exciting. But his advice applies to all businesses – not just food service.

“I don’t care what business you’re in,” Ed said. “Whether it’s a shoe store, a restaurant, or an oil-change place, you have to stay fresh. And it needs to be an ongoing process. If you don’t remodel 20 or 25 percent of your locations every year, you’ll have to remodel all of them at the end of five years – which is cost-prohibitive.”

That’s good advice from a man who has been running facilities since back when gas was 30 cents a gallon. He’s seen a lot.

Assuming you follow Ed’s recommendation and freshen up your locations regularly, how do you ensure all the relevant stakeholders get the memo on brand standards?

Well, you can start by not putting the info in a memo. We’re here to make sure you operate in the 21st Century. So it makes sense to document the decor guidelines in a platform everyone can access.

Retail chains using Leasecake often store paint color numbers, flooring SKUs, and model numbers for furniture and fixtures in the app. They want to ensure a uniform look across all locations – and their location management platform is the natural place to maintain the info.

It’s a Piece of Cake

No matter what business you’re in, if you lease or own commercial real estate, you have to keep track of the building, the equipment, and the people. Using purpose-built location management software will make you more productive and profitable and give you a competitive advantage.

To learn more about how Leasecake can help, you can schedule time with one of my colleagues. If you’re a current customer and want to explore the platform’s full potential, please feel free to contact me directly.