How to earn extra income from your business premises in NZ

The easiest extra income for most New Zealand businesses comes from the premises they already pay rent on. A shop window, a counter, a wall, a car park or a quiet room after hours can each earn money without changing what the business does. The best options are the ones that take a few minutes a week, and selling advertising space to other local businesses is usually top of that list.

This guide is for the business owner with the space, not the one looking to advertise. It covers eight ways to earn from your premises, roughly in order of how little work they take.

Start with what you already have

Walk through your business as a customer would and write down everything people look at or wait beside. Most owners are surprised by the list:

• The front window, seen by everyone who walks or drives past
• The counter, where every customer stands while they pay
• Tables, if people sit down
• The waiting area, if people sit and wait
• Mirrors, in a gym, salon or bathroom
• A screen that already shows your menu or prices
• The footpath outside, where an A-frame could stand
• A fence or wall facing the road

Each of those is a place another local business would pay to be seen. The ones customers stand or sit beside for a few minutes are worth the most, because people actually read what is in front of them.

1. Sell advertising space to local businesses

This is the one with the best ratio of income to effort. You choose a space, set a weekly price, and another local business pays to put its poster, counter card or screen advertisement there for a few weeks or months.

What it takes: putting a poster up when a booking starts and taking it down when it ends. Five minutes at each end.

What it pays: typically $20 to $150 a week per space, depending on what it is and how many people see it. A business with a window, a counter and a waiting room screen can have three separate spaces earning at once. Our guide on how much to charge for advertising space goes through the numbers.

What to watch: only take advertising you are comfortable having in your business. A physio does not want a takeaway poster in the waiting room. You should be able to say no to anything that does not suit your customers.

On Pritty Ghood, listing a space is free, you set the price, and every request comes to you to accept or decline before anything is booked. The list of spaces you can sell is a good place to start if you are not sure what counts.

2. Sponsor boards and community notices

Some businesses already run a community noticeboard for free. A paid version, with a few framed spaces for local businesses at a monthly rate, turns that wall into income. It works best where people wait: a laundromat, a takeaway, a vet, a garage.

What it takes: changing the notices when the month turns over.

What it pays: less per space than a window or counter, but several spaces add up.

3. Rent shelf space or sell on consignment

A shop with spare shelving can rent it by the month to local makers, or sell their goods on consignment and take a share of each sale. Cafes do this with local honey and preserves, gift shops with handmade jewellery, garden centres with local pottery.

What it takes: stock management, sales records and paying makers on time. More work than advertising, but it can bring in customers of its own.

What it pays: a flat monthly rent per shelf, or a percentage of each sale.

4. Host pop-ups and classes

A cafe that closes at 3pm has an empty room every evening. A gym has a studio that sits unused at lunchtime. Renting those rooms by the hour to a yoga teacher, a book club, a craft class or a business running a workshop puts the rent to work for more of the day.

What it takes: a booking system, a key arrangement, and confidence in who you let in.

What it pays: commonly $30 to $80 an hour for a small room, more with a kitchen or equipment.

5. Rent out car parks

A business with its own car parks that sit empty at night or on weekends can rent them to nearby residents or commuters, either privately or through a parking app. Particularly worth it near a town centre, a hospital or a train station.

What it takes: almost nothing once it is set up, apart from making sure your customers still have somewhere to park.

What it pays: varies widely by location, from a few dollars a day to well over $100 a month per park in a city centre.

6. Referral arrangements with neighbouring businesses

A hairdresser who sends clients to the beauty salon next door, a mechanic who sends customers to the tyre shop, a real estate agent who recommends a builder. Formalising that with a referral fee or a reciprocal arrangement turns goodwill you already give away into income or more customers.

What it takes: a conversation and a way of tracking who sent whom.

7. Vending and service machines

A vending machine, a phone charging station or a parcel locker can sit in a corner and earn a share of what it takes. Operators usually supply and stock the machine at no cost to you.

What it takes: floor space and a power point.

What it pays: usually modest, but nothing to do once it is in.

8. Sponsorship of your own event

If your business runs a regular event, like a quiz night, a market day or a run club, other businesses will pay to have their name on it. The same logic as a sports club sponsorship applies: a named prize, a sign on the night, a mention on social media.

Which one to start with

For most businesses, advertising space is the right first step because:

• It uses space you are not doing anything else with
• It takes minutes, not hours
• You choose who advertises and can turn requests down
• It brings in money in weeks, not months
• Local businesses advertising in yours often send customers your way too

Start with the one space everyone looks at, usually the window or the counter. Once that is booked regularly, add the next.