By Bert Zethof

Are you maximizing the revenue potential of your real estate? Commercial property is expensive, especially on southern Vancouver Island and if you aren't making every square foot work for you, then you are missing out.

Here are three businesses of varying sizes that use real estate creatively to build not only their business but those of participating small businesses as well:

1. Starling Winery hosts weddings in their beautiful garden and even includes a wine tasting for wedding guests.

2. A GardenWorks outlet in my neighbourhood hosts a Garden Art Show featuring local designers in its plant nursery.

3. BC Ferries Corp. has marketplace tents featuring local vendors and artisans at its major terminals including Swartz Bay near Victoria and Tsawwassen near Vancouver.

In each example, the concept works because the dual uses fit well together (practically and aesthetically), they create a unique and more enriching customer experience, and they are commercially symbiotic generating more business for everyone.

I like how these examples help the solo-entrepreneurs and artisans with what is usually their biggest challenge: marketing. From this perspective, I view the host businesses as acting as good corporate citizens.

Cases of obviously surplus land represent low hanging fruit for the land owner. Think of businesses and non-profits with surplus or underutilized land that you see in your community: e.g. business/industrial parks, churches, schools, parking lots and shopping centres (in off peak hours). Do you know of others? Do you see an opportunity?