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Strata managers benefiting from a buoyant market

A survey of businesses has identified trends shaping the strata management industry, including an 86% increase in revenues in the 2015 financial year.

A drive towards specialisation, evolving business models and a strong outlook have been revealed as the three factors shaping the Australian strata management industry’s future.

Macquarie Business Banking recently conducted a survey of 202 businesses nationally, building on the insights from previous reports in 2011 and 2013, to create the Strata Management Benchmarking Results.

 This revealed that strata businesses across the country have benefited from buoyant market conditions and 85% are forecasting higher revenues in the 2016 financial year.
Tim MacKenzie, National Head of Strata for Macquarie Business Banking, said: “Strong systems are allowing businesses to scale up while also keeping costs under control.

“We’re seeing high profit businesses investing in productivity, including staff training, technology and systems to support client service.

“These businesses are evolving their business models and seeking to streamline their systems to provide a more responsive service at a lower cost.

“Firms are supporting their strata managers with higher numbers of administration staff, allowing managers to focus on relationship management rather than day to day service delivery, leading to improved productivity.”

He added that high performing businesses tend to focus on facilities management, property management and utilities, with 44 per cent of businesses planning to add new services over the next three years.

The research also highlighted the benefits of specialisation, with high profit businesses more likely to create a specialised value proposition and focus on either a large or small scheme, rather than trying to cover both.

Tim added: “More sophisticated developments have created new scope for specialist providers catering to large, high-value schemes. At the same time, small scheme specialists are carving a profitable niche by providing a highly efficient, standardised service.”

“High profit businesses said staff retention, quality service and strong client relationships will help them to underpin future growth. Almost one in two businesses (49 per cent) will look to hire as they scale up to keep pace with an expanding market.”