Running an efficient business is important today to remain competitive.

Doing things with minimal error in a short amount time means you will have more of it.

And in having more time that allows you to allocate hours to tasks that drive business growth and are of higher business importance.

This is ultimately achievable by putting procedures, processes and the right technology infrastructure in place.

Furthermore, technology stacks (or tech stacks for short) play a vital role in boosting your efficiency, as well as reducing your risk profile and margin for error.

But what is a tech stack?

Essentially, a tech stack is a set of technology applications used to manage your business’s core functions.

By investing in a well-rounded tech stack, it will take your business to the next level.

Learning how to build it out is a great first step and then implementing your stack across the business will help kick your efficiency into gear.

We have put together a guide on what you should consider when building the perfect tech stack for your commercial real estate business.

Don’t fall into the trap of investing in one platform to just tick the box

It can be easy to fall into the trap of investing in one technology platform to just tick the box and move on, but this is harmful to your business almost immediately.

To reap the rewards of a tech stack, you need to invest in and adopt multiple platforms that have an impact on multiple verticals of your business, while also having a few platforms that are used business-wide.

On that note, implement an internal tech stack encompassing communication tools and document storage platforms to begin with...

So with these central, foundational types of platforms, you can rest assure that team-wide communication can be streamlined and file storage can be made more efficient.

By implementing a communication platform your internal comms can move away from emails and into a more agile space that functions more like modern messenger apps.

Slack is a great tool for this. Document storing platforms, such as Google Drive or Dropbox, allow you to neatly store documentation into folders and subfolders.

With an internal plan in place to keep documents in their rightful home, individual team information doesn’t get lost, and if it needs to be updated on occasion it can be with ease.

In times where process diligence is key (for example, if you need to onboard a new team member), you can easily access the content you need to get going. 

Too often on server-based platforms, what can happen is that bad habits develop whereby individual employees house documents on their own computer and not in a central, employee-wide accessible place, which creates inefficiencies across the board when information needs to be accessed by the rest of the team.

Even if you start small with your internal tech stack, think seriously about taking your commercial real estate business to the next level by investing in a legitimate PropTech stack

Once you get your internal tech stack up and running, investing in a PropTech stack will help to catapult your business to the next level.

A PropTech stack is a set of property technology tools to help you run your business more efficiently.

So for commercial real estate businesses, these are the following areas of business that can be enhanced by building out a baseline tech stack:

• Cloud-based property management software (including their tenant, landlord and property manager mobile applications) to manage your portfolio.
• Accounting software (such as Xero) to manage your property accounting.
• Contract management platform to improve B2B transaction time (think Docusign).

A healthy PropTech stack includes a foundational cloud-based property management platform that is complemented by a mobile app suite, too.

This means that while you’re in the office you have the tools you need to get work done, and also when you’re on the road you have those same tools, too.

Moving from manual processes to automated platforms means that you immediately take your business into the future – this has tremendous benefits for your bottom line, staff output and margin for growth.

By building a strong tech stack and PropTech stack that’s aligned to your business goals, you can streamline your internal processes and get more work done at a faster pace.

With the increase in time in your calendar, you can drive revenue and grow your portfolio. For commercial property professionals, this should be paramount.