www.calodging.com January/February 2022 7 continues What Does This Mean for Your Business? Given their outsized impact on commercial commodity production, hotels are in a unique position to use their purchasing power to influence designs and save time, save money, and reduce waste. For example, by switching to a wall dispenser for soaps, hotels can save an estimated $10,512 per year in operational costs and reduce the amount of bottles in landfills by up to 200 bottles per refill. In the case of robots, some companies estimate that using robots in the workplace can increase customer satisfaction so much that using a robot in a hotel can pay itself off in 2–3 months based solely on increased guest review scores. So, it’s clear that leveraging your business’s purchasing power pays off, but how can you get started? First, look for issues that shouldn’t merely be there. Does your door open too often automatically and let out warm air unnecessarily? Are there little things you can do to make the guest experience more welcoming or efficient? Do your staff struggle with trash bags that do not fit properly in your trash cans, forcing them to take time to try to tie them off and spend more time later cleaning up the mess after they inevitably slip? Once you’ve identified your problems, start looking for potential solutions. Look for existing suppliers who have addressed the issues, but don’t ignore small innovators who are just starting out as sometimes, it takes a new perspective to address lingering problems. Explore potential “life-hacks” which can help with the issue, but beware of those which can make processes slower, dangerous, or more difficult in the long run. Finally, look for products which keep it simple and do one or two tasks well, rather than products which offer to solve all of your problems, but end up doing so poorly. Sometimes, this search can be time consuming, but, as noted earlier, the sheer scale of hospitality operations can make a small initial effort pay off significantly in the long term. Noslipbags.com is a startup company which has designed cinchable trash bags for commercial use. These bags are designed to reduce installation time, create a cleaner look when installed in trash cans, and to help ensure a no-slip experience to make removal quick and easy for staff. To learn more about this product and how you can help use your purchasing power to get it into your trash cans, contact John Brady at jbrady@noslipbags.com. Look for products which keep it simple and do one or two tasks well, rather than products which offer to solve all of your problems, but end up doing so poorly.
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