Running a restaurant is never easy. Trying to ensure that costs are under control and customers are happy makes it extremely difficult to run a restaurant successfully. However, there are some aspects where it can be really easy to ensure success. Choosing the right uniforms for your servers not only means that they are always going to look their best, but it will also help you to reduce your linen and uniform costs which can have a huge impact on your bottom line.
How many owners look at their yearly P&L reports and not become upset over something? Most owners are on a quest to find the perfect P&L report and sadly, this just does not exist. Reducing expenses line item by line item means you need to look not only at short-term expenses but also those that will cost you money in the long term. Of course food, cleaning supplies and other similar items have to be continuously purchased and unfortunately, for many restaurants you are left with a franchise agreement, which tells you which suppliers you have to deal with. For owners who are not left with a franchise agreement they are continuously searching for the best supplier at the lowest cost.
Uniforms are frequently ignored in this need though. How often have you considered the uniforms that your servers wear? They are very important for several reasons, but picking the right uniform is not impossible.
You should always look for uniforms that are made from cotton if any way possible. As your wait staff is moving around they are going to heat up, cotton uniforms can help to control the heat. This lowers your cooling costs, reducing the occurrence of unsightly sweat stains and also ensures that staff are able to perform perfectly.
Appropriate colors are another critical area. If you are working in a restaurant, you have no doubt noticed that white shirts and black pants is a huge staple amongst many restaurants. However, what happens when someone spills something? What happens after a few shifts? Suddenly that crisp white shirt does not look so appealing anymore. Choosing a different color that will not show the stains and dirt as quickly is very important to ensuring that all of your servers look their very best on their first day, but every day after that as well.