8 Tips for a Better Business Bathroom

Your washrooms speak volumes about your business. Think about it: what would you think of a business that didn't care enough about details to keep the soap dispenser full? Or a company that puts up a sleek and sophisticated front and yet keeps a collection of dead cockroaches in the bathroom?

If you own or operate any sort of business, you need to think about what your washrooms say about you. Your staff and customers alike will take note of the attention you pay top your washroom. Be sure to send the right message!

So when you think about how to design your business's bathrooms, take these tips into consideration...

Don't be afraid of color

Sure, white restrooms look clean, but they also look boring. People usually don't spend a lot of time in public bathrooms, so you don't need to worry about offending anyone's sensibilities with loud colors. Your best bet is to play with the paint job on the walls, ceiling and stall walls. It can be tempting to install sinks and toilets in fun colors, but these are expensive to replace if you decide you get sick of the color scheme.

If your paint job is fresh (and the bathroom actually is clean), your restroom will look sparkling clean even without the white walls. Besides, there's another benefit to using color in your public bathroom...

Brand it

Use your bathrooms as a space to showcase your business's identity. Are you a funky start-up? Try bright paint and slapping your logo across the stall doors. Sophisticated and established? Try rich colors and soft lighting.

There's no reason your bathroom shouldn't act as an extension of who you are as a company, and your customers are guaranteed to love it.

Frame the mirrors

Mirrors are found in every public bathroom (or at least they should be) and are usually just plain rectangles stuck against the wall. They take up lots of real estate on your walls, so why not use them as decorations? A picture frame around the edges gives a great deal of personality to your bathroom and turns your mirrors into works of art.

Invest in nice lighting

No one likes looking in the mirror with the hum and click of garish fluorescent lighting raining down on them. It's probably less costly than you think to have nice lighting installed, and it will make a world of difference to the ambiance of your bathroom.

Accessorize

You don't need throw pillows or knick-knacks covering every surface to accessorize your bathroom: just a few, well-places items will do the trick. Think about hanging up some framed paintings or photographs on the walls or stall doors. As for the countertop, keep any decorations clean-looking and immovable. Think goldfish bowls full of pretty rocks.

Install labyrinth entryways

If you have enough room, try to replace your bathroom doors with a labyrinth-style entryway (walls that turn in a way that you can't see into the bathroom from the hall). This serves a few purposes. First, it keeps germs from being transmitted from the door handle. Second, it prevents someone accidentally pushing the door open onto another customer.

Third, it provides a safer environment for your customers as sound can carry out the doorways. This is especially useful for facilities involved in healthcare or elder care, where patients may find they need assistance in the bathroom.

Hire someone to clean and stock it

Some businesses think they can save a few bucks by having their own staff take care of cleaning the bathroom... Think again. Not only are you still paying someone to clean (you staff are on the clock, after all!), you're paying someone who doesn't necessarily know what needs to be done to maintain a public restroom. In other words, someone who will take longer and do a worse job.

Professional cleaners will not only make sure that your facilities look clean, but are hygienic. They'll also take care of stocking supplies, so your customers will never be left looking for the toilet paper.

Make sure everything comes out of a dispenser

No matter what your bathroom decorations look like, a sticky bar of soap sitting by the sink is never a good look. Nor is a half-used roll of paper towels perched in a puddle on your countertop. To keep everything looking neat and orderly, make sure your toilet paper, paper towels and soaps are all kept in easy-to-use dispensers.

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Which Is Better: A Serviced Office Or A Virtual Office?

For people who are just starting their first business or those who have always rented a traditional office they can become quite confused when faced with the option of opening or moving their business to either a serviced office or a virtual office. Some people get confused as to what the differences are between the two and others simply aren't sure which is the best choice for their business. Hopefully, this article will help clear up their confusion allowing you to make the right choice for your business needs.

A serviced office is an office building managed by a company that rents out office space on a continual basis to businesses for a period of time. You can rent the space temporarily (usually 3 to 6 months) or permanently (on a renewable lease basis). You then occupy the office and conduct your business or the majority of your business from your office. The company renting the space provides the furniture, the maintenance, and the security for the entire building. They usually provide meeting or conference rooms that are available for your use and receptionists who are shared among the tenants of the office. Office machines may also be shared between several tenants as well.

A virtual office on the other hand can be a call centre or can be an office building that supplies a live receptionist who can take calls for your business that is located at your home or a distant location. While it is a brick and mortar building with office space, meeting and conference rooms, a waiting area and even a kitchenette it usually only leases these spaces on an hourly or sometimes daily basis saving you from having to pay the high rent of long term rental yet giving you all or most of the conveniences of an office when you need it.

People who work on the road or from home on a regular basis and just need the services of a phone answering service or a receptionist to take messages and set appointments usually find a virtual office set up convenient and financially beneficial. They like the idea of being able to rent a meeting room on as needed basis rather than pay for an office space that they rarely use.

On the hand, people who need the benefit of a office on a regular basis but, simply can't afford to rent an office and hire full time staff or businesses that are expanding and simply need a short term extra space from which to conduct business until their larger office space is ready find that a serviced office offers them most of everything they need at an affordable price.

Some companies offer both serviced offices and virtual office solutions and will be happy to help you analyze your needs and see which is right for you. With both the serviced office and the virtual office the companies are extremely flexible and are willing to provide the best solutions to fit your business needs.

Looking for serviced office in Singapore? Check out Wangz serviced office here.

Feel free to publish this article on your website, or send it to your friends, as long as you keep the resource box and the content of the article intact.

The content is our own opinion and does not necessarily reflect the views of Wangz Business Centre.

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The Touch Screen Display: Profits Through Better Customer Interaction

The touch screen display is becoming one of the most powerful branding and customer education tools in the business world today. With the advent of social media, businesses and organizations are seeking new ways to connect with today's technologically savvy and socially-motivated consumer, and multi-touch hardware and software applications are quickly becoming one of the most effective means of doing so. However, from a marketing standpoint this particular method is interesting in that it's not the technology itself that motivates or even interests consumers - it's the interaction that it provides. Businesses that utilize the touch screen display for this purpose will realize increased profits as a result of improved consumer relations.

One of the fastest growing and most important markets today is an increasingly technologically savvy one. Consumers in their teens on up through their thirties have a mastery of everyday technology that allows them to instantly communicate and network, research and uncover information, comparison shop, seek entertainment and educate themselves. Businesses that cater to this group can capture one of the most profitable demographics out there - and there are few better ways to do this than with a touch screen display. By speaking to this valuable consumer group in a language they understand, companies can build relationships with these individuals that go far beyond what a brick and mortar or static website-based business could hope to accomplish.

Regardless of demographics, nearly all humans are visually oriented and learn best from visual cues and information. The ability to educate employees, consumers, clients and peers in the best method possible will result in increased retention of the information presented and improved comprehension when graphical aids are well-designed. Using a touch screen display to accomplish this education will also result in a better ability on the part of the viewer to describe it later to another, leading to an improvement in the clarity of word of mouth advertising.

Touch screen displays allow consumers to literally interact with your business - even when you're not there to manage this process. While this might seem like a simple creature comfort, people feel empowered when they are able to use their own skills to uncover information, and an empowered person is one who is more likely to buy than someone who is unsure. Direct interaction on the part of consumers leads to more involvement in your company and better brand loyalty as a result. If a customer feels like they are a part of what your company is doing, they'll be more likely to do business with you.

Ultimately, a better educated customer requires less time to close the deal, saving your company money and significant effort because you'll be dealing exclusively with pre-qualified leads or repeat customers. And with the right product and the right level of education and interaction, your product or service just might sell itself. Customers who are educated are more likely to recommend your business, and in today's world of fast moving viral news and social media, this can make or break a company over night.

Take the next step in maximizing customer interactions and watch this touch screen display video.

Check out this video on multi-touch technology.

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