No one likes dealing with a pest infestation. They can be gross, time consuming and even costly in some instances. However, dealing with a pest infestation at your business can be even more difficult and trying than one in your home. If a customer spots a pest in your location, it can damage your reputation, which can leave you even more vulnerable in today’s competitive climate. Shutting down the shop in order to remedy the problem can cost hundreds and even thousands of lost hours, and might even cause you to miss out on lifelong clients that need your services while you’re away. Here are three businesses common to the Visalia area that need to be extra careful about pest control.
Convenience Stores
The number one thing pests are after is food. For rodents and insects, food doesn’t even need to be a full sized meal. It can also mean a spilled drink in a corner that no one has noticed. Convenience stores are absolutely with food, which means there are often spills and messes made, which means food sources are constantly being created. Due to the nature of this business, it’s essential that you make extra sure to keep your shop clean. You’ll also want to make sure that the trash is taken out very often, since they likely fill up pretty quickly with all the people going in and out throughout the day. If you have a bathroom in your store, make sure to check on its cleanliness as well.
Restaurants
For the most part, restaurant owners know that they are vulnerable to pest infestations. This is probably the business category most often affected by the problem. As we said before, with food related businesses it’s absolutely essential to clean extra carefully and make sure you’re not neglecting any areas that might attract bugs or rodents. Smart restaurant owners often choose to have monthly pest inspections to make sure there aren’t any underlying issues that they aren’t aware of. This is also helpful because the pest control expert that conducts the monthly inspection will be able to tell you if you’re doing anything (or not doing anything) that might cause a pest problem in the future.
Hotels
One place a pest problem can be especially bad for business is a hotel. Bed bugs are a huge problem for hotels, and clientele are well informed of that fact. It’s easy to check online and find out which hotels have pest issues, or have had them in the past, so more people are beginning to make that part of their process before they choose their hotel. It only takes a few bad reviews mentioning bed bugs to damage your hotels reputation for years. Make sure that your rooms are vacuumed, and bed linens are washed and sanitized often. It’s also important to check behind headboards, on box springs and on mattresses for any signs of bed bugs.
