Managing your own business is exciting and terrifying all at once. Aside from the day-to-day running of your business, there’s so much “big picture” stuff to think about. For example, what are your long-term goals? Will you expand, maybe into a second location? Are your premises wheelchair accessible? Do you need a website?
More importantly, you might need to start thinking about what equipment and tech your business needs. In short, there’s plenty to think about and lots of decisions to make. Whether or not you’ll install a service lift is one of these decisions.
Does your business need a service lift? How serious a decision will it be? Let’s find out.
What Is a Service Lift?
A service lift is similar to a dumbwaiter. They can usually carry loads of up to 150kg and are designed to move food, documents, laundry, and other items. Hotels, bars, care homes, and more all regularly use service lifts.
Signs Your Business Needs a Service Lift
Not every business necessarily needs a service lift. However, services lifts are fantastically time-saving investments. They also reduce the risk of accidents or spillages. Let’s discuss three signs that your business needs a service lift.
- Your Premises Spans Several Floors
If any part of your work requires carrying items from one floor to another, a service lift is a necessity. Especially in the hospitality industry, valuable time and energy are wasted carrying trays of food and drink up and down endless flights of stairs. Service lifts not only save your time and energy, but they keep the food hot and neat on its way to the customer’s table.
Also, service lifts can be handy for dealing with laundry and sending documents around. For example, suppose you send the day’s accounts reports up to the head office every day. However, the office is all the way up on the third floor, and you’re in the kitchen. Save yourself a trek up three flights of stairs by putting the reports in the service lift and sending them straight to the office.
- You Work with Food or other Perishables
Service lifts are a staple in the hospitality industry. Restaurants, hotels, and bars often have service lifts as standard. This means that food and drink has a smooth passage from the kitchen to the shop floor, all without someone needing to make the trek. Service lifts are also ideal for making sure the food and drink reach the customer in perfect condition.
- There are Health and Safety Concerns About Your Business
There are regulations attached to manual handling. For example, spending all day running up and down flights of stairs with trays of food and drink is a recipe for disaster. Spillages and steep stairs all increase the chance of you or your employees having a serious accident.
If possible health and safety issues have been flagged concerning the stairs of your premises, investing in a service lift is definitely a sensible choice.
Spend some time analyzing your business, then decide whether a service lift is a good investment for you. This is by no means an exhaustive list – check out more benefits of a lift here.