It is likely that you have a combination of equipment within your convenience store. This could be items such as your computerized till, coffee machines, fridges, freezers, and warming cabinets. All of these are fine and dandy while they are functioning well, but when they do not – well, that can be a completely different matter.
#1 Damage to property
There are all kinds of damage to property that can cause serious issues. Although you may find that some are covered by your insurance, others, especially if you are at fault, may not.
Electrical hazard
For instance, if your equipment is proving to be an electrical hazard due to broken wiring or leakage, you may have to think seriously about closing your store or at least part of it until you have the equipment in question repaired. Having a commercial refrigeration repair company on speed dial can certainly help with the speed of this scenario, but really you should have carried out maintenance checks or had your commercial refrigeration specialist carry out regular service checks for you.
Rise in insurance costs or rent
If your negligence is proven, you could find that you are subjected to rises in rent or insurance costs, and you will be very lucky if your landlord does not press charges to at least recoup any monies he has had to payout for repairs.
#2 Loss of customers
Of course, it is not just the landlord that you will have to consider. There are also your customers and the mindset that they may have. Indeed, for the most part, customers are fickle creatures. It doesn’t take much for them to find another store to shop in if you should find yourself lacking any of the following:
Loss of variety
If you have had to shut off your fridge or freezer due to poor maintenance issues, you will undoubtedly have less variety on offer for your customers to purchase. Carry this scenario over a period of time and your customers will look elsewhere for the items that they want. The likelihood of them completing half their shop in your store and the other half in their new fund store is slim, and it is more than likely that they will proceed to carry out their full shop in the new fully stocked store that they have found.
Loss of stock
Having issues with fridges and freezers is not amusing. It tends to mean that all the stock house in them has to be trashed, and that equals profits down the drain. So not only have you had to trash everything you had stored in them, but you are then unable to fill them up with any products you have in a backup freezer or fridge in the rear of your store. This is a double whammy as far as your profit is concerned, and yet with a bit of careful planning, some scheduled servicing, and maintenance, it may not have occurred at all, highlighting the importance of this.
