Why Your Business Needs Pest Control, and Signs When You Need It

For any number of businesses—apartment complexes, restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, healthcare facilities, stores, schools, etc.—the presence of pests can be disastrous to a business.

a grocery store

If you find yourself in this position, it is time to get in touch with a business pest control service. There are four principal reasons you should include pest control services as part of the cost of doing business:

  • Your Reputation

Most businesses have areas that are frequented by prospective customers and other visitors. Business pest control services are needed since they secure your business stability. In some industries—such as hospitality and retail—these areas are a primary aspect of a business.

Needless to say, if guests at a hotel or in a restaurant see evidence of pest infestation, the business has a serious image problem. “That hotel has bed bugs” or “that restaurant has mice” are business-killing comments.

But even if your facility is not customer-focused, pests can damage your reputation. If prospective customers or other visitors see evidence of pests in your reception area, meeting rooms, or bathrooms, they will—consciously or unconsciously—equate that sign of neglect with your company.

  • Employee Morale

If your facility is infested, your employees will know it, and they won’t be happy. If you use pest control services, they will know you are doing your best to control the problem. But if you ignore the situation, employees will hold it against the company every time they come to work to find wasps buzzing around the front door, ants crawling in the hallway, spiders in the corners of their offices, their snacks chewed up, etc.

Since not only are pests distracting and discomfiting, employees—like visitors—will consider it a sign of slackness if the company doesn’t address the issue of pest control services for their business.

  • Protection of Employee Health

Pests are more than just a moral issue, however. Left untreated, pests can cause serious health issues for employees—along with the corresponding productivity, healthcare-cost, and legal implications.

  • Prevention of Structural Damage

Pests can destroy wood, chew through wiring, undermine a foundation, and cause other damage to a building. Using pest control services can prevent a pest problem from ever reaching the point that it causes serious and expensive complications such as these.

Routine pest control services keep a business facility presentable to visitors, pleasant and safe for employees, and secure from physical damage.

 

a mouse on white background

Just knowing your business is prone to pests and hasn’t been treated for them in months should be all the sign you need to call for pest control services.

3 Signs Your NYC & Long Island Business Need Pest Control

Running a business means focusing on ways to boost the bottom line—increasing sales, becoming more productive, lowering costs, and developing new products and services. 

With all of this concentration on business improvement, it’s easy to forget the “housekeeping” details that also require action, such as keeping your business free of pests and hire a business pest control company.

Pests can infest commercial buildings just as easily as they can infest home, so don’t neglect to pay attention to the following three signs that you need business pest control services.

 1. Evidence of infestation

Of course, the surest sign of infestation is seeing the pests. But pests tend to stay hidden from humans. However, most leave behind traces, so that even if you don’t catch the pests in the open, you can tell they’ve been around. For example:

  • If you see piles of sawdust-like material, or if you hear crackling sounds inside the office walls, you could have termites or carpenter ants.
  • Tiny discarded exoskeletons or the smell of rotten raspberries could signal bed bugs, which can live in any furniture,  not just beds.
  • If the packaging of food stored in the office’s kitchen cabinets—or in people’s offices—has been chewed, you almost certainly have a problem with rodents, which also leave behind droppings to signal their presence.

2. Employees being bitten

If employees complain about being bitten at work by mosquitoes, ants, spiders, bed bugs, or some other insect, then it’s probably time for pest control services. An isolated complaint could be reasonably attributed to pests outside the office, but if several employees feel they’ve been bitten while working, chances are the infestation is in your place of business.

3. A history of pests

This sign will be contained in your company’s records. If your building has had pest problems in the past, but you’re no longer receiving regular business pest control services, you can safely assume that the problem has returned.

Just knowing your business is prone to pests and hasn’t been treated for them in months should be all the sign you need to call for pest control services—this time being sure to schedule regular treatments.

 

Nothing will turn off a hotel guest faster than pests. If a hotel gets a reputation for having pests, it’s a business killer. 

-Rest Easy Pest Control

What Type of Businesses Call Pest Control the Most?

All types of businesses require pest control services, but the following seven types of businesses put in the most requests. For them, pest control is an ongoing top priority, and they wisely invest in regularly scheduled, frequent inspections and prevention treatments. 

1. Restaurants

Pests in a restaurant will lead to low sanitation grades and customers who are afraid to eat there, so regular pest control services are critical. Making the job more difficult is the nature of the industry—there’s a lot of food around! Without restaurant pest control services, infestation by some type of pest—and probably multiple pests—is almost a certainty.

2. Hotels

Nothing will turn off a hotel guest faster than pests. If a hotel gets a reputation for having pests, it’s a business killer. Bed bugs are particularly worrisome. In the past 15 years, the bed bug population has exploded, and by their nature hotel rooms are particularly conducive to transmitting bed bugs.

Many hotels face lawsuits from guests who claim they got bed bugs while at the hotel. Proactive pest control that can be documented is necessary for hotels to protect themselves.

3. Property Managers

Whether it’s apartment complexes, malls, or office buildings, a key part of the service property management firms provide is consistent pest control services.

4. Schools

Like hotels, schools face lawsuits for pest-related problems that may have begun at the school. Schools have a responsibility to keep their students free from pests.

5. Personal storage units

No one will rent out a storage unit if it’s infested with bugs or rodents.

6. Grocery stores

This is another type of business where there’s an abundance of food—and where pests can cause an extreme amount of damage to inventory and reputation. It’s essential for grocery chains to keep their stores—and their distribution warehouses—free from pests.

7. Small businesses

Many small businesses own the properties they use for their business. Just as with a home, these facilities must be protected from pests to prevent property damage from termites, carpenter ants, and rodents. And small-business owners naturally want to work in a pest-free environment.

 

This small ongoing cost can save a lot over the long run when you consider the potential negative consequences to your businesses reputation, employee productivity, and property.

Proactive Business Pest Control Pays Off

The signs of pests can be apparent—tiny feces, discarded bug skins and chewed food packaging are among the indications that you are infested. Sometimes, of course, the evidence is seeing the actual pests.

But being aware that you have pests in your office building isn’t the same as being able to locate their nests or identify how they are getting in. Business pest control services require the knowledge and experience of pest control specialists, who know the habits and tendencies of all types of pests.

exterminators are inspecting a house

A company specializing in pest control will come to your place of business and conduct a thorough inspection. They will then eliminate any pests they find.

The next step involves the pest control specialist working with you to develop a regular business pest control plan that’s flexible and fits your schedule.

This regular service will involve periodic inspections and preventative treatments. This small ongoing cost can save a lot over the long run when you consider the potential negative consequences to your business’s reputation, employee productivity, and property.

Once you call in an established professional pest control service to identify exactly the cause of your problem, you’ll also be able to rely on that service to exterminate the pests.

Specialists know what works for roaches, bed bugs, mice, rats and any other type of pest. And they have access to chemicals that aren’t available to the general public but that are often necessary to do the job right.***

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