Is Your Public Bathroom Hurting Your Profitability?

Restaurants are a tough business, with only 50 percent of newly opened restaurants surviving to the five year mark. As such, restaurants are always looking for ways to stand out from other nearby eateries. Unique touches, from the furniture you put outside to what you offer inside, can make your restaurant more appealing.

These are just a few of the ‘above and beyond’ tactics restaurants can use to make themselves stand out, along with getting more involved in the community, using social media or offering loyalty programs. But did you also know that the state of your public bathroom – particularly, its accessibility to young children, their parents and persons with disabilities – can ultimately exert a huge impact on your profitability?

The Public Bathroom: An Overlooked Place in Many Restaurants 

Many restaurant bathrooms are overlooked and can be inaccessible, impacting the overall dining experience and potentially contributing to a negative perception of the establishment. This is often the result of a lack of focus, as restaurant owners and managers prioritize the kitchen, dining area and customer service, neglecting the bathrooms.

There are many ways that a restaurant bathroom can be inaccessible, as ADA regulations designed to provide equal access are often not enforced. Examples of steps that can be taken to ensure accessible bathrooms include providing adequate space for mobility (ensuring there’s enough room for mobile devices to fit through the entrance of family-style restrooms, for example); installing an adult changing table (as opposed to an infant changing station, so customers of all ages with special changing needs can be accommodated); and making sure sinks are accessible to mobile device users.

Herein lies a particular challenge. Handwashing sinks must be high enough to accommodate wheelchairs, scooters and other mobile devices sliding beneath them in order for the person to reach the faucet, soap and sink basin. Yet, they must also be low enough so that people with other disabilities like achondroplasia (the most common form of dwarfism) can reach them.

What An Inaccessible Bathroom May Be Costing You

An inaccessible bathroom could be costing you a lot. Besides reputational damage and the risk of lawsuits and fines, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than one in four U.S. adults – over 70 million – report having a disability.  Also, it is important to consider bathroom accessibility for young children. While being a small, young child is not considered a disability, it’s estimated that in the U.S. there are more than 20 million children between the ages of 2 and 6. There are also more than 18 million parents of such children who are growing weary of trying to awkwardly hold a small child over a sink – not to mention if a parent has a condition of their own that prevents them from assisting their child.

Regardless of whether a parent has a disability, if your bathroom is not small child-friendly, parents will let you know – with their wallet. According to a recent study, almost 90 percent of parents say public bathroom sinks are too high for their children to reach. 51.6 percent of parents deliberately choose to visit stores and restaurants with kid-friendly bathrooms, while 38.5 percent of parents actively avoid stores and restaurants without them.  

Steps Restaurant Owners Can Take to Make Their Bathrooms More Inclusive 

Everyone, regardless of their height, should be able to wash their hands in a public bathroom. Moreover, they should be able to do this in a way that is convenient, painless and safe. Currently, 67.6 percent of parents report picking their small children up around the waist and holding them over the sink, potentially up against a sharp, wet countertop.

One way to improve bathroom accessibility for shorter persons is by offering a retractable step stool that affixes to the ground right in front of the sink. Such an accommodation is not ‘in the way’ for customers who don’t need it – it doesn’t make facilities any less usable for people of average height, nor does it impede people using mobile devices, like wheelchairs and scooters. This is a simple, meaningful change that can drastically improve accessibility.

If your bathroom is not accessible to all, your restaurant is likely not reaching its full addressable customer base. Failing to accommodate shorter individuals in particular, could have a more sizable impact than you’d expect, given that parents without disabilities are impacted too. Providing accessible bathrooms isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s a smart business decision.