Every day we are faced with making choices. These choices are often a reflection of who we are as a business or a person.

Believe it or not, the floor that you have in your office, workspace or home contributes to your overall look, feel and image, or even your reputation. Considering the right flooring options for your business, is not only about aesthetics: functionality, safety, durability, maintenance requirements, among many other factors also need to be considered.

When deciding on flooring solutions for your office, it is also important to consider your needs as a business and how your corporate identity, reputation and image will be affected by or guide that choice. The choices for each business will differ according to the priorities of their needs.

Let’s take a look at some practical examples at the hand of different scenarios/personas:

Scenario 1: International Online Company

S and M Online (persona) is an international organisation that makes millions of online bookings every day. They have offices worldwide but they do not receive that many visitors to their office. They have a quarterly meeting with their “Gold Clients” (top 20 VVIP clients) who contribute towards 60% of their total revenue, where they share and exchange business ideas.

What could be important to consider for flooring options for this company’s boardroom?

Firstly, as a big international company, their corporate identity is important: first impressions, as well as the look and feel of the flooring should communicate their success. Upon entering the boardroom, a client should immediately feel confident about their choice to do business with this company. Important factors to consider here would be:

• comfort
• noise insulation
• warmth; and
• a classic look.

We would recommend a high-quality wall-to-wall carpet, or even a wooden floor to match the overall colour schemes and corporate identity of S and M Online. They would actually be spoilt for choice, since cost, high traffic and regular cleaning are not major considerations.

Scenario 2: Manufacturing Company (Factory)

G Chem & Plastics (persona) is a plastic and chemicals manufacturing company that produces plastic bottles, cling wrap and cleaning chemicals, using eco friendly methods. They have 2 manufacturing plants: one for plastics and another for chemicals. Their biggest priority is the safety of their employees and adhering to stipulated health and safety standards for their industry. Their manufacturing plants busy environments, with forklifts, conveyer and processing machines and high foot traffic all making use of the area.

The most important needs to consider would be functionality and durability: factors like the finishing and look of the flooring would be secondary in this case. Reducing the chances of a slip and fall accident (and the associated admin and costs of an IOD) is however a priority. Covering the costs of possible resulting insurance claims, would far outweigh the cost of ensuring that you have the right flooring option from the onset, which would reduce the likelihood of slip and fall accidents.

The best option for this company would be slip resistant flooring, which is also easy to clean and durable for high traffic. Concrete is also slip resistant and durable and anti-slip coatings can be applied to further increase the slip resistance in identified high traffic areas. However, concrete also requires a lot of water to clean when it gets really dirty.

Scenario 3: Boutique Hotel in a Busy City

This city centre 20-roomed boutique hotel is always busy , with a very good reputation for its cleanliness and an average score of 9.5/10 from over 300 reviews on their website. 70% of their business is from referrals from guests that have stayed at their hotel before. The most important factor for them is their reputation for cleanliness. Their choice of flooring should consider easy to clean as a priority. The busy factor of this hotel means that the turnaround time between guests checking out, to the time another guest checks in is limited. The look and feel is also a priority as it contributes to their overall image and reputation.

A combination of tiles and throw-rugs or carpets in certain areas come highly recommended. Tiles are quick and easy to clean and will leave the room smelling fresh. The throw-rugs or loose carpets can be placed in certain areas to blend in with the overall look of the room and for adding the required warmth and comfort. They can also be removed and cleaned easily, and as often as required. Another option could be stain resistant wall-to-wall carpets, which prevent the dirt from settling into the carpet. They are easy to clean with a vacuum cleaner and also insulate noise quite effectively. A wooden flooring and loose carpets combination is another possibility, however wood scratches easily it is not very affordable to replace.

Scenario 4: Busy Food Outlet

Bon Appétit (persona) is a busy French food outlet in the city, with close to 100 customers walking in and out each day. They do not have sit-down tables, only a cashier counter to place and pay for your order and a waiting area to pick up and go. This is a very high-traffic area that needs to be clean to meet the hygiene requirements of the industry and to appeal to the customer and compete with other outlets in the vicinity. The best flooring options for this outlet would be a floor that is easy to clean and durable: (long lasting) tiles or concrete would be the most suitable.

CS Cleaning Solutions

The above scenarios are illustrative of the fact that each business has different flooring requirements, determined by the most important considerations for their particular spaces, and how it would serve the business and contribute towards its overall success. Before you get lost in the beauty or style of a flooring option, it is important to do some homework and consider the functionality of the flooring space.

CS Cleanign Solutions are experts when it comes to all things pertaining to the correct and effective cleaning of different flooring options.

Learn more at: https://cscleaningsolutions.co.za/services