Many business owners do not realize the staggering amounts of money a business might lose because it is dirty. An unclean store, restaurant, or similar facility can really cost them money. 


Here are some examples:


• If the average check in a fast-food restaurant is $7 and two people who eat there each day decide they will not go there again because it is dirty, that totals a whopping $5,110 annually. And if those two people tell three others who also stop eating there, now we're talking $13,000 in lost revenue due to dirt.


• The average amount of money spent for holiday gifts in 2014 was $804. Let's say that is all spent in one shopping center. If 10 people per day refuse to shop at that shopping center because it is dirty, that equals 600 lost shoppers, assuming the holiday shopping season lasts 60 days. That totals more than $480,000 that will not be spent in that shopping center.


• The average charge for a hotel room in a U.S. hotel chain is about $125. If three people every day say they will never stay in that hotel chain again, that amounts to nearly $140,000 per year. And if those three report their negative experience to three more people who decide to never stay there, that chain will be out about $275,000 annually.


• Finally, the average private school tuition in Illinois is about $7,000 per year. If 10 parents will not send their child to a school because they believe it is not well maintained, that's $70,000 per year. And if they share their views with three other families, that amount quickly jumps to $280,000.

"What this tells us is that dirt costs money," says Matt Morrision, communications manager for Kaivac, developers of the No-Touch® and OmniFlex™ Cleaning Systems. "And for employers, these calculations don't even take into consideration illness-related absenteeism or the cost of slips/fall accidents, which can be staggering."