Beyond The Dough

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Remember the 5 simple rules to happiness:

1. Free your heart from hatred. Forgive!

2. Free your mind from worries. Don’t let your thoughts paralyze you!

3. Live simply and appreciate what you have. Gratitude!

4. Give more. The more you give, the more you GET to give!

5. Expect less from people but more from yourself. Focus on a smaller circle and BIGGER GOALS!

To learn more about Perfect Crust’s pizza liners and other products, visit perfectcrust.com or email Eric Bam at Eric@perfectcrust.com

About Eric Bam:

A Boston native now living in Tulsa, OK, Eric Bam is VP of sales and marketing for Perfect Crust, with 20 years of experience in the foodservice industry. A powerful force in the workplace, Bam uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. He has three children and loves helping the men and women of the pizza industry grow their businesses.

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Pay special attention to problem areas. These include windowsills, the area behind the sink spigots (where water tends to pool) and the corners of the room. Dust mites and garbage gather in floor corners, and cobwebs can form in ceiling corners. If I see a cobweb when I walk into a restaurant bathroom, I know for sure that bathroom hasn’t been cleaned in eons.

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Clean and sanitize toilets and urinals daily. Keep toilet brushes and cleansers where you keep your restocking supplies. This way, if an accident happens during the day—and, as we all know, accidents happen—you can remedy the situation quickly.

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Empty garbage cans throughout the day as needed. We’ve all been to restaurants where the trash bins are overflowing, so the customers just toss their paper towels on top of the heap. That’s disgusting. It’s like washing your hands next to Mount Vesuvius.

Don’t forget about doorknobs and stall locks! These are some of the most germ-infested surfaces in commercial spaces. Run a disinfectant wipe along them at least once a day.

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Sweep floors daily and mop after closing. You don’t want your customers eating off your bathroom floor, but you want your bathroom floors to look like they can.

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Monitor your hand soap dispensers. They should be as new as possible. If they get old, then ask your supplier for a new one. Remember, if you buy the soap, you get the hand dispenser for free, so there’s no excuse for shoddy dispensers.

9 Mirrors must be smudge- and streak-free. I don’t care if you wipe them in a tight S-pattern or go “paint the fence” style like the Karate Kid—just make sure your customers can see their reflections without having to squint.

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Your bathroom should not only be clean but smell clean. And if you don’t like the smell of disinfectant, throw a few air fresheners into your shopping cart while you’re picking up the ceiling tiles. (Or, for a sweet touch, add a bouquet of fresh flowers to a mantel or tabletop.)

Your restaurant’s territory starts from the sidewalk and stretches all the way from the dining room to the kitchen to the bathroom. That means the energy you put into every other area should be the same energy that you put into the bathroom. As restaurant owners, there are many things we don’t have control over—pandemics come to mind—but you can certainly control the quality of the food that you serve and the cleanliness of your bathroom.

One of our longtime customers recently came for dinner after we reopened the dining room when the pandemic restrictions were lifted. “I want you to know that I tell everyone to come here,” she told my wife and me. I figured she was going to tell me how much she loves the food. But she went on: “You guys have the cleanest bathroom….”

A little “clean bacteria marketing” goes a long way.