Smart restaurateurs and business owners spend money on things (and equipment) that generate a return, not on ice machines! Sure, you and your customers need a reliable supply of ice, but owning the ice maker is not a good use of your capital.
Commercial Ice Machines: Don’t Buy and Here’s Why
1) Purchase price is expensive. When you spend money on new commercial ice equipment, it better be something that can actually improve my customers’ experience, like a high end cappuccino machine or new décor. An ice maker doesn’t enhance the customer’s experience — ice is just ice!
2) Buying a commercial ice machine is simply not a good business decision. Every little decision you make operating your restaurant needs to be smart and thoughtful. To be successful, you need to take every decision and every expense seriously. Look at the pros and cons, weigh them out and make the smartest decision possible. Thankfully, Easy Ice makes it simple to make a smart decision about your source of ice.
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3) Maintaining a commercial ice maker properly requires an expert. You’re an expert at running your business, at menu design, at managing your staff, amongst other things, but you’re not an ice machine expert. And no one on your staff is an ice machine expert. If an ice maker isn’t well-maintained, it will lower the ice cube production. You don’t have time to fuss around making sure the ice machine is properly maintained!
4) Repairs are expensive and unpredictable. When an automatic ice maker machine breaks down, it’s always at the most inopportune times. Well, actually anytime an ice machine breaks is a bad time. But you still need to serve your customers and employees ice even if the ice maker is broken. So that means you have to spend extra money to buy bagged ice until it’s fixed, plus pay for the repairs. It’s just not worth it!
5) Running successful, busy restaurants can be stressful. Why would you want the added stress of being responsible for an ice machine? Owners and managers naturally feel stressed when the health inspector comes calling. They want to know when the ice machine was last cleaned and when the water filters were changed. You don’t want to have to track that stuff! One of the beautiful things about Easy Ice subscriptions is the way our technicians clean the ice machines and replace the water filters when they need to be switched out. Plus Easy Ice tracks all of this for you. When the health inspector needs that information, Easy Ice quickly provides it. Simple!
6) Loss of productivity while fussing with ice machine issues. You don’t want to have to send an employee out to buy bagged ice every time the machine breaks. It’s a waste of time and productivity! Easy Ice subscriptions include free Breakdown Ice. You just make a call and you’ll be provided ice until the ice maker is fixed. Easy!
7) You can’t charge more for ice, but you have to have it. Let’s face it, ice is just frozen water! Why would you invest a large chunk of capital on something that you can’t charge more for and doesn’t add value? You have plenty of other places to invest that’ll really make a difference to you business. Ice doesn’t make a difference. It’s a no-brainer to leave ice to the experts!
8) Deep cleaning a commercial ice machine requires a lot more than wiping down surfaces and emptying the bin. Industrial ice makers are complicated with lots of moving parts that need attention during a cleaning. If you want to pass your health inspection, you better have a clean ice machine! Your staff doesn’t have the time or expertise to properly clean a commercial ice maker — leave this to experts you can trust!
9) Unpredictable costs can be the downfall of any business. You need to eliminate as much unpredictability out of the equation as possible when you’re looking at budgets. The only thing predictable about an ice machine when you own one is the unpredictable repairs, maintenance and back up ice costs. Did you know that in just one night at a busy restaurant you could spend $500 just on replacement bagged ice if the restaurant ice maker is broken? Business owners strive to control their costs as much as possible. Owning an ice machine just doesn’t fit with the way smart managers run their businesses!
10) Easy Ice has a better alternative to owning a commercial ice maker! Ice machine subscriptions are smart, simple and stress-free!
As the Co-Founder and COO of Easy Ice, John Mahlmeister has been working in the commercial ice machine industry since 2009. Co-headquartered in Phoenix, AZ and Marquette, MI, Easy Ice is the only national provider of full-service ice machine subscriptions in the industry. Since Easy Ice was founded, the number of ice machines under its management has grown to over 30,000 units across 47 states, with no signs of slowing down.