This story appears in the
March 2004 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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The staff at Ditto Document Services Inc. delivers its printing
jobs to law firms throughout Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania.
With about 50 to 60 round-trip visits to client firms each day,
company principal Steve Shriber, 38, and his partner and brother,
Ken Shriber, 36, realized they were missing an important branding
opportunity.
"We realized that uniforms with our logo would be like a
walking advertisement in front of our customers about 100 times a
day," says Steve. Their collared shirt and khaki pants get-ups
have been so popular with employees that they rolled out a new
uniform last fall.
Rick Segel, author of Retail Business Kit for Dummies (John Wiley
& Sons), says uniforms are a good idea but insists retailers
shouldn't go for a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, he says
to:
- Create your uniform in alignment with your business type and
attitude, whether it's young and hip or straight-laced and
conservative.
- Make it functional for your employees.
- Get input from your staff about what
type of clothing is best for their jobs. For instance, smocks are
great for a ceramics shop but probably won't work for a
sporting goods store, he says.
- Take seasons into consideration.
- Will you need to change with the
weather?
- Pick super-cool uniforms, which may turn into revenue
streams.
- Says Segel, "If it's
interesting enough, people will want to buy it."
Segel says it's best to provide uniforms for your staff.
However, some companies still require employees to purchase their
own.