In recent years, there has been a growing debate about what kind of impact Daylight Saving Time has on the country as a whole, and some small business owners say that it negatively affects their bottom lines significantly. This is, perhaps, most true for restaurants in the many parts of the country where Daylight Saving is observed.
When it gets dark a little later, some small businesses may actually end up losing money, according to a report from Wichita, Kansas, television station KWCH. That’s because people might think of certain things – like going to a restaurant or a bar – as a nighttime activity. Therefore, companies in those sectors end up losing out on a potentially large amount of business when sunset gets pushed back an hour.
“In the restaurant business we have this thing called the dark 30, which means the first 30 minutes of darkness is when you’re the busiest during suppertime. If it doesn’t get dark until after 8 o’clock, we are losing that money,” restaurant owner Louis Foreman told the station. “It was costing me an extra $250 dollars a week to stay open for an extra hour. I am absolutely behind getting rid of Daylight Saving.”
A legislative decision
Interestingly, not all states observe Daylight Saving – Arizona and Hawaii are holdouts – and another dozen have discussed doing away with the practice, the report said. It’s up to lawmakers there to decide whether to continue sticking with the tradition, which critics say is outmoded and actually might end up costing the country a significant amount of money each year, but that hasn’t happened yet. In most places, while the idea has been discussed, it certainly hasn’t been voted on either way by legislatures there.
However, in the meantime, it might be wise for owners to look at how the changes will affect their bottom lines, whether for good or ill, and make decisions based upon that. For those who are concerned about losing a little more money each month, it might be wise to look into other ways to save over the course of the year. For instance, companies that can find more affordable small business insurance – including policies for general liability insurance – might be able to save themselves thousands of dollars per year.
