The hidden costs of cheap workwear: Why buying cheap means paying twice
With all the essential costs a business accrues at any given time, it’s somewhat understandable why many business owners and key decision-makers look for opportunities to ‘get things on the cheap’.
While this might be more acceptable in some non-critical instances, there are many other business investments where buying cheap simply won’t do. One such investment is workwear.
In this guide, we make the case to demonstrate why scrimping on cheap workwear for your employees is unwise and can cost you much more in the long term than other solutions.
What are the dangers of cheap workwear for your business?
It’s fair to say there are three main issues surrounding cheap workwear that could have negative financial implications for your business. We’d also argue that other non-financial issues could cost you dearly.
Frequent replacement
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a basic set of overalls or a poor range of food coats; cheap is exactly what it says on the tin. If something looks cheap and is cheap in value, the odds are its longevity, durability and overall quality will be low.
Of course, wear and tear is more prevalent in some industries than others. But, low-quality workwear purchased outright will inevitably lead to damage beyond repair and a need for replacement — irrespective of industry.
Viewing this through a financial lens doesn’t paint a pretty picture for your bottom line, with increased replacement costs that are hard to predict and factor into your wider business expenditure.
Given its purpose, damaged workwear needs to be replaced at the drop of a hat to ensure minimal operational disruption and enable your employees to be as safe and protected as expected to complete their daily tasks.
Therefore, there’s also an urgency associated with replacement, which makes it even more of an irritating cost you could simply avoid much more often if you invest in a higher-quality solution.
Enhanced maintenance costs
In many ways, this applies to the buying vs workwear rental argument as a whole since taking ownership of the solution yourself naturally means you take ownership of all the associated costs, like laundry and upkeep, for example.
For this example, let’s imagine you’ve already decided to purchase the workwear outright and have two options; buy basic cheap garments that are more affordable or invest in a high-quality range of workwear at a heftier cost.
Both options will still leave you responsible for general upkeep and laundry costs, but the cheaper option is likely to amplify those costs for several reasons.
Firstly, cheap workwear will no doubt be more susceptible to damage. If this damage is beyond repair, the same nasty (and more frequent) costs apply as described above for replacement.
On the other hand, if you’re willing to foot the bill for repairs to prolong the life of workwear, just keep in mind that while this is commendable from a sustainability perspective, it’s still another cost likely to be quite frequent if you’ve kitted out your entire workforce with cheaper, low-quality garments.
Non-compliance with safety and hygiene standards
While cheaper workwear might feel like an attractive proposition at the point of purchase, there’s one key question you should always consider before you buy, regardless of cost.
Does this workwear meet the requirements for staff hygiene, health and safety?
Purchasing workwear outright will always involve some guesswork if you aren’t 100% clued up on current regulatory standards.
But frankly, guesstimating whether or not garments fit the bill for health and safety can put your employees at risk. The cheaper the workwear, the lower the quality. And, with lower quality comes the probability that it isn’t up to necessary legal standards.
While you may have saved money in terms of the initial purchase versus other more expensive options, the future cost implications can be devastating if it turns out that you’ve invested in non-compliant garments.
For example, if your company fails a health and safety inspection, you could be liable for financial penalties, enforced business disruption and even closure in some more severe cases.
Therefore, it’s always worth paying more at the initial purchase stage to avoid the possibility of damaging costs down the line. Cheaper workwear won’t always save you money in the long run — and it’ll definitely have the reverse effect if you supply your workforce with non-compliant, unsafe clothing.
Non-financial costs
Cheap workwear can also have consequences that are less easy to quantify through money.
Poor employee morale
If you give employees less than adequate tools to do their jobs, the likelihood is that they’ll feel less than adequate.
Workforce morale is the lifeblood of how your business runs, so the price you pay for plummeting staff performance, motivation and confidence can also be frustrating.
Low-quality, unsafe, unhygienic and non-compliant workwear will be reflected in the attitudes of your employees, so it pays to make sure they’re kitted out to a standard you’d expect them to work to on a daily basis.
Environmental damage
This is more closely linked to the issue of frequent replacement.
Garments damaged beyond the state of repair are likely to be sent to landfill, which comes at an environmental cost — especially if you’re throwing clothes away frequently.
Plus, workwear is designed for a specific use, so once it’s no longer fit for purpose, it becomes obsolete and inevitably should be discarded. This isn’t like fast fashion, where clothes can be recycled.
Therefore, it’s important to consider how the rate at which you discard worn out workwear can impact the planet and your business’ carbon footprint as a whole. Again, buying cheap here isn’t the answer!
Workwear rental vs buying cheap workwear outright
Avoiding cheap workwear doesn’t mean you now need to worry about a hefty cost for better-quality garments. In fact, you don’t even need to consider buying your workwear outright whatsoever.
Workwear rental and laundry remove the hidden costs discussed above, consolidating everything into a fully managed service to suit your business needs.
At Johnsons Workwear, we pride ourselves on the quality of our workwear collections and we’re fully confident we can provide anything you need to meet ever-changing health and safety regulations.
It’s a cost-efficient single or multi-service solution to set you and your workforce up for long-term success. Got a question? Simply get in touch with us today to find out more about the benefits of workwear rental or explore our rental page for more information.