[esperent]

As the owner of a bakery/cafe - thankfully in a country where tipping isn't normal - changing prices to cover costs isn't a simple thing to do, unfortunately. Customers are extremely sensitive to price changes, and expect certain price points. We have 7% inflation, and our suppliers have no problem raising their prices to reflect that. But we can't match them easily. 50k and 100k VND are prices that customers orient around here. In the US the equivalent might be $10 and $20, where one is cheap for a meal, the other is expensive.

Notice that those are just round numbers rather than specific values. What happens when inflation means that $10 is no longer sustainable for a meal? You can either increase the price and weather all of your regulars complaining, and new customers viewing you as an expensive location. Or, you can cut costs.

The same applies if you have a sudden new expense. Say, taxes go up. Or you decide to stop requesting tips and start paying staff a living wage (something I'm strongly in favor of). Then you'll need to increase all prices by 30%. Do you think your customers will be happy? No way! And even those customers who do support and agree with you, subconsciously they'll still be comparing you to other places that haven't done this and your place will be comparatively expensive and they'll come less often. Yes, even if they end up paying less after factoring in tips. Customers (in general) are not rational that way.

Then the only option is legislation so that everywhere changes at once. And good luck with that!

[valval]

You either raise prices, cut costs, or go out of business. All are valid options.