There is a phenomenal market for you to start your home laundry business..!!
A home laundry business may not sound to be the most glamorous occupation, however it has several unique features that are of interest.
Let me list a couple of these features.
Instant Cash – no receivables. the customer pays in advance for your service, in other words if you do not get paid you do not do the laundry. There are millions of businesses that have delinquent accounts and would dearly love to have a cash business.
Work at your leisure – You schedule the time for work, you set the hours for incoming business, you can choose to wark days or evenings or weekends. whatever you choose. How many people do you know that are bound to the commuter schedule and put in 12 hours days and get paid for 8 hours.
Lets get into the specifics as to how you may set up how to start your home laundry business.
Equipment. We are going to need some equipment such as a washer and a dryer, those are going to have to be reliable, best that you contact a service company and arrange for an initial checkup and schedule regular checkups. Although that may be a cost, it will prove to be a good investment as your business builds. You will also be wanting to keep an eye out for good new equipment with a warranty. Ultimately your equipment will wear and it will need to be replaced.
Premises. Of course you are going to need an area for your machines, a folding table, a drying room for those items that can not be placed in the dryer. Keep in mind that this is going to be a work area and that you will want to have it cheery as you may be spending a lot of time there each day.
The laundry customer is going to have specific needs which you will have to learn as you deal with the client. By determining in advance as to what they expect you will end up with a happy customer who will bring you repeated business and referrals. They may want you to use green chemicals or they may want you to give the items a certain scent, it is best to inquire before they leave you so that you can be sure to deliver it exactly as they want. They are going to need to know what time to pick up their belongings and it is best that you can convey at the start that you will deliver your service exactly as described to you.
Your fees……. Generally a home laundry business will charge by the pound, therefore you will need a hanging scale to weight the laundry and to help calculate what is to be charged, best to establish the cost to the customer when the laundry is brought to you so that you can be prepaid. Accounts receivable lead to arrears and bad customer relations, get the money before you do the work.
There are several methods for promoting your business.
Check out the nearest laundromats and place a small sign in the ones that are not offering wash and fold.
Print a flyer and some business cards to distribute to everyone you meet.
Mention to all of your friends that your business is up and running, they may have referrals for you.
Contact by telephone and in person hotels, motels, health clubs, fitness clubs, restaurants, hair dressers , daycare.
Add your business to your email signature.
Buy promotional Laundry bags with decals on them and give those to customers.
Establish a website for attracting local customers.
Use social media extensively, Twitter, Facebook etc…. this is free advertising and it will tip off your friends and remind them of your business.
You can also decide to use Green detergents and promote that.
That list should give you enough business to start your home laundry business, referral business will flourish once you have some accounts.
Should you require financing for your equipment, there are a couple ways, credit card, vendor financing, personal bank loan or a loans company or finance company. Once you start your home laundry business gets established and you are able to establish continuity your bank manager will be pleased to offer increasingly better terms.
You can have a look at Wikipedia for some information about laundry and its history.
Here is an article about the phenomenal growth of a laundry business.