Millions of people use laundromats to wash and dry their clothes, so it’s safe to say that, if done right, it can be a profitable business. But even so, it can be complicated for such a business to thrive. Finding a well-chosen location, purchasing good equipment, and developing a clever strategy are the closest things to a guarantee you can ask for.
Here are the first steps to creating the ideal strategy for a laundromat, and a few ideas about how you can ensure your success.
Create Your Brand
You have the basic idea of starting a business, you have the money or you know how to get the necessary funding, and you know that you want it to be a laundromat. It can be easy to manage, it can bring you a constant flow of clients, and good profits.
To start your detailed laundromat business plan, first, you should think of your brand. Catchy names can help companies be more memorable, which can be very helpful for business. Create a simple and easily recognizable logo, find your brand’s colors, and think up a slogan.
People nowadays often choose small businesses over huge corporations, which is great for you. However, it’s also a good idea to find which values you want people to relate to your brand. Being as environmentally responsible as possible is a great option for this type of business.
Find What Will Make You Different
With such businesses that are likely to have competitors nearby, with customers used to using them for their laundry needs, you need something that will make them want to break their habit and choose you instead. And this doesn’t mean offering lower prices than any other laundromat in the vicinity.
Spend time working on your basic idea and researching. Check out what similar successful businesses are doing but try to be creative and find something authentic that can help your clients’ time go faster, and their laundry tasks as easy as possible.
Sell Products
Don’t miss the opportunity to make some extra money by selling laundry products, such as detergent, fabric softener, stain remover, bleach, and laundry bags for washing delicates or for carrying laundry to and from the laundromat, dryer sheets, and so on. Many clients will expect you to have them.
You don’t have to limit your sales plan only to laundry products. Selling other things can help you not only increase your profit but also attract more clients. For instance, you can have a vending machine, for snacks and beverages or coffee. You can also capitalize on the fact that doing laundry takes time by incorporating something like a small simple café or a smoothie bar.
Offer a Variety of Services
Your laundromat can include a variety of laundry services, such as dry cleaning or ironing. You can also combine self-service and full-service, offer pick-ups and drop-offs, and so on.
If you decide to be a green business, you can expand on this idea and offer services that work towards this goal. For instance, you can offer services such as clothes repair or alterations, or you can collaborate with local businesses that recycle clothes (whether it’s donating, second-hand shops, repurposing, etc.).
Provide Comfort
Most of your clients will want to use their smartphones while waiting. This is why you should provide free WiFi, and make sure that you have enough sockets so they can charge their devices if they need to. You can also create a mobile app for your business. Finally, provide comfortable seating, whether it will be the traditional seats or sofas, or you decide to provide comfy reading nooks, children’s corners, or something else.
Find a Good Location
Even businesses that don’t offer the most quality products and services, can thrive in the right location. And for businesses like laundromats, it’s probably the most decisive factor for their success. For instance, you can choose to start your business in a neighborhood that doesn’t already have a laundromat, or you can look for a place with high foot traffic. You can look for locations where people can kill two birds with one stone. For instance, they can do their laundry after leaving their kids at school, while they are in a hair salon, while they wait for their car to be washed, etc.
Invest in Marketing
Marketing is important for any type of business. For a laundromat, you can use some of the traditional marketing solutions, such as flyers or advertising in magazines or newspapers, but you can also use digital marketing. You can also offer loyalty programs, discounts, or gift cards.
Conclusion
We can’t say that a laundromat is the most innovative business idea. However, there is still a lot of room for creativity and improvement upon the traditional concept that can help you stand out from the crowd. And to start your journey the first steps you should take are to come up with a unique concept, a powerful strategy, and winning tactics to give yourself a chance to achieve your goals.