Columns
The Laundry Doctor
Risky Business
Although Biohazard Laundry Poses Some Obvious Challenges, With the Proper Procedures in Place, It Can Become a Profitable Segment of Your Full-Service Laundry Operation One of the biggest decisions you’ll need to make with regard to your wash-dry-fold and...
Two for One
The Doctor Tackles a Couple of Common Laundry Questions Recently, a number of self-service laundry owners have asked me about two specific topics related to their businesses. As a result, I thought I would address each issue in this month's column. One of the topics...
Meeting the Demand for On-Demand Laundry
Here's a Look at Four of the Industry's Leading App-Based Players Last month, I touched on the growth of app-based, on-demand laundry businesses, along with the general public's increased awareness of such services. In this column, I'd like to discuss a few of the...
Wash With Wally
Wash with Wally: Built Detergents, Dryclean-Only Garments and More…
If a customer comes in with a drop-off laundry order and there are clearly some garments in the bundle that should be drycleaned, how should I handle it? What if the customer insists that I should just wash them? It's up to your customers if they want to ruin their...
Wash with Wally: Using Ozone, Removing Blood Stains and More…
I own a store in a town that has a total of eight self-service laundries, and every one of them offers free dry. I'm tired of raising prices on my washers every time expenses go up, while my drying remains free. My customers are overloading the washers and...
Wash with Wally: Cloth Napkins, Throw Rugs and More…
I have a commercial client who wants my store to take over the cloth napkin laundry service for his Italian restaurant. I’m not sure what is required to perform a quality service for this specific account. The napkins are red and often will have oil and other food...
The Business Mind
Going Off-Script
How to Raise Your Laundry Business Above and Beyond the CompetitionYou might assume – understandably so – that most customers select a specific laundry based essentially upon location, vend prices and hours of operation. But that just isn't so.Let me explain...
Hard Facts on Dealing with the ‘Soft Costs’ of Business Ownership
Are Stress, Customer Diversity and Managing Your Employees Taking Their Toll on You and Your Laundry Operation? In general, self-service laundry owners typically face about 11 or 12 costs on a monthly basis. These costs can range from utilities and labor to vended...
Down to a Science
Five Research Findings That Can Jumpstart Your Marketing Strategy As small-business owners, you most likely write your own advertising. And, if you have no formal training or experience in copywriting, I'm willing to wager that you use what is referred to as a...