Columns
The Laundry Doctor
The Magic Number
When Processing Natural Fibers, It's Critical That Temperatures Remain Below 80 Degrees Temperature is a key component within the overall cleaning process. And one of the most important temperature thresholds with regard to cleaning is 80 degrees. What's so important...
Building a Winning Team, Part 3
The Right Attendants with the Proper Training Will Have Customers Viewing You and Your Staff as Their Local Laundry Experts [This is the third of a three-part series on hiring and training laundry attendants.] Last month, I discussed how to track a new attendant's...
Building a Winning Team, Part 2
How to Quickly Track a New Hire's Progress and Likelihood of Success Right from the Beginning [This is the second of a three-part series on hiring and training laundry attendants.] Last month, in the first of our series on attendants, I noted that it was important to...
Wash With Wally
Wash with Wally: Increasing Labor Costs
I own three vended laundries, and I’m quite concerned about the $15 per hour minimum wage that’s being talked about more and more these days. I have three or four employees at each of my locations, and I’m paying those attendants $10 per hour. I don’t know how I would...
Wash with Wally: Installing an ATM
I just got into the laundromat business, and I’m considering installing an ATM in my store. My question is whether I’m better off buying a machine outright and installing it myself, or having an outside vendor own and install the ATM, with some type of commission...
Wash with Wally: Licensed to Launder?
I offer a drop-off laundry service at my store, and I’ve been doing so for years. However, a local business inspector recently visited my laundromat and told me that I need a special license to provide this type of wash-dry-fold service. Do you know anything about...
The Business Mind
The Formula for Powerful Advertising
Don’t Overlook the Impact of Human Psychology on the Success of Your Promotional Campaigns I’m a firm believer that advertising is simply applied psychology using print, television, radio or any other media platform the advertiser so chooses. Given that, it stands to...
‘In the Middle of Every Difficulty Lies Opportunity’
How to Stay Wired to Successfully Deal with the COVID-19 Pandemic Can I be completely honest with you? I certainly don’t in any way mean to minimize the very real human toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacted. However, I’m finding this whole coronavirus mess to be...
Understanding Our Economic Behavior
How Our Psychological Makeup Impacts Our Financial Decisions I’ve consulted with a great many laundromat owners over the years. And nearly all of them have been preoccupied with their financial decisions – either those that had been made in the past or those that the...
Viewpoint
Out of Necessity
"Necessity is the mother of taking chances." – Mark TwainA recent visit to a laundromat in the Lower Price Hill enclave in Cincinnati got me thinking about our business and the nature of necessity. The aforementioned laundry is Washing Well community laundromat, a...
Building on Past Success… Exceeding Our Potential
Happy New Year, and welcome to 2018!I consider it an honor and a privilege to be serving as the Chairman of the Board for the Coin Laundry Association this year. Last year was historic for the CLA, as last year's chairman, Jim Whitmore, oversaw the introduction of new...
Something New is Afoot
If you're reading this, you are – simply by virtue of doing so – among the cream of the crop. You are someone who is willing to dig deep to find every little nugget that can further reinforce your commitment to your chosen place in our industry. More importantly, it...
Digital Marketing
Staying Connected
The Best Way to Keep Up with Today’s Fast-Paced Online World The internet is different today than it was yesterday. And it will change again tomorrow. Just go check out your Facebook feed – or inbox! You’ve likely got a completely different look, and that’s just on...
Marketing Your Multi-Store Operation
To Grow Your Vended Laundry Business, Focus on Four Key Factors Here’s a fact that shouldn’t surprise you by now: More than half of all purchases are influenced by a digital presence. You, your neighbors and the strangers across town are all Googling (and maybe...
Marketing Trends to Adopt in 2019
These Four Growing Technologies and Promotional Methods Deserve Your Attention The marketing industry is relentless, and it likes to think big. Every year, new technologies and marketing methods emerge that seek to make it easier for businesses like yours win new...