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The Laundry Doctor
The ‘Inn’ Crowd
Originally posted - Nov 16, 2012 One of the most profitable and high-volume commercial accounts a self-service laundry owner can acquire is a small hotel. Typically, such accounts are 20- to 45-room hotels that may or may not have their own laundry facilities – and...
Plan Your Work… Work Your Plan
Originally posted - Jul 18, 2014 When I first got into the laundry business, I was skeptical as to whether or not I needed to write a business plan. However, it was something the SBA required (or at least strongly encouraged), so I went through the process of creating...
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Going to the Mat
Originally posted -May 29, 2013 Clearly, not everybody wants - or needs - to go to a self-service laundry. However, there are some items that almost everyone needs to get cleaned once in a while that would best be handled by a professionally equipped laundry. One such...
Wash With Wally
Wash with Wally: Cleaning Drain Lines and Lint Traps
Is there a chemical and/or preventive maintenance procedure that will keep our main drain line clean? Occasionally, we experience a backup of water, which seems to be due to a buildup of a black greasy residue within the line. Would you recommend a periodic flush of...
Wash with Wally: Researching a Former Laundry Location
I do a considerable amount of drop-off laundry at my store, and I always seem to have a problem removing chewing gum from garments. Can you offer any suggestions for removing it? There are two ways to deal with this problem. One way is to spot it with a good paint and...
Wash with Wally: Sanitizing Medical Laundry
I just landed a commercial account where I will be required to launder rags used to clean medical equipment. However, I'm unsure as to the specific water temperature needed to completely clean and sanitize these items. I heard somewhere that 140-degree water was...
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...
Viewpoint
Mid-Year Report Card
I hope the first half of 2015 has been successful for you and your businesses. Recent surveys and economic indicators are all showing positive results, and it looks to stay that way for some time to come. In addition, the Coin Laundry Association accomplished some...
Avoiding Surprises
Running a small business is far from an exact science. And operating a self-service laundry – with all of the market-by-market idiosyncrasies this entails – at times can be even less of a sure thing. With PlanetLaundry's cover story in May focusing on industry myths...
Clean 2015: Basic Training – Coin Laundry Style
In addition to veteran laundry owners looking to stay one step ahead with regard to the latest trends and technology, the Clean Show has always served as a starting point for potential investors doing their due diligence. However, as the economy improves and with a...
Digital Marketing
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