An Interview with Texas Laundry Owner Bruce Walker
Bruce Walker and his wife, Julie, have been in the self-service laundry business since 2002. They own Wash It Kwik, a 3,000-square-foot card-operated store with 82 washers and dryers in Denton, Texas.
How did you get involved in the self-service laundry industry?
My wife and I were considering investing in some rental property, as well as a few other things. Then, right down the street from our house, a sign popped up in a burned down gas station, and it read, “Coin Laundry For Sale.” And that got both of us thinking.
As it turned out, a woman who was cleaning our house at the time told us that she and her husband would love to open a laundromat. In fact, they had already done some research and shared it with us. They brought over all of their magazines from the Coin Laundry Association.
We felt bad about pursuing it, but she told us that they didn’t have enough money to buy a store at that time. So, we took their research – and we started looking into other laundries in the area and talking to their owners.
That was the spark.
What attracted you to this business?
Flexibility would have to be number one reason. I had been in youth ministry and in sales, and I was looking for an opportunity to work in a business where I could continue to raise my family. Julie is a full-time sales professional; she’s a rock star. I wanted to have the flexibility of having a job where I could take care of my kids and run my business at the same time.
I grew up that way. My dad was a carpenter, and I always loved being able to holler out the back door for him. And I wanted the same for my kids.
Beyond the flexibility, we liked that it was a simple business. For instance, I don’t want to run a lube center – I don’t know enough about all that, and having to hire and train certified mechanics. Also, drycleaning was a little bit too technical, and there’s a lot of specialized labor involved in that. Those businesses were just out of our wheelhouse.
But, with coin laundry, it was like, “OK, I think we can do this. We’re in a college town of about 50,000 students. Do you think we could hire some of those college students to come work for us, and they could possibly fold some laundry, maybe?” It just didn’t seem like it was too much of a reach.
What are the keys to a successful self-service laundry business in 2015?
There are three competitive advantages that set us apart, and the second and third ones don’t even come close to the first.
Number one is my staff. I have a high-octane, high-protein staff of seven employees that just kills it. And, when I have a terrific staff, my wife’s better looking, I make more money, I’m not as fat as I once was – everything just clicks.
We have a very high standard. And, when that’s all going right, it’s magic. There’s nothing we can’t do. They are the most critical part of what we do. We can have the best equipment, the best location, whatever – but, if I’ve got idiots working for me, it will show in spades.
The second advantage that differentiates us is our card system. One of the main reasons I like my card system is that it gives me a point of interaction with the customer. When they walk in, they almost have to talk to me or one of my awesome staff people. It develops a relationship and a rapport with the customer that we wouldn’t be able to create in a quarter-based store.
It’s about serving the customers and helping them. If we do a good job with that, it builds trust.
The third advantage is offering wash-dry-fold and pickup and delivery.
Those are my main competitive advantages, which basically are things I can do that you can’t do very easily.
For example, free dry is not a competitive advantage. If I wanted to do free dry, which is a cancer on our whole industry, you could do that tomorrow. If you gave a monkey enough bananas, he could do free dry.
But you can’t have an awesome staff. You can’t have a card store. And you can’t have wash-dry-fold and pickup and delivery. You can’t just switch those things on.
In your opinion, what is the major hot-button issue for laundry owners today?
The big thing we struggle with as an industry is the non-traditional customer who doesn’t typically use a laundromat. It’s about creating awareness of what we do.
Even people I know will ask, “Now, tell me again, what exactly is it that you do?”
I’ll tell them to look at everything in their laundry hamper – and that’s what we do.
“And people will pay you to do that?”
At that point, I’ll try to relate it back to them. I’ll say, “You’ve got a pair of scissors, right? But do you cut your own hair?”
“Well, no… that’s dumb.”
“You’ve got a kitchen, but you still go out to eat. You have a dining room table, but you don’t sit at it every day.”
This is the general awareness that we, as an industry, need to do a better job of creating.
What trend are you noticing in the industry, especially in your marketplace?
For me, the trend I see out there are the alternative payment systems the manufacturers are introducing, whether it’s dollar coins, credit and debit cards at the machines, or card stations.
What’s the biggest concern you hear from other laundry owners in your area?
When you have debt hanging over you, you can say it doesn’t bother you and that you’re OK with it. But I think it wears on us more than we would like to admit.
I still have two notes out, but I’m running to debt-free as fast as I can.
Do you have a business philosophy that guides your decisions?
At the top of my training checklist, written in bold letters, is the doxological purpose of man, which is very simply to give glory to God in everything that you do.
As I’m training my employees, I tell them that, if they are trying their best – whether working for me or anybody else – to give glory to God in everything they do, then they will do it in such a way that it brings excellence. If you’re serving others and you’re serving them with excellence, they are going to return something to you, and it’s going to be kindness and respect. Conversely, if you give them disservice or dishonesty, they are going to disrespect you.
During training, we say try giving kindness, respect, dignity and excellence in everything you do for the customer. And guess what happens? A lot of times they leave these little certificates of appreciation with pictures of dead Presidents on them. Imagine that – because people want to do business with people like that. That can’t help but be a solid business plan.
Along those lines, I know that a big part of your business plan is to run your laundry operation debt-free. Would you care to elaborate on this?
I’m not debt-free, but I am getting there as fast as I can. I will have my house paid off soon after this article is published. And, when we get the house paid off, we’ll move on toward finishing the note on the laundromat.
I’m a firm believer that, if you don’t have any payments going out, you have a huge competitive advantage. Somebody could build a store right next to you, and if you weren’t making a monthly payment on yours, you might be mad about the competition – but it wouldn’t put you out of business. I’ve never seen a laundry owner who was debt free go out of business.
We all kind of snicker and shake our heads at all of these college students who have run up $200,000 and $300,000 in school loans. However, on the flip side, we have all of these businesses that have done the same thing. It’s compounded insanity.
As for me, I’ve done every dumb thing in the book. I had an interest-only loan. I had a 401(k) loan. And I borrowed money from my family. It just about killed me.
Today, if I don’t have cash, I don’t buy it. I added $100,000 worth of upgrades to my store last year – cash. I saved up the money. So, don’t say it can’t be done, because I did it.
There is nothing shiny enough on this planet that would make me run down to the bank. If debt is the answer, I don’t think you’ve asked the right questions.
In my mind, you need to scale it back so small that you can afford to do it. And if can’t afford to do it small, why in the world would you think you could do it big? If you’ve only got $5,000, you’re probably not going to go into the laundry business. You shouldn’t. It’s dangerous.
How long have you held this debt-free philosophy, and why is being debt-free so important to your success?
Things changed about 10 years ago. With debt hanging over our heads, we didn’t feel we could make any progress. One of the best things was paying off my family, from whom I borrowed money for the down payment on the note.
When you start doing smart stuff, smart things begin to happen. I got tired of playing stupid games, pretending like we were successful, when we had thousands of dollars going out every month. It can drown you emotionally.
I know a guy who is making $10,000 a month doing pickup and delivery out of his basement. He put in four washers and four dryers, and he works four days a week. He didn’t have to borrow any money to do that.
Look across the horizon and tell me how many store owners out there are doing $10,000 a month in drop-off laundry. There are so few full-time operators even doing that amount. This guy is doing it part-time from his house, making more than $100,000 a year.
It’s hard work, but it’s good work. And he will grow that to the point where his next step will be to go to the local laundromat. He can work out a deal with the owner, who could probably use a few more turns on his machines.
Then, at some point, he will have so much laundry to do that he will need to hire someone to do it – and now he’s got a bona fide business. Next, he can save up a couple hundred thousand dollars and buy out the laundromat owner.
Does that sound reasonable? That doesn’t sound like a fairy tale to me. That just sounds like a lot of back and elbow and grit. But that business model is not taught.
What’s your favorite aspect of this business?
I enjoy mentoring my staff and other laundry owners. I spend a lot of time training and mentoring other people – and not only in the laundry business, but in my personal life. I’m passionate about it.
Least favorite?
Paying taxes.
What are your thoughts on vend pricing?
I am a price leader in my market. I’m at least 50 cents to a $1 more per load. And my parking lot is full.
After all, did you marry the cheapest girl you could find? Did you get the cheapest dental work you could find? No, not at all. However, so many people in this business think it’s all about price.
Of course, there are a few customers who will come in and just can’t believe that it’s going to cost them $8 to use my $15,000 washer. So, I’ll ask them, “Can I borrow your car for $8? No? Well, your car’s not even worth what this washer cost me.”
I have to build profit into my price. If you don’t price for profit, when will you be able to replace your equipment? That day is assuredly coming and, if you didn’t build in enough profit, you’ll never be able to upgrade – and you’ll just drive your business right off the cliff.
It’s OK to get fired by a customer now and then. If not, your prices are probably too cheap.
Can you share a little bit about your pickup and delivery service?
We have been doing pickup and delivery for years. This isn’t something we just decided to add.
It started out from the back of my truck, and I finally sold that truck and bought a delivery van, which then became my primary vehicle. I had to drive that thing around everywhere – football practice, dirt-biking, everywhere. Fortunately, I’m now at the point where I could pay cash for a car – so now I’ve got the delivery van at the store, and I’ve got my own car.
There’s been a lot of talk about on-demand laundry apps lately, which is an element you’ve just added to your business. What specifically interested you about this business model?
One of my goals this year was to get an app. I didn’t really know what that looked like, but I wanted an app; I wanted more sizzle to put on my little steak.
It’s just starting up, and I’m getting a good amount of traffic on my website. We received some press in the local paper. We’ve had a few people sign up, and it’s just going to have to continue to marinate in the marketplace. It’s certainly developing some interest.
In your experience, when a self-service laundry business fails, what is the most common reason for that failure?
Debt and neglect. Often, so much of it is about “the hunt.” There’s this new thing you’re looking at. For instance, you just “need” that new car. So, you read all of the Consumer Reports articles and do all of your research, but when you finally buy it, it’s just a car.
It’s about the pursuit. And, to some extent, I think some new laundry owners do that. Once they get into the business, they get bored and just want to price it cheap and make it up on volume. However, laundry customers are not all that price-sensitive. So, when the store’s equipment wears out, these operators don’t have any money to show for it.
Personally, what’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in this business?
Borrowing money from my 401(k) at 40 percent interest. That’s stupid. Why would anybody do that? I did it.
What are your top business goals for the rest of 2015 and into 2016?
I want to grow my pickup and delivery business to two drivers, and I want to develop 20 to 30 new weekly residential pickup and delivery customers.
What advice would you give a new owner just getting into this business?
Figure out what your competitive advantage is going to be. Again, that’s something not easily duplicated by somebody else. Capitalize on that – whatever that is. Find out what it is and just pound it.
Don’t rest on what happened yesterday. Nobody cares. What are you doing tomorrow? You need to be continually moving the ball forward and making positive yards.
Don’t spread yourself too thin. It gets back to that bored laundry owner I mentioned: “What else can we do? Maybe we should get into rental housing. Maybe I should buy a tanning salon?” Then, you’ve got all of these little plates spinning, and you’re not good at anything.
Who do you turn to for business advice?
My number one mentor was my father-in-law, Raymond McMurray. He passed away last year, but very seldom did a week go by that we weren’t on the phone.
I’ve got several people within the CLA with whom I’ve developed friendships – people like Jeff Gardner, Tom Rhodes, Paul Pettefer, Rob Maes, Kenny Wells… they’re all just studs. And they take good care of me.
#BusinessManagement #FeaturedArticle #Public #Article #PlanetLaundry #StoreDesign
