Orginally posted - Sep 11, 2013 Attracting and retaining more customers are the keys to any successful business. As a result, figuring out just what it is your laundry customers really want or need to spend their money on – and then giving it to them – is the "holy...

Originally posted Dec.issue/2012 Eight Trends and Issues Sure to Impact Your Business Life in 2013 "I don't set trends. I just find out what they are and exploit them." – Dick Clark Yes, your small-business world can change quickly. And, yes, outside forces and new...

Originally posted - March issue/2012 Accurately Calculating What Your Vend Prices Should Be Goes Well Beyond Figuring Out the Cost of a Wash and Dry It's not uncommon for newcomers to the industry to ask how to accurately calculate the cost of a wash and a dry to help...

Originally posted - Dec 28, 2012 The subject of EBT, or Electronic Benefit Transfer, acceptance has been a topic of discussion that is increasing in frequency among today's self-service laundry owners. The question of whether this new form of benefits payment can be...

Originally posted - Jan 26, 2012 Despite all of the economic gloom and doom we've endured in recent years, I'm seeing some strong reasons for optimism in 2012, especially for coin laundry owners. And the best reason to be optimistic is because most of you reading this...

Originally posted - Jan 27, 2012 To understand how our utilities affect our bottom lines, we've got to understand our utility bills. Since I'm often asked to do analyses on energy savings, I've gotten a lot of practice at reading natural gas bills. In this article,...

Originally posted - Feb 03, 2014 Washers and dryers are the heart and soul of any self-service laundry business. They are your bread and butter. They are what drive paying customers through your doors. So, why are so many laundromats still inundated with out-of-order...

Originally posted - Aug issue/2012 Every business – and a self-service laundry is no exception – requires an employee handbook. After all, you've likely spent (or plan to spend) hundreds of thousands of dollars purchasing and/or building a new laundromat. So why in...

Originally posted - Mar 14, 2013 I have a tremendous amount of respect for the small-business owner. As someone who has played on both sides of the fence, i.e. corporate executive and independent business owner, I have come to understand how small-business owners do...

Originally posted - Jan 30, 2013 From our experience in brokering existing laundries and developing new ones, it is clear that now, more than ever, a building lease can determine the success or failure of a store. Over the last four years, we have had many store...

Originally posted - May 22, 2012 Complacency may well be the number-one enemy for self-service laundry owners – and the easiest to overcome. As I review the performance of my laundries and talk to other operators, it seems that we have become convinced that three...