Industry Veteran Shares an Operational ‘Hack’ and a Rule of Thumb to Help You Better Run Your Laundry Business
As we journey through our laundromat ownership experiences, we all tend to find innovative ways to make our business lives easier. Some of these innovations come via “hard knocks,” and others just appear before you. Overcoming the challenges you no doubt will encounter along your path will require knowledge, intuition, patience and, above all, action. The goal of assessing your store ownership or operations processes is to help you make more money – as well as to make your life better and hopefully a bit easier.
I got my start in this industry in 1984. One of my first jobs was to survey laundromats so that I could understand the industry from the inside out. Like many others, when I started out in this business, I didn’t know what I was doing.
I thought I would simply go into a laundromat and list the equipment – brand, age, vend prices and so on. Then, I’d rate the overall condition of the laundromat on an A, B, C or D scale and would turn in my survey report. What did I care? I just wanted to make money selling them. Did the actual elements of those laundromats really matter?
Today, after 37 years and having been through thousands of laundromats, I have a keen eye as to what to look for. Over the years, I’ve built on my experiences – and I’ve developed a few simple, sure-fire “hacks” to help you run a more efficient and profitable laundromat.
Ceiling ‘Sponges’
The first thing I look at when I go into a laundromat is the ceiling. I notice air-conditioning registers. Are they clean or dirty with lint hanging from them? I look at the lighting and how many bulbs are out. I look at the ceiling tiles to see if there are any dirty, water-stained tiles – or worse, missing tiles.
Nothing speaks louder than a laundromat that isn’t loved and cared for by the owner. Without a single word from the owner, dirty air-conditioning registers, bad lighting or burned-out bulbs and stained ceiling tiles, silently tell the customers: “You are not worthy of my time and effort. But please use my laundromat, because your money is all I want.”
When it comes to dirty or water-stained tiles, I have a simple and effective way to replace them. I’ve always tried to do my own repairs. However, I know my limits, and you should, too.
I can work with ceiling tiles quite well. However, first and foremost, if getting on a ladder is problematic for you, definitely do not. Have someone else do that work for you.
Whomever replaces those stained tiles – you or someone else – I recommend the following these steps. Wear white cotton gloves so that, when you install the new tiles, there’s no smudges or fingerprints left on the tiles.
Also, if the tiles are water-stained, try to figure out how and why they got wet in the first place. Water-stained tiles indicate a leak. There are three types of leaks: a condensation water stain (which is not major problem), water leaking from a pipe, or a roof leak. Those last two are major problems and will require immediate attention.
In any case, those old tiles needs to be replaced. But I don’t throw it away – I use it. Put the new tile up under the older, stained one. This allows the old tile to remain in place like an absorbent pad or sponge. Doing this will enable your new ceiling tile to last longer.
Of course, keep a close eye on the new tile. If it begins to stain as well, chances are you have a bigger problem on your hand – such as leaking pipe or a leaking roof. Monitor when you have rain. Clearly, if water stains appear after a storm, you have a leaky roof.
Repeat the process noted above for as many tiles as are damaged. Some people have suggested that this method puts too much additional weight on the framework of the metal T-bar ceiling. However, in my time in this industry, I have never once seen one or two tiles that are being used as “ceiling sponges” collapse either an individual tile or an entire ceiling frame. To me, this hack provides maximum results for minimum effort.
How Many Laundry Carts Are Enough?
I cannot say enough about laundry carts. Your business definitely needs them. But how many are truly enough?
Before I go there, I’d like to share a metaphor with you. In my eyes, a grocery store is very similar to a laundromat in that both businesses use carts to facilitate a positive and helpful customer experience.
For instance, let’s say it’s Saturday morning and you’re preparing for a nice barbecue with family and friends later in the day. You put together your grocery list, jump in the car and head to the supermarket. Upon arrival, you head to the front doors of the store – but discover there are no shopping carts! You immediately turn around and gaze across the parking lot. You see a few carts, but people are using them. You look inside the store, and you can’t find any available shopping carts – they’re all in use.
My question for you: would you actually wait at a grocery store for a shopping cart? And, if so, how long? Or, would you be more likely to just drive to another grocery store nearby – one that actually had shopping carts available to you?
Yes, I know that story sound be a little farfetched. However, you can see my point – and I’m sure you wouldn’t enjoy such an experience any more than your customers would enjoy a similar experience at your laundromat.
With that said, let me share is a rule of thumb I’ve learned over the years, with regard to the quantity of laundry carts in a store. A general guideline I would offer is seven to 10 carts for every 1,000 square feet of space. In other words, if you have as 5,000-square-foot laundromat, you should have anywhere between 35 to 50 laundry carts available to your customers.
I know that may sound like a lot of carts. But, if you were to mathematically distill that quantity down to a customer-service level, it would accommodate approximately 20 to 30 laundry customers in your facility at one time. And, yes, I understand that some of your carts will get stolen – that’s just the cost of doing business in the laundromat industry.
Next month, I’ll share operational hacks for improving makeup and combustion air, as well as how to get lint under control in your store.
