Four Common Questions That Keep First-Time Laundry Owners Up at Night
First-time laundry owners are an interesting group. Based on my 30 years of experience as a distributor working with many of them, the typical rookie operator is overflowing with nervous enthusiasm and some degree of anxiety about the new business – be it a newly constructed laundry or the acquisition of an existing facility.
Sounds like normal human responses to me.
Here’s a useful psychology lesson for you: anxiety is usually forward-focused, meaning that it’s the experiencing of nervousness about things yet to occur, over which we believe we have little or no control. Therefore, adequate preparation for likely contingencies is the best way to head off or certainly lessen that very uncomfortable feeling. And, although we can do plenty of worrying during daytime hours, it feels worse at night (perhaps keeping us awake) because everything quiets down and the only input we receive originates from within ourselves, so it tends to be magnified.
Depending upon the specific nature of the individual rookie laundry owner, there are many possible “what ifs.” Therefore, I have chosen what I believe to be the most common, along with suggestions as to how to prevent them in the first place:
“What if my marketing program doesn’t work?”
You’ve spent significant money on advertising – perhaps using print ads or mail-outs – and are trusting this approach to immediately get the attention of potential customers and increase the amount of people walking through your door. If it works, great. But what if it achieves marginal or no results? Then you are faced with the question, what do I do now?
The general answer is to be extremely careful as to which marketing methods you choose to utilize. It’s not uncommon for first-time laundry owners to not understand that in advertising “repetition is more important than reach.” This means that it’s not the quantity of target recipients you reach but the repetitive action of doing so that counts.
Additionally, unless you have marketing experience, it’s an excellent idea to consult a marketing expert first to determine the most economically sane, realistic and valid method of advertising, such as television, direct mail, in-store loyalty programs or a combination of some or all of these. Doing so will help take that “what if” worry off your hands.
“What if I get unexpected competition?”
Here’s the scenario: through the grapevine, you become aware that another laundry is being planned somewhat near your store, perhaps on the outskirts of your trade area radius. Your mind becomes active, fearing that this new facility will cut into your sales – but there is virtually nothing you can do about the future existence of this laundry.
Time is a wonderful thing, when it’s on your side. Since it takes a while to build a new laundromat, you can start thinking proactively about how you can improve and refine all of your services so that your store retains its unique selling features. Of critical importance is cleanliness, having all of your machinery in tip-top working order and having attendants who are trained in expert customer service.
Then, you should incorporate these great benefits directly into your advertising so that your current customers and future customers will be aware of them and likely stick with you despite the new store. People generally need a reason to change their laundromat, so don’t give them one. Yes, it’s possible that you might lose a few customers due to distance, but that’s to be expected. Just concentrate on doing the best job possible, and the marketplace should respond accordingly.
This “what if” falls into the category of not worrying about something over which you have absolutely no control. If you can do that, it will be dealt with intellectually and not emotionally, which you will see is far less anxiety-producing.
“What if I need to increase my vend prices?
Let’s say that you have been in business for a relatively short period of time and the cost of one (or more) utilities has just risen. And, if that’s not enough, the minimum wage is also going to go up. You lie awake at night worried and working yourself up over the effect that raising your vend prices will have on customers. You wonder if some will leave you and/or how this will impact your ability to attract new customers. Are these logical thoughts? Perhaps not. I think I can help you release those butterflies and not view this so-called problem with an indigo hue.
I think being in the laundry business is great for a lot of reasons. However, one of my favorites is that our customers actually buy the same products for their homes that we purchase for our laundries. These, of course, are utilities such as natural gas, water and electricity.
Therefore, if you introduce a price “modification” (notice I didn’t say “increase” – more on that a bit later), the typical laundry customer will generally understand and demonstrate a good degree of empathy regarding the need to raise prices, because he or she likely has experienced increases in utility costs at the same time you did.
In addition, many of your customers have jobs in which they are paid by the hour, so they understand your cost increase as related to increased labor costs.
Out of respect to your customers, I would post a price change announcement within your laundry in various, easily seen locations. And here is what it should say:
To our valued customers,
Due to the recent increase in our water costs, we must slightly modify the prices for our washers, effective (Insert Date). All dryer prices will remain unchanged.
Please know that at (Insert Your Laundry’s Name) we will always continue to provide an overall degree of cleanliness and service truly unmatched within the industry.
Thank you very much indeed for your understanding and continued patronage.
This announcement should be displayed one week prior to the date of the actual price change and removed five days later. It’s also of extreme importance to hold a management meeting with your staff prior to initially displaying this announcement so that they completely understand the reasoning behind the price increase; if your customers want to discuss the increase, your attendants need to be able to properly explain the need for a price adjustment.
“What if business is slower than expected? I’m very worried about having enough working capital to get me through this temporary downturn.”
The trouble with not having enough money is that it takes up all of your time trying to correct the problem and makes you anxious in the process. All people must do laundry, so the need is always out there – it’s just the amount in your coin boxes that changes occasionally.
Financial planning is important in every business because we cannot predict the future. From time to time, such things as a downturn in the economy will occur, or perhaps the weather will work against us.
Therefore, it’s important to have a reserve of cash or line of credit to be used for contingencies. Not having either will cause a lot of stress and anxiety, so plan for this possibility well in advance and keep planning even during good periods. Remember that the time-proven expression “this too shall pass” applies to both good and bad situations.
OK, now promise me, no more “what-iffing.”
Sweet dreams.
#BusinessManagement #TheBusinessMind #Public #PlanetLaundry #Article #Marketing
