In 2015, Sukanth Srivastav and Vishal Gupta founded a laundry startup in India. The experience taught them the nuts and bolts of the laundry business and left the two entrepreneurs thinking about how large the garment-care industries \u2013 and some of their challenges \u2013 actually were.<\/p>\n
From there, the two long-time friends began to focus on tackling some of the main challenges current laundromat owners and other industry professionals face on a day-to-day basis. This resulted in the development of a new business venture, Turns.<\/p>\n
Turns is a software product developed to power today\u2019s modern laundromats and drycleaning businesses of all sizes through a business-in-a-box SaaS platform. Through Turns, garment-care professionals have access to proven software to help grow their businesses, drive operational efficiency, and elevate the customer experience.<\/p>\n
By offering effective employee management, revenue tracking, point-of-sale management, mobile-first digital ordering, on-demand delivery, customer apps, websites, and other elements, Turns can provide store operators with a single platform to run every aspect of their businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cLaundromats and drycleaners represent one of the largest main street businesses in the United States that have been severely underserved by modern software,\u201d Srivastav said. \u201cWe see an immense vertical SaaS opportunity and already understand the laundry business intimately.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLaundry is a large business, but also a complex and competitive one,\u201d Gupta added. \u201cLaundromats need state-of-the-art software to deliver the experience that is being demanded by B2C, as well as B2B, customers. We are building Turns to do just that \u2013 provide an all-in-one system that laundromat owners can operate easily and use to scale their businesses with a stellar customer experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s laundromats increasingly boast a number of complex workflows involving machines and manual labor \u2013 as well as multiple business models designed around self-service laundry, vending sales, wash-dry-fold services, pickup-and-delivery orders, laundry routes, and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore and more these days, laundromat owners need a system that can scale as quickly as their businesses do \u2013 and one that integrates seamlessly into existing systems,\u201d Srivastav noted. \u201cTraditional solutions have fallen short of the modern needs of this multi-billion-dollar industry. This is the opportunity Turns is focused on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking on this problem delights me,\u201d Gupta said. \u201cI feel at home with laundry operators. It feels like we are a tribe \u2013 we speak the same language. And, whenever our partners launch new stores, we also live that experience with them\u2026 to support them as they start, grow, and scale their businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the post-COVID era, Srivastav and Gupta have noticed a fundamental shift in the laundry industry. \u201cWe believe all of the pieces \u2013 from shifting consumer preferences to changing technology to a modern approach toward the business \u2013 are in place for the industry to grow tenfold in the upcoming decade,\u201d Srivastav predicted.<\/p>\n
Turns reports that it has already signed up more than 500 laundromats and drycleaners across more than 15 countries, including the United States, India, the United Arab Emirates, and others. The company will focus primarily on the U.S. market and currently is targeting 1,000 new customers within the next 12 to 18 months.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been using the Turns platform for almost a year now, and it\u2019s incredible to see how the product continues to develop and help our business,\u201d said Rishi Vohra of the Washhouse Laundromat, located in Newburg, N.Y. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to test new operating models and add on-demand delivery without any cost \u2013 growing our customer base and revenue. Turns is the affordable game-changer that our industry has been waiting for. We have grown more than 200 percent in the last 10 months using Turns, and my customers love that they can pay on mobile, receive automated messages about their pickups, and get their orders picked up via DoorDash.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey helped me open up a completely new channel of revenue with DoorDash,\u201d added Mithun Vohra, CEO of the Washhouse. \u201cI connected with the Turns team after judging almost all of the current POS and tech platforms. I got online with my new website, built by them and integrated with DoorDash and my POS system. They helped me streamline my wash-dry-fold business and built a new revenue stream with pickup and delivery and DoorDash.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI first met the Turns team in 2021, when I was looking for some new ways to grow my business,\u201d recalled Marieke van der Graaf, CEO of Laundrylicious, based in Whittier, Calif. \u201cAt that point, my primary growth channel was my website, and I had used most of the POS and business management tools out there. However, none of them were really meeting my needs. Their scheduling forms were poorly designed and didn\u2019t have great conversion rates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when I discovered Turns \u2013 a scheduling platform that was very well-designed and user-friendly. Turns even helped customize their platform for Laundrylicious. And they were open to suggestions and feedback from Day One, which makes working with them so much easier. Turns also supports a dedicated driver app and a completely integrated POS system, which is what we\u2019ll be implementing into our business next. We\u2019re hoping to go all the way with this team.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s overall mission, with regard to the laundromat and drycleaning industries, is to be \u201cthe technology backbone\u201d for any garment-care business.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that the industry needs a next-generation, unbiased technology platform that puts the customer and top-notch experience at the forefront for new age operators to grow and scale their business and streamline different workflows to bring down the cost of service and boost efficiency and employee productivity,\u201d Gupta explained. \u201cWe work with more than 500 stores across more than 15 countries, and their business and feedback give us a bird\u2019s eye view to build for the future.<\/p>\n
All in all, Turns has been created for laundry business owners who want to focus on the growth of their new or existing businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are currently the only technology company that is able to provide branded apps on Google Play and the IOS App Store for our partners, with features like DoorDash integration, loyalty points, and subscriptions already baked in,\u201d Srivastav said. \u201cIn overseas markets and also with our initial partners here in the U.S., we have seen app users order 30 percent more than non-app users \u2013 so we are excited to bring the app and gig economy to the laundry industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been in the shoes of a new laundry business owner, staring at the machines and figuring out how to make the rent,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut I kept the faith on my process and technology, and it took care of the rest. I have seen this story repeat before my eyes with enough stores and partners to know that what we have is built for the operator, by the guidance of operators.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turns founders Srivastav and Gupta recently took some time to share with PlanetLaundry<\/em> their thoughts on the future of the laundromat business:<\/p>\n What is the most pronounced trend you\u2019re currently seeing in your segment of the industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the most pronounced trends that we see currently is the incredible growth of consumer preference for pickup-and-delivery services, as well as the continued consistent growth in size of wash-dry-fold revenue. With pickup and delivery, laundromats can break the barriers of location and grow their customer bases for miles around.<\/p>\n What are you most excited about in 2023?<\/strong><\/p>\n Personally, we\u2019re most excited about the entry of generative AI into the mainstream, and how we can design workflows to help and grow all types of laundry business from a single store to a large franchisee. AI would change the game not just with regard to marketing and discounting, but also in terms of new generation features like dynamic pricing and customer profiling.<\/p>\n From a business perspective, what are you most concerned about?<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019re a bit concerned about recession fears and the tightening financial markets in the U.S. Then again, the laundromat industry has shown its ability to survive and grow during tough times over the last few decades and to come back even stronger, thus displaying the essential nature of this industry.<\/p>\n Where do you see your niche of the laundromat industry headed?<\/strong><\/p>\n We serve almost all sizes of laundry and cleaning businesses, from a single laundry van to a large multi-location franchise. We are seeing owners becoming more confident about their business margins and the growth of the industry. This is reflected in the growth of multi-location ownership. We predict further growth in this sector, specifically with the rise of technology systems to help manage these multi-location businesses.<\/p>\n What’s the biggest reason for laundromat owners to be optimistic in 2023?<\/strong><\/p>\n The biggest reason for laundromat owners to be optimistic in 2023 is the ability to reach inside the customer\u2019s pocket by being on their mobile phone. Bringing customers to the laundromat is turned on its head by technology, which can bring the laundromat to the consumer with delivery services and mobile payment. Customers also are rewarding modern laundry services with their patronage and loyalty, thus showing that efforts to create a modern laundromat industry are received with open arms by today\u2019s consumers.<\/p>\n What are the keys to successful laundromat ownership today?<\/strong><\/p>\n The primary key to successful laundromat ownership today is pure customer obsession. If you are obsessed with providing your customers with the best value for their money, a top-notch experience and consistency, then you are already halfway there. Full-service customers are high-value consumers, paying thousands of dollars for your service \u2013 so always maintain quality. Also, it\u2019s critical to keep a thorough check on cash and expenses inside the laundromat business, as well as to consistently track the performance of your employees and laundry equipment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Laundry Tech Provider Focused on Overcoming Today\u2019s Industry Challenges In 2015, Sukanth Srivastav and Vishal Gupta founded a laundry startup in India. The experience taught them the nuts and bolts of the laundry business and left the two entrepreneurs thinking about how large the garment-care industries \u2013 and some of their challenges \u2013 actually were. 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