Maximzie Profits by Adding Wash-Dry-Fold to your Laundromat — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:03Hello and welcome to Laundromat
2. 0:04Ownership. Whether you've just arrived
3. 0:06or you've been here for 20 years,
4. 0:08hopefully we'll have something useful
5. 0:09for you today. [music] I'm your host Ian
6. 0:11Galahan and me and my business partner
7. 0:12own three laundromats in the Tulsa,
8. 0:14Oklahoma area. We also run and operate a
9. 0:17software company together called Wash
10. 0:19Drive Fold POS. The three laundromats
11. 0:21will do about 2.5 million topline
12. 0:23revenue in 2025. We provide 25 to 30
13. 0:27jobs in the area and we try to provide a
14. 0:30really nice and clean and safe space for
15. 0:32families to do their laundry. The point
16. 0:34of sale company, I've interviewed about
17. 0:373,000 laundromat owners over the last 10
18. 0:39years, and they've told me some really
19. 0:42interesting things, some of which I'll
20. 0:43be able to share in this episode, and
21. 0:45some of which I've vowed never to speak
22. 0:47of again. Let's get started with what
23. 0:49we're talking about today. How and why
24. 0:51to add wash dryfold to your laundromat.
25. 0:53First of all, it will increase the
26. 0:55self-s served profitability. This is my
27. 0:57main thought process around this
28. 1:00service. There's just no way that you
29. 1:02can get to 700,000 plus. You know, we're
30. 1:05doing a million and in one store and
31. 1:07700,000 of that is uh self-s served
32. 1:10revenue. You just can't get there
33. 1:11without having the attendance there.
34. 1:14They're going to keep track of the
35. 1:17washers and dryers. They're going to top
36. 1:18the customers. They're going to put out
37. 1:20fires literally when they happen. They
38. 1:22will decrease the risk on the capital
39. 1:24that you've already invested in your
40. 1:26laundromat. Wash dryfold services
41. 1:28usually take up 5 to 10% of your floor
42. 1:30space, but they generate 30% of the
43. 1:33revenue in your laundromat. And you
44. 1:35don't have to buy washers and dryers for
45. 1:36them. So, they're kind of the lowest
46. 1:37cost, highest rate of return. In rural
47. 1:40laundromats, uh, wash dry fold can be
48. 1:4350% of your revenue. And that is mostly
49. 1:46because if you've got a RO laundromat
50. 1:47doing B2B, which we sometimes call
51. 1:50commercial account or invoicing, and
52. 1:52that is vacation rentals, medical
53. 1:53facilities, spas, uh specialty fire
54. 1:56retardant garbs are really good one. But
55. 1:58you get the picture. In a suburban or
56. 2:01urban laundry mat, it's typically only
57. 2:0230% of your revenue. And of that,
58. 2:05typically less than half is B2B. In a
59. 2:08rural laundromat, it can be 50% and most
60. 2:11of that should be B2B. Really, the
61. 2:13bottom line to add wash, dry, fold is to
62. 2:17create a safer, cleaner environment for
63. 2:19your self-s served customers where they
64. 2:21have someone to talk to if the machine
65. 2:23doesn't work and they don't leave you a
66. 2:25one-star review. It increases your
67. 2:27revenue and just gives you a nicer
68. 2:29laundromat with lower liability and
69. 2:31lower insurance. How do you start a wash
70. 2:35dryfold? You need the space, you need
71. 2:38the supplies, and you need the labor.
72. 2:40and we're going to talk through the
73. 2:43process itself because that's really
74. 2:44going to tell us what kind of supplies
75. 2:48and space that we need. You know, step
76. 2:50one would probably be drop off. The
77. 2:52customer comes in and they talk to your
78. 2:55employee. You do want to provide your
79. 2:57employee with some kind of a script here
80. 2:58so that they can greet the customer, ask
81. 3:01them if they have any special
82. 3:02instructions on their order. They'll
83. 3:05empty everything into the weight scale.
84. 3:07Typically, we do that because you want
85. 3:10to check for items that are sold
86. 3:11separately, like comforters. People will
87. 3:13try and sneak those in there, acting
88. 3:15like they don't know that you charge
89. 3:16separately for those. Of course, you do.
90. 3:19Those uh take a separate washer and a
91. 3:21separate dryer, so they are a whole
92. 3:24separate amount of work. You know, we
93. 3:25have had people try and do like a
94. 3:27comforter and a pair of jeans, and it's
95. 3:28like, well, those require two different
96. 3:30washers and two different dryers. So, of
97. 3:32course, you will need to charge by the
98. 3:33pound for laundry with a minimum order
99. 3:35there. And then also by the item for
100. 3:38stuff like comforters, bedspreads, that
101. 3:40kind of a thing. You'll need to weigh
102. 3:42the clothes in a weight scale. You
103. 3:45charge by the pound. So, you at least
104. 3:48need a counter space with a weight scale
105. 3:50with a container on the weight scale.
106. 3:53You need the point of sale system so you
107. 3:55could talk, type in the notes. We
108. 3:57typically look people up by their phone
109. 3:58number and say, "Oh, Jim, good to see
110. 4:00you again today. Uh, looks like we're
111. 4:02hanging up your dress shirts for you
112. 4:04today. Any special instructions we have
113. 4:06for you?" He might say, "Yeah, the blue
114. 4:07shirt's got a stain on the collar." Um,
115. 4:10if you could get that off for me. And
116. 4:11then you could type that in so that
117. 4:12nobody misses that. So, you at least
118. 4:14need that counter space to even get a
119. 4:18order started. That's kind of the main
120. 4:20thing that you need. Now, next, you're
121. 4:22going to go into sorting. Some we don't
122. 4:25typically sort by uh color and fabric.
123. 4:27We t typically just put color catchers
124. 4:28in there if you're doing whites and
125. 4:30darks together and all that, but you do
126. 4:31want color catchers. Some people will
127. 4:33ask you to separate by colors. We
128. 4:34accommodate that. Um but you do need to
129. 4:36check your pockets and we do actually
130. 4:39recommend you pre-treat for stains as
131. 4:41well. Not only does it provide a better
132. 4:43customer service, but we have had people
133. 4:46put lighters that explode in laundry,
134. 4:49you know, in the dryer. So, you do want
135. 4:52to check your pockets because there's
136. 4:54stuff in there that will ruin all the
137. 4:56clothes, could potentially be hazardous.
138. 4:58So, you do want to go through there. I
139. 4:59mean, there's people that find bullets
140. 5:00in pockets all the time. Not an uncommon
141. 5:03thing. You don't want that stuff going
142. 5:05around in a dryer. So, so you've got the
143. 5:07drop off, the sorting, and when you look
144. 5:10at a point of system like watch full
145. 5:11poss, there's actually a little drag and
146. 5:13drop little thing where you can go from,
147. 5:16okay, you you've done that and it starts
148. 5:17in to-do, then you would drag it to
149. 5:19sort, then you would drag it to wash.
150. 5:22So, you're going to put it in the right
151. 5:23washers. You're going to need the soap,
152. 5:25right? The employees are going to need
153. 5:26to have the right soap and, you know,
154. 5:28color catchers. I mentioned supplies to
155. 5:30go in the washers, right? And we do have
156. 5:32them measure based on which sides size
157. 5:34of washer. You do need to give them some
158. 5:36training on which size of washer to use
159. 5:38because we have had you know employees
160. 5:40use giant washers for very small orders.
161. 5:42So but you're kind thinking okay well
162. 5:44now I need some place where I've got
163. 5:46soaps and supplies and there's more
164. 5:49supplies than just soaps. We'll come
165. 5:50back to that but you know at the very
166. 5:52least soaps color catchers stain
167. 5:54treatment. Next in the column would be
168. 5:56you go from wash to dry and you need the
169. 5:59heat settings obviously. Maybe you want
170. 6:02to put some dryer sheets in there. Now
171. 6:05the next one that you would go over
172. 6:06would be folding. For those you are
173. 6:08going to need the flip and fold little
174. 6:10things so you can standardize everything
175. 6:11across your brand and that the shirts
176. 6:13are always folded the same way. The
177. 6:15jeans are folded. People love that when
178. 6:17they get their laundry back. It's all
179. 6:19folded neatly. It's got their little
180. 6:21name, you know, with a label on it. they
181. 6:24feel like their clothes are brand new.
182. 6:25You get that in your reviews. Um, it's
183. 6:28just a great kind of like Apple is known
184. 6:30for their unboxing experience. You want
185. 6:33to provide that to your customers when
186. 6:36they get their laundry back. We did the,
187. 6:38you know, the the drop off piece of it,
188. 6:40the sort, the wash, the dry. Then you do
189. 6:43the folding. You will need the clean
190. 6:46bags. We use trash liners. And fold it
191. 6:49all up. Get it labeled. When you mark it
192. 6:51as done, that's when you're going to
193. 6:53print the labels and it's going to text
194. 6:55the customer to come pick up their
195. 6:57laundry. Or if you've got a delivery
196. 7:00route, you're going to put it to the
197. 7:01side so that you can put it in your van.
198. 7:03But when you think about this, this
199. 7:05becomes one of your biggest limitations
200. 7:08as far as space because been many times
201. 7:12where we've had floor to ceiling clothes
202. 7:16and you know, we used to just like call
203. 7:17people and be like, "Hey, come get your
204. 7:19clothes." And what if they're busy that
205. 7:21day? What if they, you know, had to stay
206. 7:23late for work or whatever? And what if
207. 7:26they left town and forgot to pick up
208. 7:28their laundry? This will happen. And so,
209. 7:30you do need a place where you can keep
210. 7:31the clothes temporarily until they get
211. 7:34picked up. And if you operate at any
212. 7:37amount of scale, that amount of space
213. 7:39will also scale very quickly. You will
214. 7:41need space. So, you're kind of thinking
215. 7:43about, well, how much space do I need?
216. 7:44Well, you at least need the calendar
217. 7:45with the weight scale, the container.
218. 7:47You need the supplies. And now you
219. 7:49actually need space for the finished
220. 7:51clothing that's typically behind in
221. 7:53shelving. The last thing would be the
222. 7:55pickup where you can time stamp when the
223. 7:58laundry went back out to the customer.
224. 8:00You might collect payment at that time
225. 8:01if you had some items that were way dry.
226. 8:04You're going to thank the customer. By
227. 8:05the way, we have a script for our
228. 8:07employees so they know what to say
229. 8:09essentially how to look people up, what
230. 8:11to ask them. be friendly to thank them
231. 8:14when they give the clothes back to
232. 8:16remind them, hey, leave us a review if
233. 8:19you can. We love serving you today. So,
234. 8:22you do need a process in place, but
235. 8:25today we're really focused on what do
236. 8:27you actually need as far as like space
237. 8:28and supplies. So, you need the counter,
238. 8:31you need the place storage area for uh
239. 8:34the laundry once it's done, and you need
240. 8:36an area for supplies. You also do need
241. 8:38that area to remind you for folding. You
242. 8:40know, if you're doing comforters, you
243. 8:42need space, right? You don't want to
244. 8:44take up your only folding tables. If
245. 8:46you've got a small laundromat and you're
246. 8:47going to do wash, dry folds, well, are
247. 8:49you going to be fighting with the
248. 8:50customers? Then the self-s serve
249. 8:52customers. And remember, the self-s
250. 8:53serve customers are really your profit
251. 8:55center typically. Um, so you typically
252. 8:57not want to be fighting with them during
253. 8:59the day. So, in summary, space is the
254. 9:01really the one thing you can't do
255. 9:03without. You do need at least 100 ft. In
256. 9:06my opinion, 250 ft² is much better than
257. 9:09100. For a new build, I would consider
258. 9:12dedicating 10% of the space. Uh, in my
259. 9:15store that does a million in revenue.
260. 9:17Um, I believe we it's almost up to 15%
261. 9:19of the space. It's plenty of space for
262. 9:21storage. We got all kinds of supplies in
263. 9:23the back so we can restock the vending.
264. 9:25It's nice, spacious. We're not fighting
265. 9:27over folding tables. We have our own
266. 9:29folding tables. You can get a conveyor
267. 9:30type of system going. So, if you're
268. 9:32building a new space, be sure to leave
269. 9:35yourself enough space for your wash,
270. 9:36dry, fold. Remember that your
271. 9:38distributor will fight you on this. They
272. 9:40want to sell you machines. They want to
273. 9:42pack that store full of all the little
274. 9:45tiny washers and dryers that they can
275. 9:47because that is what they will make the
276. 9:48most money. You need to have some small
277. 9:51machines, some medium machines, and do
278. 9:53not skimp on the big machines. You want
279. 9:55some 80 pounders, maybe even 100
280. 9:56pounders. That is huge revenue, lower
281. 10:00cost per square foot, and uh you're
282. 10:02going to find that that's some of your
283. 10:03most popular profit centers of your
284. 10:05laundromat. They will also try to make
285. 10:08the square footage of your washdry fold
286. 10:11too small because again, they want to
287. 10:12sell you the most machines they can in
288. 10:14that space. I don't hold it against
289. 10:16them. A lot of distributors are great.
290. 10:17You need to find a good distributor, but
291. 10:19typically you want more big machines
292. 10:21than they will recommend and you want
293. 10:22more space for washer dry fold. Um, last
294. 10:25thing, you know, I have had people with
295. 10:29a laundromat, like I had a lady with a
296. 10:31laundromat that was like, she was like,
297. 10:32"Oh, it's like 300 square feet." And I
298. 10:34was like, "No, it's it's not." And then
299. 10:35I looked at the pictures of it and it it
300. 10:38was like 300 feet. I mean, this thing
301. 10:40that was a hole in the wall, you know,
302. 10:41and um she was really trying to do what
303. 10:44should I fold out of it and she had a
304. 10:46little closet and it's just like she
305. 10:49tried she put time in it, she put money
306. 10:51into it and ultimately I I just kept
307. 10:53telling her you don't have the space for
308. 10:55this and that's what she decided
309. 10:56ultimately. So, it is okay to have like
310. 10:59a little rolling desk. We have um
311. 11:01customers that use a little rolling desk
312. 11:02that has the point of sale system that
313. 11:04has the weight scale and then they'll
314. 11:06put the finished laundry in the closet.
315. 11:08So, if you just have some closet space
316. 11:10and then you have a little bit of space
317. 11:12out on the laundromat, that is still
318. 11:14totally feasible to do wash dryfold. But
319. 11:18again, you need a at least 100 ft worth
320. 11:21of closet space, right? Or 100 ft worth
321. 11:24of closet space and counter space or
322. 11:26some shelf shelving out there um in the
323. 11:28rest of the laundromat. So, I I say
324. 11:30space is the most important, but that
325. 11:32really is the one thing you can't do
326. 11:33without. Obviously, you need labor. A
327. 11:36lot of times people will perfect the
328. 11:37system when it's just them and that can
329. 11:39maybe help you write the script and get
330. 11:41everything in place and then you do want
331. 11:44to hire employees typically. I doubt you
332. 11:47bought a laundromat because you wanted
333. 11:48to work there 24/7. That is what you
334. 11:50will end up doing. If you are doing all
335. 11:52the wash, dry fold yourself. So I do
336. 11:55recommend hiring people. Like I said,
337. 11:57you know, we do 25 to 30 employees. I'm
338. 12:00never you will never walk into my
339. 12:01laundromat and see me working the desk.
340. 12:03We tried to build the business, work on
341. 12:05the business, not work in the business.
342. 12:08As Dave Men says, thank you Dave for
343. 12:10that. How and why to add wash dry fold
344. 12:13to your laundromat. What you really need
345. 12:16for that is the space, right? Space for
346. 12:19the [music] counter, space for the
347. 12:20supplies, space for the finished
348. 12:22laundry. You also need labor. That
349. 12:25typically is going to be an attendant
350. 12:26that will help your self-s serve
351. 12:27customers, but will also [music]
352. 12:30pay for themselves with the wash
353. 12:32dreadfold. And then you also need a
354. 12:34process. Obviously, point of sale
355. 12:37systems are very helpful in helping you
356. 12:39kind of go through that process, but you
357. 12:41do want to actually kind of write a
358. 12:42script and have a basic process [music]
359. 12:44for those employees when you hire them.
360. 12:46And you probably need to kind of know
361. 12:47what it's like to do yourself before you
362. 12:49[music] try and train your employees. I
363. 12:52hope this has been helpful to you guys.
364. 12:53Thank you so much for joining us and
365. 12:55we'll see you next