Boosting Business

[culaslucas]

What are some ways you guys have boosted business? What promotions have you ran - which ones worked the best? How have you marketed -newspaper, flyers, signs, etc. - what works the best?

We have a Wash and Fold service that I think can be promoted for commercial accounts but I don't really know how to go about it or who to present it to.

I'm trying to help an associate bring his profit out of the red and I need some serious help.

I see how helpful you guys are in all of the other threads so thank you in advance

~Lucas

[Kitty]

Spring is perfect timing to promote the 2 for 1 comforter special. Usually a large sign visibly displayed for passerbys and some newspaper ads get the word out. Run for a month.

Commercial accounts? Get on the horn, call tanning salons, hair dressers, churchs, schools, and any companies requiring uniform laundering services

There are many commercial companies that cater to businesses and launder lab coats, floor mats, cleaning supplies. Many times the company owns all of the items for which they are charged too much for cleaning. I priced one out that pays .56 cents each for a lab coat. OVer 3.60 for a 3x5 rubber floor mat. ITs easy to take this business away if you are capable of the volume and have front load machines to accomodate the even larger rubber floor mats. Industrial companies will be the ones to market. Follow the servitex/cintas trucks to determine where the business may lie.......Good luck
Kitty

[culaslucas]

thank you very much kitty, as usual your post was full of very useful information.

I would appreciate it if you help me out with this one detail. What would be your process for contacting commercial accounts. You mentioned calling them. Any recommendations on what to say/ask?

Thanks!

[Kitty]

Call and inquire about the products you would service and determine what type volume they have. Find out who handles those details. Call direct and discuss your services and once you determine if they have items to launder, ask for their business. Sometimes they be under contract, be sure to write the renewal date down and a contact name for when the bid comes up. If not, negotiate pricing and be sure to know what your margin is when you discuss this.

If you want the business, work it and take it.

[DirtyLaundry]

I don't see how anyone could possibly do or undercut 56 cent lab coats, or $3.50 enrance mats. I'd be loosing money big time at those prices.

[Anonymous]

I agree you could never compete with those prices.

[Kitty]

You could certainly undercut .56 cent per lab coat and 3.50 per peice charge for floor mats.


Typically you can fit at least 3 3x5 floor mats if not 4. At 3 per 50lb washer at 3.75 and dry time of 30 minutes (rubber backed do not need much dry time) you have 4.75 in costs, of which is priced with a profitable margin 1.60 per peice. OF course you will upcharge to cover the cost of your service As far as the lab coats, ironing is not required and not currently part of .56 cent per coat charge from these companies. Approx 20-30 coats will fit in a 50lb washer at 3.75 dry time approx 45 minutes of dry time at 1.75 5.50 total cost which is aprox .22 per coat cost. Hanging is required, add additional .03 per hanger. Add time and labor soap .10 per coat.

Please elaborate on why your opinion views this as not a profitable portion of business to go after.

[Anonymous]

Labor and or time to pick up clothes.

[Kitty]

Put a dollar amount on the labor. Seperate the pick up.
Entertain the idea.

This type of business would be bid and by contract. Determine the advantage and disadvantages.

[fluffy]

I wouldn't be interested in undercutting 56 cents for lab coats or the floor mat price either. For example, I would say my labor expense (along with a few small misc expenses like the cost of the ticket and hanger, etc.) would be $10. I imagine the average size would be 20 coats...therefore, that's 10/20 = 50 cents labor per coat. I think the wash expense is about 25 cents. Anything less than 75 cents (and only if they drop it off) and it's not worth the hassle.

[djlpartners]

I am curious, how much do you charge a salon/spa for there towel etc...Does any thing extra go into cleaning them since they would be dirtier than most items. Let me know. Thanks

[laundryboy]

This may be of interest. Received a call from a Holiday Inn. They were very backed up and wanted me to come out and give them a quote on sheets. Went onsite and they had had a ton of work piling up in different areas. When I say a "ton" I mean it. They needed quick turn around. This was a Tuesday. There was WAY more than I could reasonably handle. I quoted .90/lbs. The manager said they had a quote for .75/lb from a major service BUT the service couldn't return anything until Friday. I saw a small pile and motioned I could do that one and return by noon next day. About an hour later the manager called and said come get the one pile. It filled the entire back of my extended cargo van. As I was leaving, the commercial guys were arriving to pick up the rest. I took less than a quarter of the work.

The processing: It took four people six hours straight doing nothing else to process the order (folding). Not bad though - 936 pounds of sheets returned at 10:00 Am the next day.

They literally had more than a ton of work!

Would I do it again? I told the manager we could always help but to give use the towels and pillowcases. If I were to have this type of work regularly, I would invest in some additional processing equipment to make the labor portion more efficient.

Anyway, it was interesting that the big guys were charging .75/lb but did not have the quick service.

[culaslucas]

okay, so I've been calling around to get commercial business. I'm kind of running into the problem of quoting prices. Everyone askes me "how much would 100 towels cost" And since I don't know the laundry business well, I do not know how much a # is - so I just have to tell them that it's 50 cents per pound. I think some people aren't turned on by that because they can't get a good idea of how much something would be worth. So I guess my question is: how can I guesstimate poundage better?

[fluffy]

You should reread the previous posts. Specifically those that talk about estimating poundage and associated costs.

[djlpartners]

I really do not mean this in a bad way, but the answers that ask for you to go back a look at previous post are close to useless. First, the info only goes back so far, secondly you normally can't find what you are looking for, and lastly the person is really looking for current/new experiences to help -

Anyway, I have had the same problem. Usally I tell my customers that a tall glad trash bag holds 35 lbs of laundry. With your questions, I think I will weigh one tall and X 100 to see how nuch it weights.

[lland]

Lets us know how much 100 weighs and their size.

[fluffy]

Sorry DJL, I didn't appreciate how difficult it can be for some people to use the search function. However, in this case the process was described by Kitty a few posts previous in this same thread...did you even read these? Good luck with it

[Andy]

Once a year we get a call from the regional electric utility, they have a very large coal fired power plant about three miles from our shop. They have about several hundred workers who wear coveralls and take showers on site. The onsite laundry breaks down every so often and we pick up a mountain of laundry every day, literally 1500 to 2000. I suggest you hire some extra help if you have to these oportunities don't come by very often.

If you can't handle it next time they may call someone else.