Is a Laundry/Dry-cleaning business profitable?

In my view we start a business to make profits and not losses. So, in general not only Laundry and Dry-Cleaning (LDC) business but any business is profitable. 

Here are some points on how to make a LDC profitable-

1.Setup: 

• The laundry setup should be of top most priority
• The plant should be spick and span i.e., it should be very tidy
• The setup should work for a particular vertical and people shouldn’t be greedy and process all the verticals garments at a single place(verticals: hospitals, hotels, retail, spas/gyms/saloons etc.,)

2. Machinery: 

In the market there are so many machinery manufacturing brands

• The person who is purchasing the machinery should first know the type of garments he would be processing and then he should purchase the machines accordingly
• The investment he will be making in the machinery should be right, otherwise the money will be locked and that is the very reason why many of the companies are shutting down.

3. Water:

• The PPM/Hardness/pH value of the water shouldn’t be more or less but it should be appropriate
• As water plays a very prominent role in the washing of clothes it should be maintained very properly
• Quality of washing highly depends on the water quality

4. Chemicals: 

• Chemicals also play an important role in the process of laundry
• Dosage of chemicals should be appropriate. If the dosage is high, there will be wastage and the costs will shoot up. If the dosage is low, the quality will decrease

5. Stain Removals:

• A laundry service provider should be an expert in the stain removals
• One of the reason why people out source garments for laundry is that, there might be some stubborn stains which are unable to remove when people wash their clothes at home
• Stain removals also shows the expertise of a laundry service provider to his/her customers

6. Quality:

• As the laundry market is already crowded, the person who gives the best quality stands tall
• So, providing a quality and timely service should be a top most priority

Below is a link on how ironing is the most important step for giving a quality output in the whole laundry or dry-cleaning process

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/ironing-chaithanya-a/?trackingId=qcXE51TJq9qMAE2NLVDZYQ%3D%3D

7. Logistics:

• As a consultant another biggest problem I’ve seen in the laundry industry is the logistics part
• People don’t often look much deeper into this department, but most of the service providers are losing money in the logistics

8. Man Power:

• Laundry industry is a very high labor intensive business
• Man power is like the heart of this business
• So, it is mandatory to maintain the manpower with utmost care and see to it that there will be no shortage of manpower whenever there is a requirement

9. Pricing:

• Pricing should be maintained accordingly with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP s) of a company. They shouldn’t be designed seeing a competitors prices
• If prices are not designed properly then the company will surely go into losses

Below are some more links on how pricing is very important in this business

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/why-many-laundrydry-cleaning-companies-shutting-down-kundurthi-pk-/?trackingId=%2FuFVUjxbQTygMnBxwDqveg%3D%3D

10. Customer Satisfaction:

• Customer satisfaction is a very very important aspect in any business. If a customer is happy he/she will bring in more customers and if he/she is unhappy then the reverse will happen
• So, my advice to all the laundry service providers is to train all your employees to handle the customer with utmost care

Therefore if a laundry service provider diligently follows all the above points then he/she will definitely get into profits.!

Will end with a quote-

“Businesses are always profitable, only the person running it should be shrewd enough on how to enjoy that profit”

*LDC- Laundry and Dry-Cleaning

PK

PK Enterprises