Your Laundromat Business Can Help Local Community
One topic that is seldom discussed is how easy it is for an owner of a laundromat business to help those in need within the local community. In some cases, these community support efforts do not even have to cost the owner a single penny.
Note: In the past, I talked briefly about this subject. However, for the benefit of those who have not heard me speak on this subject, there are two primary ways for a laundromat business to give back.
Donate Unclaimed Clothing
The first method is to donate all of the lost or unclaimed clothing that gets left in the laundromat to a local charity or non-profit organization. This could be a homeless shelter, neighborhood church, or numerous organizations that could put the clothing to good use.
Before you do this, I recommend waiting for a moth or so to see if the customers at your laundromat return to claim their lost items. If they do not return, then take the items down to a charity that can help get the clothes to people who could really use them. Not only will you be helping your community, but you’ll also get the extra benefit of charitable contribution when preparing your taxes for the year.
Donating Profits to a Local Charity
Another way a laundromat business can directly aid local charities or non-profit organizations is to actually donate a part of the profits of the business. If you were looking purely at the dollars and cents, this may not make sense. However, in my experience, I have received far more than I have ever given away.
We all know that one way of donating is to take a certain percentage of your business’ income; I do this regularly on a monthly basis. Another viable alternative is to get your customers involved in supporting a local cause. This form of donation is typically known as a benefit fundraiser. There are a couple of reasons why a benefit makes sense in the coin laundry business.
First of all, you are able to raise awareness about the charity you are promoting, while at the same time informing your customers know that their money is also supporting a good cause. It is your chance to personally engage your customers and build relationships. This, in turn, increases your customer loyalty and the chance they will continue to support your business in the future.
Let’s face it, customers talk, and business charity events are good publicity! If you promote the event well, you even have a good chance of having some new faces show up to do their wash just to support the charity.
Most laundromat owners tend to forget is that a new customer is worth upwards of $600 a year in revenue. Gaining just a handful of new customers from a benefit event for your charity, could more than pay for cost to support a fundraising event.
Here’s a real example of an event we did in one of our stores. We called it, “Wash for Children’s Hospital”. It was a benefit event where we donated the entire wash revenue on the last Saturday of July to the Intensive Care Unit at Oakland Children’s Hospital in celebration of our one-year anniversary in Oakland.
The event was a great success. In addition to donating the wash revenue, we also had a bucket available for customers to make an extra contribution to the charity. The hospital provided banners, brochures, and DVD’s which we handed out to customers as they washed their clothes.
Furthermore, every customer was given a postcard sized thank-you letter from us, thanking them for their support of the event. Not only were we able to raise awareness for the Oakland Children’s Hospital, but we were able to donate $1,500 for the charity. Not bad for our first attempt.
Besides being able to help your local community, there are real tangible benefits to your laundromat business. If you’re not doing one or both of these suggestions, then you’re missing out on an opportunity to make a difference and differentiate your business in your community!
About Brian Brunckhorst
Brian Brunckhorst is a leading authority on the laundromat business. He is dedicated to teaching entrepreneurs how to find, evaluate, analyze, and buy a coin laundromat. Brian is also the author of the best-selling eBook, “Secrets of Buying and Owning Laundromats”, and the Laundromat Teleseminar System.
Copyright protected by Digiprove Is a Laundromat a Good Business?
Home > Laundromat Articles > Is a Laundromat a Good Business?
I’m frequently asked why a laundromat is a good business. Well, in one of my other articles, I cover the advantages of a coin laundromat business over other traditional businesses. If you have not read this article, it covers the key advantages of owning this type of business.
In this article, I’d like to expand on why a coin laundromat is a stable, profitable business. Below are several additional points to consider.
Fact #1: This industry is stable.
The coin laundromat business is a $5 billion a year industry in the United States. Most people would not know this though. Instead, the popular misperception of laundromats is that they are poorly run and do not provide an attractive return for potential investors. If you were going to start a business, would you invest in a brand new market that is not proven or a mature industry with a solid track record?
Fact #2: Customers will always need a laundromat.
The reason why coin laundromats thrive is because customers will always need the service. The commercial washers and dryers allow customers to clean more clothes in less time. Some laundromats also provide a fluff and fold service which provides added convenience.
Fact #3: Buying an existing Laundromat makes sense.
If you purchase a laundromat for sale and perform the proper due diligence, you are buying an existing business that will make you money on the very first day you take over the business. In addition, you don’t have to deal with franchise fees, lots of employees, and other headaches typically associated with other businesses.
Fact #4: Favorable trends make this a great business.
The renter population in the United States is expected to grow by 2015. This is a good thing because the typical customers of a laundromat business are renters. This trend is a Laundromat business owner’s friend!
These are just a few reasons why a coin laundromat is a good business. This is not just my opinion either. Check the facts for yourself and you’ll see why I chose to become a laundromat business owner myself.
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About Brian Brunckhorst
Brian Brunckhorst is one of the top experts on laundromats. He is dedicated to teaching entrepreneurs how to find, evaluate, analyze, and buy a coin laundromat. Brian is also the author of the best-selling eBook, “Secrets of Buying and Owning Laundromats”, and the Laundromat Teleseminar System.
Coin Laundromat Business Plan: How Marketing Can Increase Profits
Home > Laundromat Articles > Coin Laundromat Business Plan: How Marketing Can Increase Profits
Marketing works! If you as a coin laundromat owner market your business and most of your competitors do not – you’re going to be miles ahead of them.
Like any business, you don’t want to forget about promotional marketing. I think that’s a common mistake between most people that own laundromats where they don’t budget much of their allotted income towards marketing expenses.
For most laundromat owners primary marketing is by word-of-mouth and that’s it. Sometimes they’ll do something like give away a free box of soap or leave soap out on the counter and let people just have free soap or something like that. It’s pretty rare that in laundromats they have real marketing campaigns. I think that’s a mistake.
I would recommend, probably, having somewhere between 3 and 5% but probably no more than 10% of the gross income to go to the marketing expense. The amount that you use would really depend upon what kind of net income you have and whether or not it makes sense to spend more than your allotted budget for it. With laundromats, you can do some relatively inexpensive marketing.
One thing to do is you can print up flyers on neon paper just talking about the laundromat and distribute them. Another popular form of advertising is postcards – direct mail.
From time to time we send emails to customers. I love emails because it doesn’t cost you anything for the marketing as opposed to a postcard. The savings you get by using emails allows you to pass some of that savings on to the customers by giving them coupons even if they are existing customers.
The other thing I like to get customers to do is refer other customers. I normally only do this with online marketing where I will send out an email and I’ll say, “Refer 5 people and you win a prize.”
The other type of marketing, which also really works well, is there are some online services that review different companies. Customers come in, they will wash with you then they will go online and they will rate your business from 1 to 5 stars. They get to write it up and it’s in their own opinion. Basically, it’s a testimonial of your business.
It is important to track everything otherwise you don’t know what is effective and what is not. Every marketing promotion that we do has a different give away or a different promotion. We advertise in one of those “Penny Saver” magazines and on that we have a different ad with a different coupon. We even advertised on shopping carts in supermarkets and that worked pretty well.
Advertising is one of those things that is always evolving. If you find one that works, keep doing that. If you find stuff that doesn’t work, stop doing that and go on and try a different type of advertising.
The experts say in marketing for ads to be effective, you want to touch your customer at least 6 times with some sort of marketing plan. It could be 6 different types of marketing, such as postcards, flyers, and the name of the business as they are driving down the street. Whatever that happens to be. I think it’s important to have some sort of consistent regular marketing approach.
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About Brian Brunckhorst
Brian Brunckhorst is one of the top experts on laundromats. He is dedicated to teaching entrepreneurs how to find, evaluate, analyze, and buy a coin laundromat. Brian is also the author of the best-selling eBook, “Secrets of Buying and Owning Laundromats”, and the Laundromat Teleseminar System.
