Doing Laundry in a Small Footprint

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Doing Laundry in a Small Footprint (Conclusion)

Visibility, access, cleanliness are key factors to success regardless of size

RIPON, Wis. — Tiny houses, cabins and campers are all the rage. It’s all about downsizing your lifestyle and living a more fulfilling life without a lot of debt and “stuff.”

Along that same line, small-scale laundries often make perfect sense. If done correctly, small-footprint Laundromats can be as profitable as larger-scale operations.

In Part 1, we discussed equipment capacities and store layout. Let’s continue by looking at décor considerations.

EYE ON DECOR

There are also things you can do within your building’s décor to make your Laundromat look larger. Adding in surfaces that reflect light will make your facility look roomier. Be sure people can see out of the windows and have clear line of sight to the doors. Add as much glass as possible. Higher ceilings can also help make buildings look larger.

A lighter-colored paint can also help a building look larger. The lighter the color, the better, particularly if a building has a lot of windows and natural light.

THE BASICS

Whether your laundry is big or small, make sure you have adequate parking and that it is visible from the street — it’s all the basic things you see in large stores that you still want in small ones. Cleanliness is also important, no matter whether your Laundromat is large or small. For many customers, cleanliness is a top priority when they decide which Laundromat to use.

But you also need to ensure that your machines are always in order, if you are to maximize your profit. If a laundry doesn’t have an attendant—and not many small stores do—then you need to have a phone number that people can call to reach someone immediately with their question or comment. Calls going to voicemail just irritates customers, and that can mean they may not come back to your store.

It’s also important to offer multiple payment options. Coin alone will limit your revenue potential, so be flexible in what payment options you offer, be it cash, cards, apps or whatever. In fact, going cashless for payment can pay for itself quickly.

FINAL COMMENTS

While it’s difficult for a small-footprint facility to offer wash-dry-fold and still be profitable, it can be done with sufficient planning. It takes a lot of space, and you will really need to manage the times your employees will be doing WDF work there if you are to make money. You certainly don’t want to be doing it during your busiest times.

With the pandemic likely causing some businesses to close, there will be some opportunities to open new laundries. Dry cleaners lend themselves well to being converted to laundries. Not only is the size of the building usually ideal, but people already think of the building as a place to clean their clothes, blankets or comforters, so converting the building to a laundry makes obvious sense.

Miss Part 1? You can read it HERE.

Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].