CINCINNATI — Dave Menz spreads his passion for laundry business ownership well beyond the walls of his stores, sharing with others in the self-service laundry industry his thoughts and ideas about lifting what can be a commodity business into the realm of premium service.
“I always say the laundromat business is a good business,” says the multi-store owner, author and industry consultant. “The full-service laundry center business is a great business.”
We met Menz in Part 1 and learned how his involvement in self-service laundry ownership and management has evolved since his arrival in 2010. In Part 2, he described falling in love with the concept of servitude and how he approached taking his laundries from “good to great.” Let’s conclude:
VALUE PROPOSITION
Beyond factors related to equipment, Menz wondered if customers would pay more if other aspects of a laundry business were improved. He was thinking value proposition.
“What if we serve our current customers at a higher level? Will they pay more for the same service? A 60-pound washer is a 60-pound washer, but will they pay, in theory, 25% more for the same 60-pound washer if my facility has air conditioning, if my facility is located in a safe area … if I have attendants on duty that are highly trained and motivated to greet them?”
His initial conclusion, he says, was yes but he didn’t know how much more. Then he turned to instituting ways to generate greater revenue through more turns per day.
“That’s where pickup and delivery, and even drop-off laundry, came in. We raised our level of service to our local community, we raised our prices, and (our customers) rewarded us. They were happy with that, to this day. In some cases, we now charge 50-60% more than our closest competitor for self-serve.”
Adding cycle modifiers as well as automated detergent or ozone injection has also gained traction: “Cycle modifiers, like extra wash and extra rinse, I think today most people charge like a quarter or 50 cents. We charge $3 for extra wash and $3 for extra rinse on an 80-pound machine.”
FIND YOUR DESIRED LEVEL OF SERVICE
There are investors coming into the industry today who wish to build a full-service laundry right away, Menz says, and that’s certainly doable with enough liquid capital. But launching high-level service—particularly when evolving from a plain-Jane store—doesn’t have to be done all at once, he says.
“If you start where I started, which was at zero, then there’s going to be a whole lot of sacrifice. There’s going to be a whole lot of lipstick on a pig, there’s going to be a whole lot of sweat equity, and there’s going to be a lot of delayed gratification.
“Reinvesting the profits and cash flow that your business makes, and the more you do those things, the more you sacrifice, then the faster it will compound.”
While Menz’s multi-store operation has reached its level of service in Cincinnati, nothing says you can’t serve your own community “in an amazing way” with a 1,500-square-foot store with 10 washers and dryers, he adds.
No matter where you’re located, there are people you can serve.
“People are human beings, and we should get up every day with the goal of serving humanity in a better way tomorrow than we did yesterday. We, collectively, as an industry,” Menz says. “I think that should be important to us. And the beauty of that is, if we do that, the financial rewards will come.”
That’s the benefit of a job well done.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].
