The Need Is There But Is My Solution Feasible?

[LakeyPoo]

I'm in the process of searching for an apartment, and throughout my search I have noticed a frequent deterrent to my interest in rentals is the lack of washers/dryers in the apartment, or onsite. I don't really want to drive to a laundromat and sit around forever waiting for my wash to finish.

NO ONE wants to do that!

My idea is to begin a laundry service for people in this situation. I would collect their laundry every week, wash/dry/fold it, and return it to them. I would charge a monthly fee for the service, maybe $30, not sure yet.

A problem I foresee is privacy. Many people probably would feel some discomfort at the thought of someone else handling their underwear and things of that sort. A possible solution would be to provide a mesh wash bag they could put those sorts of garments in. This would help conceal what is inside, and would allow me to wash and dry the clothes without ever needing to handle them directly.

Another possible problem would arise if only a few people in each complex would want the service. This would make me have to drive all over to collect the laundry, using gas and wasting time. If there were some way to ensure a lot of participation it would be helpful. Perhaps I could speak to apartment managers and have them include it in the rent.

Solutions? Other problems?

Thanks!

 

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[Guest12120]

It's pretty popular in NYC. They charge per pound.


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[Mattie]

fee for the service, maybe $30, not sure yet.

When I used to do this, it cost $50.00 a month for two people. Your service fee is $30.00 which $60.00 a month.

So Instead of costing me $60.00 a month with gas. I would pay $120.00 a month with your service. That's just an example. That's without the soap and downy.

Just an idea, but if you just bought a laundry mat charged a price like one in my town, and did all that it would be a better investment. It was part of the Dry cleaning business, and they just had people drop it off and closed their laundry mat and hit the factories and other businesses that use uniforms.

 

[ToniLene]

You could do that or start a cloth diaper washing service which is actually becoming more popular.
Definitely charge more. Where would you be washing the clothing? At the laundromat or pay an industrial service?

 

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[LakeyPoo]

It's pretty popular in NYC. They charge per pound.

That's probably a better method of charging, thanks for that.

Just an idea, but if you just bought a laundry mat charged a price like one in my town, and did all that it would be a better investment. It was part of the Dry cleaning business, and they just had people drop it off and closed their laundry mat and hit the factories and other businesses that use uniforms.

I was thinking something like this as well, but as a goal a little ways off. Buying up a laundromat isn't super realistic for me right now

You could do that or start a cloth diaper washing service which is actually becoming more popular.
Definitely charge more. Where would you be washing the clothing? At the laundromat or pay an industrial service?

I was thinking a laundromat; I hadn't considered an industrial service though, so I'll have to look into that. Might be more cost effective. I like that diaper idea too, I'll have to think on that.

 

[Jon L]

I'm not sure what I think about this idea. On the one hand, if you really kill it, sales wise, you could have something. The problem is the barrier to entry is just about Zero. Just like any teenager with a lawnmower can mow lawns, anyone with a basket and a washer and dryer can compete against you. That plus the labor-intensive nature of this, and I don't know. You'll need to find a lot of cheap but good labor in order to scale.

Plus, the numbers add up really slowly. At $30/month/user, you need 100 customers to bring in 3000/month gross revenue. That's 20 customers serviced per day, 5 days a week if you're going to wash each customer's laundry once a week. That's a lot of work for $3000 a month minus expenses.

If you have more customers than that, you need a bulletproof system for washing and drying so that you don't mix loads up, or end up turning white socks pink.

 

[mayana]

My idea is to begin a laundry service for people in this situation. I would collect their laundry every week, wash/dry/fold it, and return it to them. I would charge a monthly fee for the service, maybe $30, not sure yet.

You'll have a lot of dirty grunt work to do up front, but if you live in a big city with a big metro area, you might even be able to scale this.

I use services like this when I travel to Mexico. They charge by the pound there, too, just like the laundry mats do here.

Outsource the washing of the clothes to a trustworthy laundrymat or two. I think I used to spend about $10-15 a week when I was single and had to pay to wash my clothes at a pay laundry (this was washing it myself using coins, etc). (This was for blankets and sheets, too). Doubling the cost and having someone else do it isn't really that big of a deal.

I think $30-50 is the DELIVERY/SERVICE fee
PLUS charge per pound for the actual laundry
I'd charge by the piece for big items (like comforters or stuff like that).

So in this scenario, if you had 100 customers, you are bringing in $3000-5000 and only doing pick up and deliveries - the laundry professionals are doing the washing at .99 per pound or something like that.

Eventually, you could hire a driver or two and scale it up.

 

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[tafy]

Too cost intensive unless your passion is doing laundry then stay away

 

[happybhoy]

Barrier of entry is really low, any housewife, etc could compete with you.

Uber for laundry maybe?

 

[Kingmaker]

It's already being done for a while, read this article for a birds eye view of the industry:

http://nymag.com/news/features/laundry-apps-2014-5/

Your best bet is to get B2B clients who constantly need this, for example beauty salons, small hotels.

 

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[Andy Black]

It's already being done for a while, read this article for a birds eye view of the industry:

http://nymag.com/news/features/laundry-apps-2014-5/

Your best bet is to get B2B clients who constantly need this, for example beauty salons, small hotels.

Thanks for the share of that article. I have to agree with a lot of the comments. Startups...

 

[LakeyPoo]

Thanks for all the input everyone. Seems like it would be a little more like creating my own slave labor for myself than it would be a fastlane business unfortunately.

 

[Cascade]

Thanks for all the input everyone. Seems like it would be a little more like creating my own slave labor for myself than it would be a fastlane business unfortunately.

Encourage you to keep trying to find an angle

Earlier this year was helping a former post-grad student brainstorm and think through her business plan that was similar. Let me share something.

here is one way to consider

the explosion of apps reminds me of the explosion of '.com' in the 90s

the real winners in my view are the guys who upend a current traditional business or who combine an existing service with the leverage and reach of mobile

one issue with laundry services (besides the poor margins which is why many end up cutting corners) is the contact time is not disconnected for the customer

find a way to have customer drop off dirty clothes at her convenience
and a way to collect clean clothes at her convenience

there are other ways, here is one example
cut a deal with a retail outlet with good dispersion such as 7-11 to accept the sealed bags
<wash the clothes> the mechanics of this part of the process is not exciting/major impact to customer experience so don't waste time comparing technique A vs technique B or waste time with comparing machine A with machine B
Place the clean laundry for self-collection in a self-collect automated facility that is currently used for post delivery of parcels

Why is this shift a small shift that changes everything?
what were you originally selling? clean clothes
now what are you selling? convenience, more free time for the customer to spend with his family

this would only work for customers who have already signed up and paid upfront deposit with a auto-deduction payment mechanism.
Why this way? because the sweetest form of income is annuity
(must taste annuity once to know how sweet)

 

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