Dry cleaning businesses clean cloth items that cannot be washed. Some set themselves up as ‘multi-service’ sites to attract as many customers as possible.
Our practical guide will help you start and speed up your dry cleaners. Learn how to start a dry cleaning business? in this article below;
Research your preferred market
- Decide which cleaning services you will provide
- Your high cost of cleaning services
- Franchises
- Receiving unit
- Promoting your cleaning business is challenging
- Buy an existing cleaning business complex
- Research your preferred market
- You will likely have a mix of retailers and retail customers.
Retail customers
Your retail customers are independent people with clothing and other textile items that need to be cleaned rather than wet.
Shopkeepers may include people who need their work clothes cleaned and pressed periodically, people who need clean clothes for a special occasion, and perhaps those who need professional work, such as cleaning and arranging wedding dresses or linens.
If you offer ‘simple’ services such as ironing and washing, you can also attract busy people who do not have time to do these tasks themselves. Please find out the types of people who live and work in your area and try to match the number of services you offer to their needs.
Trade customers
Some of your work may come from other garage cleaning business that require cleaning and washing services from time to time, such as:
- Hotels, restaurants, and other restaurants
- Hair styling and beauty salons, health spas, and so on
- Clothing for rent, for example, rental suits and high-end clothing stores
- Some businesses and organizations provide their employees with uniforms or work clothes that require cleaning
You may choose to offer other services that can be used by your business clients, such as a cabinet towel for rent and rent for work clothes.
Make a list of the businesses in your area that has potential customers.
The browser on Onlinenewsmags.com Β will help you find their names and addresses. You can send a letter advertising your services or visit some of them yourself.
Local competitions
Once you have thought about who your customers might be, you need to find out how much other businesses serve them. How many showers are in your area (say, within 6 miles or more from your location)? Searching on Onlinenewsmags.com Β will help establish this.
Look at the nearby branches of major professional chains like Johnsons (currently part of Timpson Group) and see if they plan to open retail outlets in your area.
Check again to see if any of your local supermarkets offer a complex cleaning service (this is probably a deal made by one of the world chains). Keep in mind that Timpson plans to open a significant number of new stores in major stores in the next few years and, in doing so, expand its share of the vacuum market. Be aware that some local stores may act as ‘reception units’ for industrial getting ideas for cleaning business elsewhere. Some dairy farmers do this too.
You can find out more about your competitors by looking at their ads and visiting their stores. Please list the services they provide and the prices they charge. You can even find some great tips for adding services your business can offer.
Take a look at what their stores look like – clean and modern, or can they do with improvement? Does the staff seem friendly and helpful?
Look for any pages on the market. You may, for example, see a need in your area for professional work such as cleaning old clothes and keeping them. Know different types of cleaning businesses below;
Investigate current trends, as well as legal and tax issues
- Sector systems for dry cleaners
- Legal issues for dry cleaners
- VAT rules for dry cleaners
Decide which cleaning services you will provide
- Dry cleaning
Also, with the complex cleaning of everyday clothes, you may choose to offer a wide range of professional drying services.
It depends on your skills (or your staff’s) and the type of equipment you have. Some examples of cleaning services you can provide are listed below:
- Suede, leather, and sheepskin coats, including motorcycle leather
- Waxed jackets and skiwear
- High value and antiques
- Dress bride
- Hats
- Silk garments
- Soft toys
Curtains, rugs, loose curtains, curtains, and other home textiles
Solvent-free water-based (aqueous) cleaning for dry-clean fabrics only
Difficult to clean using non-perchloroethylene solvents such as hydrocarbon, liquid silicone (e.g., Green Earth), or Solvon K4 organic solvent.
Other textile services
You may also choose to offer additional textile services to your retail customers. Examples include:
- General laundry services
- Renting carpet cleaning equipment
- Wash-stones
- Ironing and manufacturing
- Adjustments (including ‘invisible fixes’), changes, and customization
- Waterproofing and fire protection
- Safe packaging
Facilitation services
For fabric and laundry services, you may choose to offer some convenient services from your exit. It can be done indoors, or it can be passed on to a specialist. These services may include:
- Laughing key
- Shoe repair
- Photo kiosk
- Film and image editing
- Writing and drawing
- Services for other businesses
If you want to provide cleaning and laundry services for other businesses, it may be best to provide them with a ‘one-stop’ package of all their textile needs. These may include:
- Reloading cabinet towel
- For renting work clothes
- Linen charge
- ‘Added value services
The complex cleaning industry is competitive, and you can choose to offer both your sales and your sales customers a lot of ‘added value services. These may include, for example:
- Collection and delivery service
- Online ordering
- Toll-free
- A loyalty program
Your high cost of cleaning services
You will need to create a price list to cover all the different services you offer. You may be setting prices for cleaning different items, for example, men’s suits, jackets, trousers, dresses, skirts and so on. Curtains are usually charged per square meter (or sometimes by weight), and the price will be higher for the curtain line.
The cost of cleaning the open curtains is usually determined by the chair’s cover, a two-seater sofa, or a three-seater sofa. When setting your prices, consider the following:
The level of local competition
- Which your competitors charge for the same service
- If you want to win a business away from your competitors at low prices
- If people in your area will be able to buy your prices
- Decide if you will charge a higher level in some cases, for example, if the dress is too dark.
Above all, you should ensure that your prices are enough to cover all your expenses and leave you with enough profit to cover your drawers.
If you serve as a ‘reception service’ for other services (e.g., shoe repair), then it may be a case of a professional service provider setting a price.
If some stores seem to receive units for your cleaning business, you will have to decide how much they will keep as their commission.
Discounts and prizes are offered.
You can choose to offer a variety of discounts and incentives to your customers. For example, a list of your prices could include a significant reduction if two or more suits were delivered simultaneously.
- The reduction of pensioners and perhaps students – eye-catching as Timpson offers to dry the clean clothes of unemployed people who go to free job interviews can bring great advertising and popularity.
- A loyalty program that rewards regular customers
- Occasionally value is given, for example, ‘two at the price of one’ deals
Sales prices
If you do complex cleaning and related services to other businesses from time to time, they will probably expect you to provide them with a valuable sales value.
As you set your sales prices, you will have to consider how much your competitors can charge and how much you need to earn to cover your price and make a reasonable profit.
Think about whether you will offer services such as collection and delivery, and whether they will be free or not. Consider the benefits of using such a service and the cost.
Franchises
When you start a complex cleaning business, you may decide that you can benefit from partnering with a well-known, established organization. It is possible through franchising.
There are several franchises available to UK businesses within the textile and cleaning industries, including some specifically for dry cleaners.
Other industries in franchise programs that are in operation include shoe repair and cutting key.
Franchises vary in size from large national programs to small regional and local projects. Although the plans are very different, many show the following important points:
As a franchise owner, you will continue to work for yourself but will use the franchisor’s certificate (i.e., company colors, logos, trade name, and so on).
In return, you will pay a franchisor fee – this could be a one-off investment, a monthly payment, or a combination of both.
You and your franchisor will have to fulfill some obligations; The franchisor may, for example, agree to provide you with an optional location while you agree to keep your site to a minimum.
Many franchises provide you with training if you need it, as well as advice and support on various business and professional issues.
A description of the above points is included in the franchise agreement or contract, which you and your franchisor will sign. The deal will also deal with other things, for example, the short time the franchise will run.
Before entering into a franchise agreement, it is recommended to compare the different franchises’ terms to ensure you are getting the right deal. Go through an agreement with your attorney before you sign anything.
Receiving unit
One way to increase the number of customers who can reach your business is to identify multiple collections and drop points – or ‘receiving units’ – in different locations within the area you want to work. It is much cheaper than opening new stores, but it enables you to reach customers who would not go to your main exit.
A reception area is a collection area where people can bring their hard cleaning supplies. You or one of your employees will visit your reception units from time to time (perhaps daily or every two days), taking any items that need cleaning and dropping any cleaning. Stores are always well-stocked to serve as a collection point for dryer cleaners.
Another benefit of using grocery stores is that they usually open for very long hours, helping you reach customers who will not be able to visit your site during normal working hours.
In return for dealing with your customers, you usually pay for your receiving units, which may be part of your normal price or a fixed fee. You will have to decide how much to pay for your unit units, considering how much would be paid by your competitors (if you can figure it out), and make sure your business is left with enough profits.
Alternatively, you can charge to receive units at the chosen retail price and allow them to increase their profits.
It would be a good idea to stop your trade terms by signing and agreeing on a formal agreement with your receiving units. The contract should cover such matters as each party’s obligations, terms of payment, and so on.
Your business can be part of the reception, shoe repair, or other professional activities.
Promoting your cleaning business is challenging.
It is important to promote your business effectively so that your customers are more likely to know who you are, where you are, and what you can do for them.
Some customers will find out about your shop when they walk or drive by. Some may be unaware of the dry cleaner in their area and have to seek a business to use it actively.