There’s a WAH business that many people don’t know about that requires no special skills, very little start-up money, and everything you need to run it can be found in your laundry room. Not sure what I’m talking about? Here’s a hint: You already do it, and you’ve probably done it for years. I’m talking about a wash and fold service.
Laundry. It’s one of life’s most dreaded tasks, but it can cost you an extra $100-$300 a week.
Many SAHPs looking for a WAH job or business probably don’t think of a wash and fold service as an option. It certainly wasn’t something I initially thought of when looking for something to do from home. But after trying a few different things and being disappointed with each result, the idea for an in-home wash and fold service was born. It took some work, some trial and error, but now I do laundry once a week and make $1,100 a month. Not bad just for cleaning clothes.
I am going to share with you how I started my home laundry service and give you some great tips that would have saved me a lot of time. I will include a step by step guide as well as marketing ideas. Starting a home laundry service is a great way to earn some extra money without sacrificing a lot of your time!
step by step guide
1.) Take care of legal matters. You will need to check with your state about possible licensing and registration requirements. There will be a sales tax that you will need to pay frequently; it is imperative that you know what the sales tax is in the county in which you will be operating.
You will also need to establish how it will be organized; Sole Proprietorship, LLC, S Corp.
2.) Open a business checking account. I strongly recommend keeping your laundry business and personal transactions separate. Although it’s not necessary, it’s easier to report your earnings and expenses when it comes time to file taxes if you don’t come with your personal finances.
3.) Set up your record keeping. You will need to keep track of several things including; Laundry Customers, Payments Received, Expenses and Mileage. This doesn’t mean you have to go out and buy fancy financial software; Google Spreadsheet does a good job of keeping track of everything and the price is right; free!
4.) How will you be paid? Determine your payment terms. Will your clients pay you before the services are performed or after? Do you accept only cash or also check? These are policies that you will need to establish before accepting clients. Almost all of my clients prefer to pay by credit card. PayPal is an easy-to-use credit card processor with a reasonable fee (3% of transactions) that you can set up in minutes.
You will also need to determine how much you will charge your customers. The two most common methods that I have observed are by pound or by bag size. If you choose to charge by the pound, you’ll need to purchase a hanging scale (Amazon sells them for $10) and determine your rate ($1 – $1.50/lb is average). If you choose to use bags, you’ll need to determine the dimensions and desired material for your bags, and then find a supplier within your budget. I use a nylon bag that measures 22″ X 28″ and holds about two loads of laundry. You can anticipate that the bags will cost you between $2 and $4 per bag.
5.) Make a website. Some may argue that this step isn’t necessary, but I would have to completely disagree. You don’t have a physical store like laundromats, so your website, in a sense, is your store. You NEED to have a way for customers to find you and get information about your services. You will achieve it through a website. WordPress is a free web design site that is very easy to use. You can easily create a website and find a web host from your “Hosting” section. I initially used GoDaddy for my website and later hired an independent contractor to create what is now laundrycare.biz.
6.) Market your services. There are various online and offline ways to market your services, I will start with online marketing.
When it comes to creating your online presence, you will have two options; free marketing and paid marketing. I use a combination of both to promote my wash and fold service. Free marketing would include listing on free directories like Google Places and Yahoo! Local. Craigslist is another great source to advertise your laundry service for free. Paid marketing is the sponsored ads you see on the results pages of a search engine; the best are Google Adwords, Yahoo! Search, Microsoft advertising and Facebook ads. There are MANY more free and paid sellers online, but this is a good starting point.
Social media marketing is a must-have piece to your marketing efforts. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn are just some of the media sites available. You don’t need (and won’t have time) to create multiple accounts, one Facebook page is enough to get started. To get customers to “Like” your Facebook page, you can offer an incentive, such as a discount on their first order.
Online marketing requires only time and a computer; For offline marketing, you’ll have to roll up your sleeves and do some real leg/mouth work. The first thing you’ll need to do is create an attention-grabbing brochure. Flyers are an inexpensive way to promote your business, and if there is a local college campus, you can expose yourself to hundreds of potential customers every day. Make sure your brochure has an attention-grabbing headline and print it on vibrantly colored paper. Include pull-out tabs at the bottom of your brochure containing your company name, phone number, email, and web address, if you have one. Business cards are another marketing tool you’ll need for those times when you’re talking to a potential customer. You can get 250 free printed business cards through Vista (with $5 shipping).
Make a list of local businesses that could use your service (spas, doctor’s offices, day care centers, restaurants) and contact them by phone or in person. I know, I know, everyone loves to sell; However, this does not have to be a pushy sales pitch. All you need to do is give a brief introduction about yourself and your laundry service, as well as how your service can benefit your business. Here’s a bit of inside information I’ve used to win business clients; you’re less expensive than the big commercial cleaners and don’t require lengthy contracts. Most large commercial cleaners require a contract of at least a year and will charge for various items such as fuel, processing, towel/uniform rental. Knowing this information can give you something attractive to offer to potential business customers.
Lastly, you will need to talk about your business as often as possible. Networking is a very powerful tool. You never know when you’ll run into someone who simply needs your service or know someone who does.
7.) Ready… Set… Launch! Now you are ready to launch your business. Please be patient and understand that Rome was not built in a day. You will need time to grow. I didn’t get my first client until 2 months after launch and trust me I was starting to think I never would. After that first client, I grew to 4, then 8, then 14. As a stay-at-home mom, I made a lot of extra money just doing laundry outside my house.
