In 2009 Costs Are Going Up! What Can You Do?

Whether your coin or card operated laundry is -making money or not, its costs still continue to rise. Natural gas prices are going up and water is rising too, along with the -electrical power to run things. When did you last hear of -supplies or the cost for insurance or rents -going down? Instead, every expense seems to be going up and up. Laundry operators have limited choices in the face of increases. They can examine -raising prices in turn, or look for effective ways to bring in more -business volume.

Those who operate using a card system can easily go up by small drips and drabs and let’s call those incremental increases. Piece of Cake, but coin operators must go up a quarter at a time, and that can create a public relations problem with some of their customers.

Many coin laundry owners, especially, are reluctant to raise vend prices because it might alienate their clientele too much. They will have questions as to whether or not they will lose some customers, and their loss will amount to more loss than they could gain from the vend price increases they plan. In other words, they’re afraid of customer reaction.

Of course, you are aware that there are always small -cost savings that can be made, but it doesn’t look as though that can be much. One can cut back on the temperature of the water coming from the heaters and cut back also on the wash and drying times in some equipment. But in the final analysis, bringing in more business, or taking your prices higher is the better answer.

Let’s say an operator doing his taxes discovers that the laundry’s net income for the past year was $1,500 less, but the laundry’s annual income was the same. Let us talk about raising prices to correct that situation. All this operator has to do is raise his income by less than five -dollars a day. Does that mean raising all prices, and if so, how can vend charges go up without -alienating his laundry clientele? If some are upset about increases, will they leave and go elsewhere to do their wash?

With ten front load washers doing five turns per day and if they are each raised a quarter, it brings a coin laundry nearly $4,500 per year, which is more than enough to make up of the loss. There is far less -resistance to a front load washer increase of a quarter than there is to raising top loaders by a quarter. However, the customer’s reluctance to accept higher washer and dryer vend prices is far more imagined than real.

Now let’s assume this laundry owner raises everything by a quarter, including shortening drying time given per coin drop. In this imagined laundry, twenty tops and ten fronts, an increase of a quarter per machine will amount to more than $12,000 each year. That is enough to cover the rising costs, at least for this period of time.

Every other type of business gets price increases as they need them, why not a coin or card operated laundry?

The best way to increase the cash flow of a coin or card operated laundry is bringing in more business and examining increases in vending prices to go with various advertising and -promotional events.

There may be as many ways to improve overall volume as there are laundries that need to improve, and there are variables on each method or system. The laundry owner’s imagination appears to be the only limit.

There are all kinds of promotions and -gimmicks that have worked, but the staff of the News is only going to recommend those ideas with which we have some experience and know work. We’ve seen them and have used many of these techniques and systems in the past ourselves and are able to assure our readers of their viability.

Each of the following promotions works in a coin laundry and has served to increase overall dollar volume. They appear to give the laundry customer something for nothing, but actually are giving them advantage for being a long term, steady customer.

Anxious to increase business in his -unattended laundry, a new owner decided to set up a promotion system giving his customers chances to draw for prizes. Each month they could enter their name in a box. He spent about $100 per month for prizes. He broke even the first month then noticed that -business -volume was climbing. He kept the laundry clean and kept equipment in apple pie order. It all helped.

Because his clientele got more and more interested as the weeks went by, they came in more often and brought some of their friends who were doing business elsewhere. In less than 6 months the laundry’s income was up by over a thousand a month.

To encourage customers to switch from top loads to front load washers, one operator re-invented the Wash Club. In this club, laundry users get single credit for top loads, double credit for double loads and triple credit for the triple load washers. Since they could see that they saved money going up the line in size, it got them thinking about the bargain offered by the front loads. That part of the program saved the owner on utilities as his front loads use far less water and electricity.

In a wash club they received the value for one regular wash for each wash done. It takes ten washes to win that free wash. By the way, there were no cash prizes. The attendants started the washer for customers who won. There were also drawing prizes quarterly for the club members. The customers felt they were getting something for FREE!

This program took more than six months to really develop, and the owner used the club for six years. When they quit the club, it was with the announcement that the club was stopped to avoid having to raise prices. Over the six year run of the wash club, the laundry’s volume had increased by more than double They had raised prices once and are seriously -debating about doing it again.

A Wash Club program is simple for laundry customers to grasp. They get excited about it, and it’s cheap to run. The expense is giving out a free wash every tenth wash and paying to print the cards. It really works well in a coin laundry that has attendants working. Sample cards are available through the News.

One owner/operator of a full service coin laundry that had drop off cleaning and fluff & fold tried an interesting variation of Wash Club. His idea was to build up the fluff & fold and the dry cleaning by using the prize drawings to introduce those services to his clientele.

His attendants paid wash for those who won, but he offered many more prizes that were discounts on cleaning and free wash and dry for the winners as well. His variation was in that the size of the free fluff and fold was smaller than typical orders his attendants took in. This was to encourage regular laundry machine users to use the laundry’s services to do their wash instead of doing it themselves.

When they tried it, they liked having it done for them, and he converted quite a few to continue to bring in fluff & fold orders. The discounts on cleaning were low enough that the business still made money, and it made his -regular customers aware of dry cleaning being available at the laundry. A surprising number were taking cleaning elsewhere.-

There are many ways to increase -dollar -volume in laundries and the addition of fluff and fold may be the most effective way of all.

It gives laundry employees that are there and can watch over the safety of the business. The attendants being there bring increases in laundry volume, plus they earn salary by doing the customer’s bundles. It usually takes a few months to build up that part of the -business, but once going, it’s very profitable.

DON’T FORGET, WHEN DOING PROMOTIONS, THE KEY WORD IS FREE!

Date:-05/28/2011
By:-Admin


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	In 2009 Costs Are Going Up! What Can You Do? Whether your coin or card operated laundry is -making money or not, its costs still continue to rise. Natural gas prices are going up and water is rising too, along with the -electrical power to run things. When did you last hear of -supplies or the cost for insurance or rents -going down? Instead, every expense seems to be going up and up. Laundry operators have limited choices in the face of increases. They can examine -raising prices in turn, or look for effective ways to bring in more -business volume. Those who operate using a card system can easily go up by small drips and drabs and let’s call those incremental increases. Piece of Cake, but coin operators must go up a quarter at a time, and that can create a public relations problem with some of their customers. Many coin laundry owners, especially, are reluctant to raise vend prices because it might alienate their clientele too much. They will have questions as to whether or not they will lose some customers, and their loss will amount to more loss than they could gain from the vend price increases they plan. In other words, they’re afraid of customer reaction. Of course, you are aware that there are always small -cost savings that can be made, but it doesn’t look as though that can be much. One can cut back on the temperature of the water coming from the heaters and cut back also on the wash and drying times in some equipment. But in the final analysis, bringing in more business, or taking your prices higher is the better answer. Let’s say an operator doing his taxes discovers that the laundry’s net income for the past year was $1,500 less, but the laundry’s annual income was the same. Let us talk about raising prices to correct that situation. All this operator has to do is raise his income by less than five -dollars a day. Does that mean raising all prices, and if so, how can vend charges go up without -alienating his laundry clientele? If some are upset about increases, will they leave and go elsewhere to do their wash? With ten front load washers doing five turns per day and if they are each raised a quarter, it brings a coin laundry nearly $4,500 per year, which is more than enough to make up of the loss. There is far less -resistance to a front load washer increase of a quarter than there is to raising top loaders by a quarter. However, the customer’s reluctance to accept higher washer and dryer vend prices is far more imagined than real. Now let’s assume this laundry owner raises everything by a quarter, including shortening drying time given per coin drop. In this imagined laundry, twenty tops and ten fronts, an increase of a quarter per machine will amount to more than $12,000 each year. That is enough to cover the rising costs, at least for this period of time. Every other type of business gets price increases as they need them, why not a coin or card operated laundry? The best way to increase the cash flow of a coin or card operated laundry is bringing in more business and examining increases in vending prices to go with various advertising and -promotional events. There may be as many ways to improve overall volume as there are laundries that need to improve, and there are variables on each method or system. The laundry owner’s imagination appears to be the only limit. There are all kinds of promotions and -gimmicks that have worked, but the staff of the News is only going to recommend those ideas with which we have some experience and know work. We’ve seen them and have used many of these techniques and systems in the past ourselves and are able to assure our readers of their viability. Each of the following promotions works in a coin laundry and has served to increase overall dollar volume. They appear to give the laundry customer something for nothing, but actually are giving them advantage for being a long term, steady customer. Anxious to increase business in his -unattended laundry, a new owner decided to set up a promotion system giving his customers chances to draw for prizes. Each month they could enter their name in a box. He spent about $100 per month for prizes. He broke even the first month then noticed that -business -volume was climbing. He kept the laundry clean and kept equipment in apple pie order. It all helped. Because his clientele got more and more interested as the weeks went by, they came in more often and brought some of their friends who were doing business elsewhere. In less than 6 months the laundry’s income was up by over a thousand a month. To encourage customers to switch from top loads to front load washers, one operator re-invented the Wash Club. In this club, laundry users get single credit for top loads, double credit for double loads and triple credit for the triple load washers. Since they could see that they saved money going up the line in size, it got them thinking about the bargain offered by the front loads. That part of the program saved the owner on utilities as his front loads use far less water and electricity. In a wash club they received the value for one regular wash for each wash done. It takes ten washes to win that free wash. By the way, there were no cash prizes. The attendants started the washer for customers who won. There were also drawing prizes quarterly for the club members. The customers felt they were getting something for FREE! This program took more than six months to really develop, and the owner used the club for six years. When they quit the club, it was with the announcement that the club was stopped to avoid having to raise prices. Over the six year run of the wash club, the laundry’s volume had increased by more than double They had raised prices once and are seriously -debating about doing it again. A Wash Club program is simple for laundry customers to grasp. They get excited about it, and it’s cheap to run. The expense is giving out a free wash every tenth wash and paying to print the cards. It really works well in a coin laundry that has attendants working. Sample cards are available through the News. One owner/operator of a full service coin laundry that had drop off cleaning and fluff & fold tried an interesting variation of Wash Club. His idea was to build up the fluff & fold and the dry cleaning by using the prize drawings to introduce those services to his clientele. His attendants paid wash for those who won, but he offered many more prizes that were discounts on cleaning and free wash and dry for the winners as well. His variation was in that the size of the free fluff and fold was smaller than typical orders his attendants took in. This was to encourage regular laundry machine users to use the laundry’s services to do their wash instead of doing it themselves. When they tried it, they liked having it done for them, and he converted quite a few to continue to bring in fluff & fold orders. The discounts on cleaning were low enough that the business still made money, and it made his -regular customers aware of dry cleaning being available at the laundry. A surprising number were taking cleaning elsewhere.- There are many ways to increase -dollar -volume in laundries and the addition of fluff and fold may be the most effective way of all. It gives laundry employees that are there and can watch over the safety of the business. The attendants being there bring increases in laundry volume, plus they earn salary by doing the customer’s bundles. It usually takes a few months to build up that part of the -business, but once going, it’s very profitable. DON’T FORGET, WHEN DOING PROMOTIONS, THE KEY WORD IS FREE! Date:-05/28/2011 By:-Admin