One Time Only Promotions

The new owner of this small neighborhood laundry business was beginning to get worried. The income and cash flow had never reached the totals the previous owner had assured him that it was doing. After operating the laundry for seven months, he was still losing a little money every day. This was due to the payments, increases in the utility costs and rent. The income was simply not covering his costs. Then one day he was at the laundry doing some heavy cleaning when he was approached by one of his regular customers, whom he recognized, but did not know. She identified herself as the pastor''s wife from a nearby church. It wasn''t his own. She told him that the church was holding a drive to raise money for some orphaned children in Bosnia. Could he help? On an impulse he did not understand, and certainly had not had time to think out, he made her the following offer. He would donate the total income of the laundry for one day to the drive. Every penny would go for the drive if she would get members of her husband''s congregation to bring in laundry to do on that day. After he thought it over, he worried that maybe he had been too generous, but it was too late to back out now. They agreed on a Wednesday, just a few weeks away, as the day for the drive. He knew Wednesday was slow, and thought he wouldn''t lose all that much except for the utilities. Besides, he was paying the rent anyway. When that Wednesday rolled around, the laundry was inundated with people. It wasn''t all that big of a church, but it was the right income group for using coin laundries. The members also brought some of the friends they''d met in other laundries. It turned out to be the biggest day that small laundry had ever had. He was proud to write a check for several hundred dollars for the drive. The congregation was thrilled and grateful for the help. It took him several weeks to recognize that many of the people that came to his laundry that Wednesday were still coming in. They had discovered his laundry, liked it and were becoming regular customers. Not all of them were from the church that had participated in the Wednesday wash day. Those new regulars who were members of that church appreciated that the owner was such a kind man. The laundry was mentioned in their church bulletin and they had told the local newspaper all about it, too. The laundry''s weekly cash flow began to ratchet upward and in a fairly short time was exceeding even the income the previous owner had reported when he sold the laundry. Over all it grew to be more than 20% ahead of the washer and dryer income it had been doing. Isn''t it written somewhere that if you cast your bread upon the waters it will be returned to you many fold? Another laundry operator read in the local paper that a church in his area was holding a drive to collect clothing to distribute to the less fortunate in the town. He thought of a way to help them while helping himself. He phoned that church and asked to speak to the pastor. On the phone he made an offer that he would allow all of the clothes collected to be washed for free. All they had to do was provide the labor and pay for the dryers used. His reasoning was the coins from the dryers offered enough profit to cover his costs for the water and hot water needed for the wash. He''d at least break even and felt the publicity would do the laundry good. Tuesdays were the slow business days of the week, so that was the day the owner offered to do the collected clothing. The church collected tons of clothing and brought in ten volunteers to do it. They began in the early evening and finished around eleven that night. The owner provided coffee and rolls for the workers. Overall it was a great success. Publicity included having the local radio station come to the laundry and make a report from the scene. One paper sent a reporter and wrote a great article. The owner can not be sure how much good the publicity did, but he''s told everyone that he''d agree to do it again. If they ask.