Roof Repairs Can Be A Surprise Expense To a Laundromat Owner

Jena Jo needs to pay better attention

My friend Jena Jo loves to travel.  During a recent meeting in a Starbucks, she told me about her trip to Africa. She brought along a truly scary picture and an equally scary story.  She was on tourist tour in a river boat and was not paying particular attention to the guide.

She missed the part about how soon they were going to dangle a chicken on a string and a crocodile would come out of the water and snatch the chicken carcass off the pole.  She should have paid attention to the length of the pole and how close to the edge of the boat the chicken was going to lure the creature in.

Having seen a number of the alligator shows in Florida, Jena Jo was unprepared for the sudden appearance of a super huge crocodile just inches from her face.  She thought she was an experienced outdoors woman, skilled world traveler and had been on many adventures.  This experience scared her to her bones.  She had even thought of leaning down a few moments earlier to dangle her hand in the cool river water.

It made me think of how many buyers of Laundromats think they know about how to buy a business and then all of a sudden out of the depths of realty comes a really scary moment.  The one that comes to my mind at this moment for me is the failure of most buyers to inspect the roofs of their Laundromats before a purchase.

The roof inspection should be done as a part of your due diligence.   A visual inspection by a walk on the roof by the buyer is the norm.  Detailed inspections are done after an offer is made and your approval of the roof condition is included as a contingency of your purchase. 

Staining of ceiling tiles is not uncommon.  There are usually no AC units on Laundromts.  Swamp coolers are used in Laundromats in southern California.  The water used in the swamp cooler process can drip over time onto the tiles surrounding the interior vents. Look for interior stains and shrinkage of the sealant around the swamp coolers.

Interior roof stains can be removed by using a 50%-50% mixture of liquid bleach and water.  Spray lightly on these stains and they disappear. Sometimes a second or third treatment is needed.  Wear old clothes, and a mask so you don't breathe in the bleach.  If the stain is too deep, the ceiling tiles will have to replaced.

The swamp cooler unit should be inspected every year to insure that it is functioning properly and is clean.  The water portion of the cooler is similar to a toilet, with a float.  The remaining portion of the cooler is composed of a box, screens and a motor driven fan.  If the units are made out of metal they can eventually rust out (the water is held in a pan and pumped to the screens) but it is unlikely that they are rusted and as I remember we used fiberglass units.

All Laundromats have roof leaks because of the high number of roof penetrations and the high summer temperature in southern California.  The sealing around the vents (caused in part by the motion caused by the force of dryer air) can shrink and cause cracks that allow in water.  During your yearly roof, swamp cooler and vent inspection, I suggest you take a putty knife and some Henry's sealant with you to smear around any cracks that are developing.  This should be done prior to the rainy season.

Avoid the surprise of a huge repair bill by inspecting your roof prior to purchase and keep up the inspections on a yearly basis.  This is one monster you can avoid if you are paying attention.  Are you paying attention?

                                     -The Latina Laundromat Advisor

Teach Your Customers To Do Their Laundry - Create A Positive Store Personality

My friend Jena just turned twenty-three and I took her and another friend Emily to a restaurant to celebrate her birthday. The world considers Jena to be an adult, but in many ways she still has the mind of a teenager. I snapped this picture of her “taking a bite” out of a paper hamburger.

23 years old and all grown up - really? - she still has things to learn.

Although Jena is smart, talented, and even employed in the midst of this depression, I realize from my mature position as a true adult – since I am five years older – that Jena doesn’t know everything there is to know.

Our friend Emily was with us at the lunch with her beautiful baby Yvette.  Emily is twenty-four years old, and has the responsibility of raising a husband – opps, I mean – baby, and still is learning a lot of  “grown up” things, including doing your laundry properly.  The phrase "babies raising babies" jumps into my mind.

During our lunch discussion, Emily asked me a question about washing her new blue jeans.  She was worried they would bleed and ruin her other clothes.  Everyone thinks I know everything about laundry, because I work for a Laundromat distributor and am therefore "in the business."

Yvette may think mommy knows everything, but . . .    

After helping her with her question, I realized that many young women really don’t know very much about doing their laundry.  Laundry is something everyone has to do.  We may have paper hamburgers, but we live in a world that doesn't use throwaway paper clothing, so it’s a job every woman will have to learn to do well.

I also thought, I bet most Laundromat owners could benefit from knowing that all of their customers don't know as much about washing clothers as one might think.  Putting in place a program of teaching customers how to do laundry would be a great benefit.  Laundromat owners could use cute signs, a brochure, or use your attendants to share a little knowledge with your customers.

Here are the items I think you should concentrate on teaching customers about washing their clothes in your Laundromat:

1)  Teach customers that washing is a family affair.  Use your husband or boyfriend to pre-sort the clothes at home.  The children can also help and put the items into pillow cases or laundry bags.  No matter how young, the children of the family can help with the laundry and it can become a time to bond and share work together.

     My favorite

2)  Teach customer about the washing chemicals.  Every customer uses a variety of laundry aids to get their clothes clean.  Review and explain soaps, detergents, fabric softeners, dryer sheets – and especially bleaches, dry and liquid – so your customers know what the chemicals are supposed to do and how much should be used in each washer load.  Explain the newer lower suds soaps for use in front load washers.

3)  Teach customers to pre-treat their clothes.  Your customers will return more often if their clothes come out cleaner in your Laundromat.  Keep some pre-wash stain treatment in the backroom and offer it for use for free to your customers.  It comes in stick, spray, or liquid.  Your attendants should also have the treatment available, and the knowledge to be able to offer advice on how to use the product.  Tell your customers that pre-treatment works best if it is put on the clothes immediately after the clothes are taken off and the stain is discovered.   If you teach your customers to form this as a habit, you’ll have a bunch of customers with stain-free clothes and a great reputation in the neighborhood.  My favorite - and the one I use - is Soilove.  It's available at most 99 cent stores.  Inexpensive and it works great.

4)  Teach customers to separate their colors.  Sorting clothes is something a lot of young people don’t understand.  Whites should go into one pile that can be treated with liquid (chlorine) bleach and washed in hot water.  Colors into another pile and a washed with regular detergents and powdered bleaches (or color enhancers) and washed in warm water.  Reds should probably be washed in their own load in cold water to keep the colors bright and reduce the loss of dye.  Same thing with jeans, which can bleed the first few times they are washed, and will stain other clothing.  Treating the first time you wash with vinegar with se the dye into the fabric and it won’t bleed.

        I can see the wrinkles setting in

5)  Teach customer to fold their clothes correctly.  Sounds simple, but most people do not fold their clothes correctly.  It should be folded as soon as it comes out of the dryer.  Wrinkles can set in quickly – especially the permapress and synthetic fibers – so you need to fold them before they cool and set in the wrinkles.  Most people don’t have a routine for folding.  Certain items can be folded cold, such as towels, underwear, shirts, and socks.  Shirts and dresses should be put on hangers first.

These five tips should help your customers get a better experience in your Laundromat.  Some people will be offended is your suggest helping them – but that’s OK – others will be very grateful and appreciate the advice.  You are creating the personality of your Laundromat, and a good personality results in more and happier customers.

Going back to my birthday lunch meal with Jena, Emily and little Yvette, I just want you to see the shoes that Emily was wearing.  She may not know that much about doing her laundry, but she is an expert in picking out beautiful shoes.  :)

                                    -The Latina Laundromat Advisor

Make Money Owning A Laundromat Or Coin Laundry

My girlfriend Clarisa (who I think has the best smile in the world!) were talking business things while we were having our nails done. (She had her toenails done too. . . )   Of course, we had finished talking about our families and the men in our lives, so we decided to prove that being a girl and a latina didn't mean we we couldn't discuss serious things.  I work for a Laundromat distributor, so I picked them to talk about and this is what we came up with.  Laundromats, quite simply, offer a place for patrons to do their wash. A few washers, a few driers, a folding table or two and you're set, right? Not really. To run a profitable laundromat, there are several factors to consider, such as location, energy efficiency, the quality of equipment used, vending, services offered and more.  

On the plus side of the business, coin laundries are fairly recession-proof enterprises. No matter what the stock market does, how high unemployment rises or how rocky the economy gets, people will still need to wash and dry their clothes.

Clarisa wants a Laundromat

It's also a business which requires very few employees to run, which cuts down on expenses. On the flip side, however, according to the Coin Laundry Association, the cost of running a laundromat ranges from 65% to 115% of the money coming in. So choosing your location, equipment and services offered carefully is important for turning a good profit.

One of the most important aspects of the laundromat business is location. Patrons who use them tend to be young and single or young families often apartment dwellers or college students without decent laundry facilities at home.

Since most people look for a spot close to home to do their weekly or bi-weekly wash, choosing a location near several apartment complexes or a university is a good idea. The location should also offer ample parking for the convenience of the patrons.

The quality and energy efficiency of the laundry equipment you choose is also an important part of the business. People soon learn which facilities keep their equipment in good working order and which ones don't.

Many newer commercial washing machines and driers offer heightened energy efficiency over older models as well, keeping your patrons happy and your energy costs low. These machines also offer various payment options, such as coin or reusable payment card operation.

If you want to take on extra staff, full-service laundry and folding services are also a great way to attract extra business. For an extra fee, busy patrons can just drop off their laundry and pick it up later.  One important thing to remember, no matter what your business plan, is that the laundromat business is much like the restaurant business. People are not merely washing their clothes; they're spending a lot of time there on a regular basis. If you make the experience pleasant, they'll return. If not, they'll go elsewhere, just like with a bar, restaurant or cafe.

A well run laundromat can be a great business venture to get into. It offers steady income, loyal clientele and very little staff to run.  In the spirit of honesty, Clarisa and I only spent about ten minutes on the subject (maybe a little less) but we talk fast and had lots of other important things to talk about, especially the sales on clothes at. . .  :)

                         -The Latina Laundromat Advisor