A COMPREHENSIVE

GUIDE TO START A
LAUNDRY AND DRY
CLEANING
BUSINESS.

A GUIDE E-BOOK BY

Quick Dry Cleaning Software

 ABSTRACT

A comprehensive guide to starting a Laundry and Dry Cleaning

business e-book is written by Quick Dry Cleaning Software Team.
Quick Dry Cleaning Software (QDC) is a Cloud-based Software
based out of India having clients in 57+ countries and 1000+
locations, # 1 customer-centric software for Dry Cleaners,
Laundries & Laundromats and working to provide automation to
every Dry cleaner and Launderer in the world and help them
increase their revenue.

This e-book will give you a brief idea for Entering into a Laundry
and Dry Cleaning business. We have taken care of all the minute
details and Step by step process that must be required.
 INTRODUCTION

The Laundry & Dry cleaning industry is still

largely an unorganized sector. One way of
interpreting this is that there is a huge scope
for next level, automations and process
driven. One of the top reasons for this
industry to be an attraction is because it
doesn’t require any prior experience. Also,
with the right planning and strategies, it’s
fairly easy to earn 20% ROI in the first six
months and achieve break-even within a year.

With changing times and needs, consumers

becoming more tech-savvy. It’s difficult not to
acknowledge the power of technology and the
ease and comfort it brings. As a marketer,
working alongside so many laundry and dry
cleaning businesses facing challenges at
different stages, some significant challenges
stem from improper setup of processes. Now,
if you were to set up a business all on your
own, you would have fallen into this trap too.
However, QDC Software is here to save the
day.

The turning point of any new laundry & dry

cleaning business lies in its process setup and
business plan. Once you plan to dive into the
market it's only an upward ride, provided you
religiously follow our step-by-step guide to
avoid making mistakes and facing the
repercussions.
So, Let’s go >>
CHAPTER 1

FIND YOUR
NICHE
It is the first step to success, as it addresses a gap in
the market or caters to specific needs of the
consumers and gives you a clear idea of what to do.
The laundry and Dry cleaning business has a lot of
segments. So, you need to decide which to operate and
best suited for you. These segments are:-

Retail Laundry and Dry Cleaning

Commercial Laundry
Hospital Laundry
Hotel Laundry
Multi-Housing
Campus Laundry
Laundromat

Now, how to decide which segment is good to go:-

So, you need to Explore your passions and skills-

only after that you can craft a business idea, and it
will motivate and push you constantly to achieve more.
When you put all your effort into a niche idea that you
feel strongly about, you instantly hike your chance of
making profits.

Calculate profitability in your chosen segment-

Study the types of costs attached to that segment,
this will help you understand if it is a viable business.
Identify the profit patterns and take the necessary
steps to ensure your success.
Well, Each of the above-mentioned segments has its
territory that they add aside from Retail Laundry and
Dry cleaning. This is often the sole segment that has
the most scope for enlargement and growth and the
highest profit growth. This segment is flexible and
might simply be divided to extra reach dead set
alternative segments too.

Hence, as a startup, Laundry business and Dry Cleaning

is the easiest, high revenue generation, and one of
the largest segment of the industry.
 CHAPTER 2

RESEARCH YOUR
MARKET
It is a process by which you will gather, analyze and
interpret the information about the market. It takes
into account geographic, demographic, and
psychographic data about past, current, and potential
customers, as well as competitive analysis. It is
responsible to answer all of the questions given below:

What would be the location of the store?

When it comes to the topic of choosing a good location

for business, it’s like a do-or-die affair for every
business owners. Location is the most important
decision you make concerning a Laundry and dry
cleaning business.

"One of the most common sayings in business is that

success comes from location, location, location."

Here are some choices you need to consider to choosing

a business location;-

The location of your customers

Consider the competition
supply of labor
The size of premises
the issue of safety
personal convenience.
 Would you be going for the rent/lease model
or purchase model for the machinery?

The rent/lease model can considerably cut down your

upfront investing cost. However, purchasing machinery
offers ease of expansion in the future. Alternatively,
you can opt for outsourcing your garments, completely
avoiding the investment in machinery.

What are the sewage arrangements and

expenses for the same?

What additional services do you plan to offer

to your customers to increase your USP?

Some of the examples of additional services that work

well with the laundry and dry cleaning business are
Ironing, shoe repair, cleaning and alteration.

How do you plan to target your customers?

Targeting your customers doesn’t need to wait till
the physical presence of your business. Ideally, you
should start investing your time and money into
marketing your business right from the finalization of
your business plan. This strategy has proven to bring
great success to a lot of businesses.

T h e t oWp h3a tr ewaosuol nd s bfeo rt hs eu pl po oc ratti ni og nt ho ifs ts ht rea st te og ry e. ?

Firstly, marketing your business in the initial

phase of your setup gives you insight into your
target customers. Your customer's preferences
about the services they would like, what kind of
communication they like to be informed about your
offerings, and are you going to face any
competition to acquire new customers.

Secondly, you create visibility about your

business. Who wouldn’t like to have a queue of
customers on the first day of the opening of the
shop? But we all know, it won’t happen on its own.

Thirdly, all this information can help you set a

benchmark for your business. You can work from
day 1 to scale and grow your business in the right
direction.
 What is the competition in the target location?

One of the most crucial standpoints for your business

plan will be the competition in your location. Although
this industry doesn’t have a ton of big players, that
doesn’t mean that it would never have. A smart business
always thinks ahead of its time to accommodate the
fast-changing world where it’s the fittest that survives.

Doing a SWOT analysis of your business will better help

in determining your capabilities, highs, and weaknesses.
It helps in differentiating your business from your
competitors.
 CHAPTER 3

DEFINE YOUR
REQUIREMENTS
This is the step where your visualization of the business would
come in handy.

At this point, you need to define how much investment is

going to be done for the store, your plant, and your
machinery Like: -

What kind of infrastructure or look of your

store should have?

With a good store front or any other specific detail.

The internal infrastructure of the Shop or Store should
be eye-catching and attractive. The More catchy it will
look the more it will catch the customers attention. The
store or Shop should display all the things like how the
garments are placed and how neatly and cleanly you
are handling the business. Messy stuff irritates
customer, they need things to be organized neat and
clean.

Similarly, if we talk about the front look of a store then

Face is the index of mind similarly the front of any
shop/store is the index of your Dry cleaning or
laundry business. The front of the store will help you
to making long lasting impression of your brand and
attract new customers.
 Predefining resources like raw materials and
machinery

Raw Material includes Chemicals, Packing material,

barcode/QR code tag printing material, etc. You must
know which chemicals will be used, Which material you
will use, and what kind of material you should use for
barcode/QR code tag printing. Once you decide which
material to use you should find the place from where
to buy this raw material and chemicals at the best
prices that should be easy on your pocketbooks.

Machinery setup is a one-time and predefined task.

One should take care of these machinery aspects as
changing machinery, again and again, is a challenging
task. Technology also plays an important role in
deciding which machinery to be used. You also need to
finalize the technology that you will use and deliver
to customers with all pros and cons of that
technology after that survey about that technology
and gather feedback.

Once you are confirmed with the machine/technology

you should consult existing businessmen and survey
yourself on where to buy that. Some aspects that
matter while Inviting a proposal and deciding after
comparing the offerings in terms of features and
pricing, how good is their support system, do they
have local support, etc.
 Staff Requirement

One of the most important investments that are often

overlooked is the hiring of the staff. Your staff is as
great an asset as your machinery and software.
Investing in quality staff is highly recommended as they
will be the face of your business and will be interacting
with your customers on an daily basis leaving a hard-
to-miss impression.

Hence, you need to make sure that impression is exactly

what you want your customers to have of you. Your
brand Business needs different personnel for different
purposes. For any basic setup, you need at least 1-2
washers, 2 pressmen, front desk personnel, and a
manager for your business.

The question that comes under this is how many

services you are giving to the customers? Like if you
are providing a pickup and drop facility so you must
have 1 person for the pickup and drop facility at the
same time you also need 1 person to be at the counter
to attend to the customers and checking garments. The
personnel requirements depend upon how many services
you are providing to the customers.
 Solvents, Suppliers, and Procurement Channels

You need to finalize your pick of the solvents, suppliers,

and procurement channels and their costs. Depending
on your plan for the plant/workshop you also need to
add on the cost of the vehicles to transfer the
garments between store and the workshop that you
would be using for the transportation. If your business
model includes home pickup and drop then you also need
to consider the cost commute from pickup and drop

Subsequently, additional costs need to be considered

for the software and the hardware(for eg., pressman
table, desk setup, CCTV set up, water coolers, internet
connection, printers, computers, etc.)
 CHAPTER 4

LEGAL
REQUIREMENTS
Each country has its list of requirements and permits to
be cleared before starting any business. For any
specific country, you can contact your local chamber of
commerce to understand the legal documentation,
registration, and license to be taken before you go
ahead with your laundry and dry cleaning business
setup.

Certifications are becoming trademarks nowadays.

Customers get attracted when they see any
certification So it will help you in bringing you
customers. Apart from certification legal documents
like clearance from the local government body is
required.
CHAPTER 5

LAYOUT YOUR
PLAN
Now that you have come so far in the game, your wait
is finally over. The step that you have been waiting for
since you download this e-book is finally here. With all
the knowledge that you have gathered so far, it's time
now to put that into action.

But before you throw yourself into this bowl of fire,

sort out your plan and make a checklist of executions
to be done. It saves you from the anxiety and stress.
On the other hand, not prioritizing your tasks might
throw you into a cycle where nothing might get done.

You need to make a layout for the following things:-

FINANCES

All businesses are different, whether it is size, sector,

location, or specialty – there is always an element
that sets one apart from the other. But there is one
thing that is common to every business in every
country and sector around the world – "finance".

It determines the income coming in and the

expenditure going out, inputs and outputs, the size of
an organization, and more importantly if it will be
viable, successful and sustainable.
It forms the basis of effective business management
and will ultimately affect the bottom line.

Often the hardest part of starting a business is raising

the money to get going. The entrepreneur might have a
great idea and a clear plan of how to turn it into a
successful business. However, if sufficient finance can't
be raised, it is unlikely that the business will get off the
ground. Raising finance for a start-up requires careful
planning. The owner needs to decide:

How much finance is required?

When and how long is the finance needed?
What security (if any) can be provided?
Whether the owner prepared to give up some control
(ownership/ equity) of the start-up in return for the
investment?

SHOP INTERIOR AND DESIGN

Shop interior and design help your brand to make a long

lasting impression. It influence/attract customers and
contribute to its corporate values.
 PROCESS

Your process workflow attracts the customer and

market. How you are managing the pick-up and drop
facility, your way of handling the customer, and your
way of managing clothes leave a huge impact on the
customer's mind. How do you communicate with your
customers like sending promotional messages (SMS, E-
mail, WhatsApp, in app notifications ) and
garment/order-related messages (SMS, E-mail,
WhatsApp, in app notifications ) at various stages?
CHAPTER 6

MARKET YOUR
LAUNCH
Being a witness to success in the making is a rewarding
experience in itself. Now that you have got everything
done, you need an audience to appreciate it and a
customer base to make your business a success. This is
where the dots would join.

The hard work and pain that you put into marketing
your business even before getting it on its feet, it’s
time to reap its benefits. Invite your customers to the
launch of your store opening. Establish your presence,
lure in your customers with offers, and a great service
to remember.

You need to think about how you can make bigger,

better and scalable laundry business branding.
Branding is one of the most important aspects of any
business, large or small. An effective brand strategy
gives you a major edge in increasingly competitive
markets. But what exactly does "branding" mean? How
does it affect a business like yours?

Simply put, your brand is your promise to your

customer. It tells them what they can expect from your
products and services, and it differentiates your
offering from your competitors. Your brand is derived
from who you are, who you want to be, and what
people perceive you to be.

The foundation of your brand is your logo and your

brand name. Your website, packaging, and promotional
materials. Some Important things to make your
business a brand include or need to consider are:
 INVOICE DESIGN

The invoice must include an appropriate business logo,

brand name, GST/Tax number and an elegant tagline to
make your business meaningful. Write a memorable,
meaningful, and concise statement that captures the
essence of your brand.

PACKAGING MATERIAL

Effective packaging can sell a brand at its point of

sale. It’s a powerful visual design element that should
be very neat and nice with the logo and brand name on
it. This will influence people, make good brand image
and will put long lasting impact on the customer. It is
the final touch point and It plays an important role in
your product’s sale ability and contributes to the
marketability of your offering.
 UNIFORMS

Laundry and dry cleaning business is neighborhood

business and your staff will going to interact on daily
basis with the existing and potential customers and it
will reinforce your brand. Even when they are traveling
to and from work and out to lunch amongst the general
public it’s an opportunity for your brand to gain
additional exposure. It’s like having your mobile
advertisement.

Color branded uniforms have a positive effect in three

very different ways:

Staff benefits : Through an increased sense of

pride, sharing a sense of camaraderie and equality

Company benefits : Through increased brand

recognition and a professional-looking team

Customer benefits : By easily identifying staff and

building a sense of trust.
 Various Communication Channel

SMS, E-Mail, WhatsApp or in-app notifications can be

sent at the time of booking and delivery of garments to
the customer. Maintaining customer communication
helps you build a relationship with your customer. In an
unorganized Laundry business, customer interaction is a
bare minimum. So, it will help the customer to save his
time as well as it will help you to make an impression in
front of customers.

QDC Software helps you open up channels of customer

interaction and communicate things like confirmation of
delivery, Order status, and the amount paid for the
order. Communication can be done through email, SMS,
WhatsApp and mobile app notification, making it very
efficient and effective.
CHAPTER 7

ANALYZE &
IMPROVISE
At this particular point, your real game starts where
you need to constantly monitor your business and keep
improvising it to the needs of the market and
customers. You need to monitor each aspect of the
business, analyze it and improvise your business
consistently with the time.

Some of the points you need to take care of for your

new Laundry Business are: -

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

Managing accounts on a day-to-day basis is an

important task as it helps to get information about
daily basis receiving and expenditure. Maintaining
records will help us to know the total profit you are
earning or do you need to change anything if not
getting the expected results. It also helps in security
basis owners will get to know that accounting is going
well and with no employee pilferage.

Effective account management of daily cash balances,

orders, cash, sales, income, and expenses. Account
books give you a glimpse of how business is growing,
these are important numbers to judge business health.
Also, you should take care of taxation as per
government rules and regulations.
 CUSTOMER RETENTION

Every business owner knows how crucial it is to drive

repeat business and keep customers coming back.
Delivering a superior product or service and providing
excellent Customer support is a mandatory criterion –
but what else can be done to differentiate your
business?

Quality and convenience-If you are providing quality

services and also providing convenience to customers,
they don’t have any reason to look for another option.

Offering promos or discounts-A promotion or special

offer is a great incentive for a first-time customer to
return to your store, whether it’s online or a brick and
mortar location. It also shows that you care about your
customers. Building a loyal client base requires you to
provide these special deals occasionally.

Takedown detailed customer notes-the small things

mean the most in a small business.
Remembering small details about a customer – their product
preferences, for example: - Starch, no starch, on hanger
etc. This way you can go a long way in fortifying your
relationship with them. They will appreciate you taking the
time to recall specific details about their last order,
considering the many other customers you are handling
constantly.

Advantages Of Customer Retention-

Retaining customers is 5 times less expensive than

acquiring new ones.

Happy customers are more likely to tell their friends and

family about your business.

Repeat customers spend more money but require less

effort.
 GROWTH STRATEGY

Once you have a good set of customers to sustain your

business, you should strive to drive a growth strategy.
One should know how to gain new customers and how to
get more business from current customers.

Every company has plans to grow their business and

increase profits. However, there are certain methods
businesses must use for implementing a growth
strategy.

The method a business uses to expand its business is

largely contingent upon its financial situation, the
competition, and even government regulation. Some
common growth strategies in business include services
expansion, packages delivery like an advance package,
discount package, and Flat quantity package.
 PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Once you have achieved a working process workflow,

you should start working on improving it, try to fill the
gaps, try to improve, and introduce new ways
(chemicals, machinery automation ) to speed up the
process and save on time and cost.

Automation - It will help you in branding as it will

attract the customers and even help you in maintaining
records with the help of tracking and accounts
managing mechanism. It will save your time and help you
out by speeding up your process.

Improve Fabric Care - Customers entrust their most

sensitive, delicate garments to dry cleaners with the
understanding that they’ll be receiving excellent fabric
care.

Expand Your List of Items that can be laundered.

 INVESTMENT IN TECHNOLOGY

In today’s world, no business can get faster success

without the use of technology. It has the power to
touch every aspect of life. The same goes with the Dry
Cleaning business, you can have the machinery to
process garments, Steam Press to improve pressing
units, and so on. One particular thing is to use good
software(i.e., QDC Software) for the management of
your business.

QDC software can help you improve in every aspect of

business like invoicing, customer retention, growth,
communication, accounting and various tools and
features to boost your revenue by 2x.
 WRAPPING UP FOR
NOW >>

We hope you get a the whole lot idea

to start the Laundry and Dry Cleaning
business. We would be glad to assist
you in your plan at any step of the
way. To make things move more
swiftly, get in touch with our business
expert for a free consultation call.
Call:- +(91)-9015325691
E-mail: ashwini@quickdrycleaning.com
Website: www.quickdrycleaning.com

DISCLAIMER: While care is taken to ensure the

information provided in this document is correct,
there may be inadvertent inaccuracies or
typographical errors or delay in updating the
information. Users are advised to seek
professional advice before acting on the basis
of information contained herein. You can contact
us if you have observed any inconsistencies in
the information. You can reach us here to seek
advice related to the Laundry and Dry Cleaning
Business.(sales@quickdrycleaning.com)
LET'S JOIN AND MAKE
YOUR SUCCESS STORY
WITH QDC!

THANKYOU!