Commercial accounts

[daniabeach]

One simple question, I have had my laundry since January of this year. I have been making money, not as much as I wish, but things are holding up. I've been dying to get some commercial account like motels and restaurants. But I havent had any luck, would anyone be able to offer some advise on how i would go about picking up new business. Like how much a lbs. would I charge them the same as a regular w/d/f customer, what should I do differently. I would really appreciate all the help I can get. I now charge .70lbs for w/d/f. Oh yeah another thing, should I require contracts required for commercial account?

Senseless in Dania beach

[JSVLaundry]

I am in the same boat, well almost.

I have bought my laundry in April. Some of my ideas that I will be offering to try attract commercial customers are:

- Starting the laundry at $1.00 cheaper for the same weight then I charge for regular customers. But I will also double the minimum weight from 8 lbs. to 15 lbs. and keep the prices the same to start per lb.
If they like my service, the $1.00 will be made up in no time.

- I will be setting up mailers to go out with a coupon for the stores getting $5.00 off their fist W/D& F. This flyer will be going out every two (2) weeks. Most store owners won't react to just one mailing. You have to be a little bit of a pain in the butt here.
To try to get them in.

- I will be offering scheduled pick-up & delivery for an additional charge, about $.10 per lb.

- I will be setting up separate washers & dryers at the rear of the store for commercial accounts so that the attendants don't have to wait for the customers in the front.

Hope this helps for a start for your new venture.

Vinny

[ndennis]

If you are going to get into light commercial and industrail you must understand one thing. You cannot get good results using standard toploaders, frontloaders and the standard water temp from you water heater. You need to look at a multi processor washer that allows you to get HOT water. You sometimes need water that is up to 190 degrees. You will need hot water for the chemicals to work properly. As a rule of thumb the hotter the water the better the chemicals will work and the better the quality of your work. Also the hotter the water the more expansion in the fabric and the greater the amount of dirt that can be removed.

We have been doig light commercial and industrial work for 16 years.

Yep we used tops and fronts in the coin-op for a while. We were getting complaints so I rang a chemical company explained my problem. They were very good. They sent out an "expert" and he explained what equipment I needed the chemicals I needed and we have not looked back since. We very rarely get anycomplaints. We bought a Wascomat wet cleaning machine, an RMC dryer (residual moisture control) and we now have a 9' roller iron (mangle). You can buy the equipment as you need it. The wetcleaning washer is most important if you want good results.

We do a lot of table linen and some of the linen is so mouldy that the customers tell me throw it out. There is very little linen that I cannot make usable again.

Pricing is up to you. DO NOT ACCEPT A JOB JUST TO GET CASH FLOW. I would rather say no to a job that is break even than do the job for nothing.

Pricing . We try and charge per piece with a minimum charge. If you do pickup and delivery CHARGE for it. It is your time and you vehicle that is doing the pickup It is much easier than by the #. You will also need to make allowances for the work that will go on account. I carry uo to 2 months of account work at any given time.
I have MYOB to control my accounts.

All the best. Commercial work can be very lucrative. You can increase your prices at the end of the year by the CPI and you get very complaints from the customer. Put your coin-op prices up and you get an earfull very quickly.

If you need any more info please ask. You can see my factory set-up at www.dvlaundry.com.au.

[Scott9876]

Can anyone tell me about high-temp washes for commercial accouts, such as hospitals and restaurants? I think Natco water heaters only go up to 160F and it would take direct injection of steam to get it up to 190. I know that wasco makes washers that accept steam as a heating medium. Do you use a steam generator? Anyone with any knowledge, commets are appreciated.

[galaga]

If you really want hot water,add a small tankless water heater or any small water heater for just 2,3 machines will be the way to go.It will cost you extra to install it but you don't want to have super hot water for the whole store,the gas bill will kill you.
You can use boiler's steam for hot water,need a little adapter,drycleaner has been using it for years but it is expensive way to go.
Almost every hotal,motal have laundry room,I used to service a few motal's laundry machines.