Wash with Wally: Bidding on Commercial Accounts

By Wally Makowsky | Jun 30, 2010

I’m trying to figure out the pricing structure in order for me to put in a bid on doing the laundry for a new hotel that will be opening near my store. Of course, I want to be competitive, but I want to make money, too. Is there a way to figure what it costs per pound to do sheets, towels, bedspreads, shower curtains and so on?

First of all, you have find out what materials these items are made from – then you can decided what has to be pressed, what doesn’t have to be pressed, what has to be mangled, etc. So, you have to do a little bit of homework in the beginning to come to an actual cost per pound.

Your cost and, in turn, your subsequent pricing will strongly depend upon how much pressing and ironing is required, as well as how much and what type of packaging is expected by the client. These are some of the basic questions you’ll have to get answered before you can fully develop a legitimate pricing structure to submit with your bid for this hotel account.

However, in general, the cost on laundering items of this nature is anywhere between 9 cents and 13 cents per pound.

One of my competitors recently installed a 125-pound washer. Is there a demand for this size washer? Will customers use it? Let me know.

As of now, it’s a little too early to really judge if it makes financial sense to buy one or two such machines. However, the trend is leaning in this direction.

Years ago, the 25-pound washer was considered “large,” and now coin laundry customers regularly use 80-pound washers. Also, 40-pound dryers are much more popular today than 30-pounders were just a few years back.

In my opinion, coin laundries need to offer something that the customer can’t get at home or at their apartment building laundry. After all, those are your real competitors – not other coin laundries.

Given that, the industry trend is definitely pointing toward the larger equipment and implementing more economical ways of doing laundry.

Last year, I finally got rid of my old single-pocket dryers and purchased some new stack units for my store. But now I’m having a lot of problems with these dryers, such as shutting down mid-cycle, overheating and under-heating. What’s wrong with them?

The distributor that installed your dryers probably didn’t change your ductwork to accommodate the additional units. If that’s the case, you now have twice as many dryers venting through the same ductwork, which creates backup on your exhaust and, in turn, creates all of the problems you have described.

If you want your dryers to work properly, read the manufacturer’s specifications regarding ventilation and follow them to the letter.

I’m considering offering drop-off drycleaning at my laundry. How do I choose a drycleaner with which to partner?

First of all, you should try to locate a drycleaner that is located relatively close to your store, which will make pickups and deliveries quicker and easier.

Second, you need to find out the drycleaner’s policy on lost or damaged items. If he’s not willing to accept the liability of losing or ruining a garment, I wouldn’t even consider partnering with him. Find someone who will guarantee his work – as well as his pickup and delivery dates.

As far as the quality is concerned, it only stands to reason that the cleaners that do a better business generally have the better quality. So, investigate the individual drycleaning businesses you are considering to see how much volume they’re actually doing, along with how many other drop-off accounts they have.

In most cases, you can’t truly gauge a drycleaner’s quality until you’ve had some experience using him – so the key factor initially is the cleaner’s policy on lost, stolen or damages garments. There needs to be some type of guarantee on his workmanship.