Home-Based Laundry Service

You will find there's WAH business that many people aren't aware of that requires no special skills, very little start up money, and all you need to operate it can be found in your laundry room. Not sure what I'm talking about? Here's a hint: you already practice it and probably have been for years now. I'm talking about a wash and fold service.

Laundry. It is considered one of life's most dreaded chores but for you it can be an extra $100 to $300 a week.

Many SAHPs buying WAH job or business probably don't think of a wash and fold service as an option. It surely wasn't something I thought of initially when I was looking for something to do from home. But after trying out a few various things and being disappointed with each outcome, the idea of a running home-based wash and fold service was created. It took some work, a few trials and errors, but now I clean clothes once a week and even gross $1, 100 a month. Not bad for just cleaning clothes.

I'm going to share with you how I began my home-based routine laundry service and give you great tips that would have saved me a lot of time. I'll include a step-by-step guide and ideas for marketing. Starting a home laundry service is a great way to make extra money without having to sacrifice a lot of the effort!

Step-by-Step Guide

1 . ) Take care of the legal stuff. You'll need to check with your state on potential licensing not to mention registration requirements. There will be a sales tax you'll need to pay on a frequent basis; it is imperative that you know precisely what the sales tax is in the county you will be operating in.

You'll also need to establish how you will be arranged; Sole Proprietor, LLC, S Corp.

2 . ) Open a business checking account. I strongly recommend keeping your wash business and personal transactions separate. Although not necessary, it is easier come tax time to report your earnings and also expenses if they are not comingled with your personal finances.

3. ) Set up your record-keeping. You will need to keep track of several things which include; Laundry Clients, Payments Received, Expenses, and Mileage. This does not mean you need to go out and purchase fancy finance software; Google Spreadsheet does a fine job of keeping track of everything and the price is right; free!

several. ) How will you be paid? Determine your payment terms. Will your clients pay you before offerings are performed or after? Will you accept cash only or check as well? These are policies you'll need to ascertain prior to taking on clients. Almost all of my clients prefer to pay via credit card. PayPal is an easy to use credit card model with a reasonable fee (3% of transactions) that you can set up in a matter of minutes.

You'll also need to determine how much you certainly will charge your clients. The two most common methods I've observed are either by the pound or by the container size. If you choose to charge by the pound you'll need to purchase a hanging scale (Amazon carries them for $10) plus determine your rate ($1 - $1. 50/lbs is the average). If you choose to use bags you'll need to determine that dimensions and material desired for you bags and then find a vendor within your budget. I use a nylon bag that's 22" X 28" and holds approximately two loads of clothing. You can anticipate bags to cost you $2 - $4/bag.

5. ) Make a website. Some may argue that this step is not necessary but I might have to completely disagree. You do not have a brick and mortar store like the laundromats so your website, in a sense, is your store. You might want a way for clients to find you and get information about your services. You will accomplish this through a website. WordPress can be a free web design site that is very user-friendly. You can easily create a website and find a web host from their "Hosting" department. I initially used GoDaddy for my website, and then later hired an independent contractor to create what is today laundrycare. biz.

6. ) Market your services. There are several online and offline ways to market your assistance, I'll begin with online marketing.

When it comes to creating your online presence you're going to have two options; free marketing and payed off marketing. I use a combination of both to promote my wash and fold service. Free marketing would include showing yourself on free directories such as Google Places and Yahoo! Local. Craigslist is another great origin to advertise your laundry service for free. Paid marketing are the sponsored ads you see on a search engine results pages; the superior dogs are Google Adwords, Yahoo! Search, Microsoft Advertising and Facebook Ads. There are MANY more free as well as paid online marketers but this is a good starting point.

Social media marketing is an imperative piece to your marketing efforts. Facebook, Youtube, Google+, LinkedIn are just some of the available media sites. You don't need (and won't have the time) to create multiple balances, a Facebook Page is sufficient to begin. To get clients to "Like" your Facebook page you could offer a bonus such as money off their first order.

Online marketing requires only time and a computer; for offline internet marketing you're going to have to roll up your sleeves and do some real leg/mouth work. First thing you'll need to do is usually create an attention-getting flyer. Flyers are a cheap way to promote your business and if there's a local college campus you can expose yourself to hundreds of potential clients every day. Make sure your flyer has an attention-getting headline and print the idea on vibrant colored paper. Include pull off tabs at the bottom of your flyer containing your business name, phone number, inbox and web address if you have one. Business cards are another marketing tool you'll need for those times when you are conversing with a potential client. You can get 250 business cards printed free through Vista (with $5 shipping).

Generate a list of local companies that could use your service (Spas, doctor offices, daycares, restaurants) and contact these either by phone or in person. I know, I know, everyone loves selling; this does not have be a pushy sales pitch nevertheless. A quick introduction about yourself and your laundry service, coupled with how your service can benefit their company is all you need to do. Here's a little insider information that I've used to win over business clients; you are less pricey than big, commercial cleaners & you don't require lengthy contracts. Most large commercial cleaners require at the least a year's contract and will charge for multiple items such as fuel, processing, rental of towels/uniforms. Recognizing this information can give you something attractive to offer potential business clients.

Lastly you'll need to talk about your business as often and often. Networking is a very powerful tool. You never know when you'll run into someone who just happens to help need your service or knows someone that does.