I've been doing a full time laundry business for 14 months up till today. So far the business is quite satisfying with increasing amount of sales and repeated customers and also new customers everyday. I can assume the profit margin is quite ok from average of 48% in the final 10 months of 2008 and 52% for the first three months of 2009. Despite charging a cheap service tags (never increase since opening) and increase in expenses due to extra labours and extra materials ordered, I can still manage to get the increase in the profit margin. There are ups and downs in doing any type of business but it's just a matter of how you manage to counter it such as selling at a loss.

Since there are no thread in this section regarding laundry/dobi service discussion, lets just make this is one as an official discussion thread. Anybody who wants to know more about this business, I'll be here to elaborate more except the exact figure of gross/net income and expenses.....everything counts on percentage.

This post has been edited by am_eniey: Apr 4 2009, 03:18 PM

@ am_eniey,

May I know if you have any experience in this business before you started it? Like working in laundry business or something related to laundry? I know this business has a low start up cost as compared to other business but I'm not sure about it's profitability since i see some laundry shop charging very cheap due to competition. Plus i have no idea how it runs though.

Is your business a franchise or you start up on your own totally. You know all the suppliers well? like machine supplier etc.

Thanks & sorry if i asked too many questions

@zenwell

As a start, any business will turn from bad to worse if the owner does not monitor it full time. I do not know about this business at the beginning. Never work in the business or anywhere near it. It's just that I was a frequent customer. The start up cost depends on the degree of laundry business of your desire. Charging cheap does not mean low profit. Charging cheap means a lower profit margin but higher profit if you understand what i mean. I started my own laundry not a franchise. Yes I do know several suppliers as well.

do you monitor it 24 7?
and normally, when is the peak hours?

we already have a laundry business thread

that's my thread as well my friend. but it has become more to advertising so it was removed. This one is for discussion regarding this business.

good to hear, nice track ... what is your future plan ?

Oh that was u, sorry...if i am not mistaken u r the one quit ur job as an offshore engineer and open up ur own laundry business. Sorry for that.

I think the nescafe kickstart there is one candidate is doing something related to laundy as well.

Actually the purpose of this thread is not about my plan or my business, it's more about laundry business generally and specifically.

Too bad I live in sri petaling area and I let the laundry shop "captain kleene" do my washing job. 1KG=RM2.

Your shop in kepong am I right

How about self service dobi? Has any heard bout it? i know there's a company called Smart Wash who is giving out franchise for self-service dobi where customer actually operate the machine on their own or something like that. I'm not really sure how it works. Been living with family all the time so there's no need for laundry services. But i know this business really makes money.

Nowadays I see a lot of laundry business up for sale in newspaper ads. TS do you think buying up this business a good option?

Buying a secondhand business might be the best or the worst options.

You must study the history and the previous owner must reveal to you his accounts (fake or not, nobody knows). Know their attitudes towards their customers, know their machines, know their location. Only buy the business if it is very good including the condition of the machines and references of whom you have to call if there's any breakdown and the reason of the previous owner selling is it because he/she is moving away following wife/husband/family or whatever (roughly 95% of previous business owners like to cheat on this part as well as the account part).

If the previous owner wants to sell the business with no proper or concrete reason, just forget about it. To stay safe, open a new one with brand new machines. If no capital, don't start. This does not apply to laundry only but to all other businesses.

---

Added on April 3, 2009, 6:05 pmI am not quite into Smart Wash or any other self service laundry. But I know somebody who deals with it from several other forums. Self service laundry have advantages and disadvantages.

Advantage : No need monitoring, just come and collect the collections.
Disadvantage : No guarantee on how quick the after sales services will be, nobody calls you when it breaks down, people will put extra weight that might damage the motor, vandalism, coin box will be torn apart just like what happened to my campus several years ago.

just my 2cents, I really don't know actually

This post has been edited by am_eniey: Apr 3 2009, 06:05 PM

Maybe u can increase ur sales by doing self pickup

Sounds interesting, seems like a good business line.

true enough. You must be very careful when buying over a biz. A good one will make your biz journey a lot more easier. A bad one will make you plenty of losses.

am_eniey has a lot of good points there. IMO, points ppl often overlook is the behaviour of the previous owner, how they treat their customer. Because if they din treat their customer right, they are going to create a bad name for themselves around the neighbourhood.

Thanks for the feedback. It is very much appreciated.

Hmm, actually I am pondering on buying a business. The owner said the reason for sale is because he has another branch (his main branch) to manage and he doesnt have that much time to run both. This branch (the one I'm buying) is wholly managed by his employees so he told me the risk of employees running is always there and this always give him an uncomfortable good nights sleep. He did provide me with the average sales figures.

Btw what accounts should I be looking for? He did provide me with the sales/invoice receipts. Is that sufficient enough for due diligence? If not what other information can I obtain from him?

bro, regarding your laundry business, how long the ROI and how much you have invested?

To make sure whatever receipts, it's not just by looking at the one he gave you. You must be present at the premise at least for one whole month to look at the operation by yourself. Take care of the counter and make you own personal unofficial account as it is not yet your premise. You must also know all the operations which means you have to do a bit yourself everything from A-Z. Just like a doctor who opens a clinic or a lawyer who opens a law firm. The boss must know everything before becoming a boss. And never rely everything on the employee. My advise in doing business is either do it full time or don't ever try it. You might lose both your job and the business if you try to handle both. Even with me present most of the time at my premise it sometimes give me sleepless nights, I can't imagine if I just leave it to my employees. This business is not just about calculating whatever collection you make, it's mostly about how to make the customers pay you which means all jobs must be done within time.

---

Added on April 4, 2009, 8:17 amMy side of the story is not to be discussed here, my other thread might be great help for you

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/557066

This post has been edited by am_eniey: Apr 4 2009, 08:17 AM

Last time my mom has about 2-3 laundries. The revenue is very good for small business and easily earn at least about RM3000 net profits for each shop. That was many years ago. Then later, she sold off all the shops.

Hmm from my POV, I think nowadays quite hard to do this business since every places also got at least 2 laundries. It’s quite very competitive compare to last time.

Hi am_eniey.First of all, i would like to congratulate you on successfully opening a business for yourself....Wao...soon to be millionaire arr...Hehe.. Ok, actually i just got 2 question to ask u...First question is how much capital do you need to open a dobi business? Second question is what is the average sales per month for this business?

Thank you very much for your invaluable feedback. I really really appreciate it!!!

First of all, this thread is not about my business, it's about laundry/dobi business in general. I'm doing this to support my life and the life of my wife and my children. Becoming a millionaire is not the subject. The amount of capital depends of what type of laundry that you are planning to run which ranges from RM25K-RM300K. I can't give you the exact figure for the monthly sales but i can guarantee you once the business is stable, you probably get around slightly more that 50% out of all your monthly expenses.

thats great mate!

p/s dah lama xantar my suit..nanti akan antar!

Does that mean that the higher your monthly expenses, the higher your profit each month?

of course, the more customer, the more you have to buy plastic materials and soap and other cleaning chemicals. unless if you include throwing money into the river as your expenses.

create a website to increase your company sales by advertising and promotion..
* web design
* video/ dVd production
or
* any other promotion design

if you need a web designer can contact me as well

wow, am_eniey,
I think you should try his service..
maybe it can boost your sales..

My hunch is I don't think its useful to create a website for his business. More info is needed. What is the internet penetration in gombak area? How many of his exisiting customer base have an internet connection? And what service are you gonna offer with the website?

I have seen an online laundry business failed before (if I'm not mistaken www.laundry2u.com.my).

---

Added on April 9, 2009, 8:01 pmBtw TS, I read somewhere that you used 5 machine when starting your business. Are they fully utilized now? What is the minimum no. fo machine to start the laundry business?

This post has been edited by Icehart: Apr 9 2009, 08:01 PM

Yes I started up with 5 machines, they all fully utilized now. The minimum number of machines is 3. A washer, a dryer and an ironing set. That's all. I don't know much about the Laundryroom but the owner is my senior schoolmate and I heard that he's quite successful now and contradicts to whatever you saw on the net.

Haha you are rite. It's laundryroom. I mistaken it with laundry2u.com. It took me a long time to look for it as I don't have the correct link. Haha I thought it just shut down. Anyway I am very attracted to this kinda business model so that's why I am paying very clsoe attention to this.


Btw I also wanted to ask whether there are any problems with laundry cleaning issues. Like for example, what happens when the customer mixed a cheap pasar malam red cloth with their usual laundry and then after washing to your horror the red colour stain every other bright color clothes in the mix? Do you provide refund in this case? Or you don't encounter this because you separate the clothes by colours? My friend is interested in the business but he's afraid of this problem that's why he's hesitating now. Your feedback is highly encouraged.

This post has been edited by Icehart: Apr 10 2009, 03:17 PM

It's ok if you've mistaken.

There are many obstacles and risks in any kind of business. You just name it. These risks are inevitable but you can minimize it by following proper procedures. You must be very very very strict when it comes to washing. At my place, I always seperate bleeding colour garments with the rest...ALWAYS. These bleeding garment not just from pasar malam but even an RM5K shirt can bleed real bad. Even so, I still make mistakes and refund is the only solution to avoid my shop from being bad mouthed from the customer.

But just remember that all businesses have obstacles.

Laundry - colour bleed, missing clothes, torn clothes etcetc
Mechanic - wrong screw, missing nut, lubricant mistake etcetc
Food business - rotten meat, uncleaned plates

and many more....

Hi again. So if you refund do you mean you just don't charge the customer or you also refund the price of the damaged clothes as well?

This post has been edited by Icehart: Apr 10 2009, 03:58 PM

both

wow that sucks. whats the highest refund you have ever paid?

RM900. As I said this is to maintain the sales reputation for the future. For example a car wash centre accidentally damage the tyre or the windscreen, there's nothing else to do but to replace them. The car wash can't just leave it like that.

I agree with u TS...
its the only way to maintain good relation with the customer...

Do you think that it's a handicap for a laundry business without dry cleaning?

Not quite bro, a laundry business without dry cleaning machine is different from a laundry without dry cleaning. Some laundries which do not have the machine still accept dry cleaning but send them to a laundry which has the machine and some laundries which do not have the machine do not accept dry cleaning at all. This is the handicapped one.

It seems that laundry business seems not affected by the recession?

am_eniey,

it has been sometime since i visited this thread. as per our last discussion, how do you learn bout the biz like types of machine, which machine is basic need etc, etc? since you said u've nvr been in this industry before you started the biz.

I learned the hard way. You have to consider yourself lucky as I'm here to explain the do's and dont's of this business. Not all business owners would share this type of information widely as how I am doing for the past months.

am-eniey.. good job

TS, based on your experience, what is the most challenging part when you first wanna open up the laundry business?

Attracting customer and thinking on how to cover all the expenses for the first month.

Am_enieny

Im interested to know what would roughly be the start up capital for your business?
And what are the assets that you invested on for your business?
Is there any competitor in your business area??

Anyway you did a great job and wishing you all the best for you business

Rough capital is so rough to tell but it ranges from RM30k to RMmillions.
assets invested for my business? i don't understand....
yes, there are lots of competitors around here within 5km radius, perhaps another 20 outlets.

May i knw where can get a book of tis business??

Perhaps outside this country as this business is not that popular in Malaysia.

currently i'm doing a little bit research about laundry washer and found that renzacci from is Italy is quite good....is it true ?

thanx

Dear Ts,

Did u use dryer for all your clothing or u hang it to dry somehow behind ur shop? i heard drying the cloth by hanging them in some empty place could save up abit, but mostly u dun have place to dry other than the backyard of your shop where u could not monitor and sometimes theft occur, so how?

I have also heard of that you could make your own detergent or softner and save a hell out of it? did u do the same or u just purely brought in bulk from some supplier?

Actually laundry in penang, batu feringhi are damm expensive, each kilo - RM5, and i thought it was standard as i did not use any kind of laundry service before, there for i think of starting my own in penang and compet with those guys within a year time. There a hell lots of foreigner here and mostly those ARABS send their laundry out from hotel as hotel charges are quiete high.

I have plan to open a laundry shop that is able to cater even for walk-in and also cooperate client as there are so many hotel/motel/inn/resort in penang, mostly the small one, would like to take care of their bedsheets and so on, so if i'm think of this business i cant use comercial washer? and i should buy industrial washer? then my capital would be higher then urs right?

And what is the best way to sort out the clothing? tag? i even heard some people say bar code

A million thanks in advance

I use the dryer most of the time. Yes it will cost more but clothes are to be ready quicker than hang dry. But beware, not all clothes can be dried using the dryer.
I don't make any chemical, I buy them in bulk quantity.
Even with my RM2/kg, some say it's expensive. Some people are born retard.
I don't cater hotels etcetc as they want their things to be ready super quick, super clean and at the cheapest price therefore walk in customers are likely to be neglected.
I don't mix clothes so I don't need specefic tagging or barcode.

Thanks for your reply TS,

If u does not mix the cloth to be wash, then you could not minimize the expenses and reduce the time spent, example; customer A bring over 4kg of cloth and whereby customer B only bring over 2kg of cloth and follow by customer C 1 kg, let say your washer able to load up to 10kg, do u still washer them separately like make it 3 turns? wouldn't it be much faster & less cost by washing all of them together??? (Correct me if i'm wrong)

If I were to be cater to hotel linen, do commercial washer able to handle it?

Sorry if i'm being tactless, i thought of operating a laundry business with about 4-5 heavy duty washer + 3 dryer + 1 or 2 indo maid to help up as well as ironing ( is there any auto ironing method? sorry for beind dumb) so that i can cater for small motel/hotel/inn and walk in customer, what is the roughly capital i require? just some rough figure.

Thanks for all your reply

TS, hope can give opinion on which brand is good...thanx

Yes mixing clothes will save time and money but hygenically, it's bad. I choose not to mix unless a customer sends 1 or 2 pieces of clothes. You want your clean clothes to be mixed with someone who has germs and bad smelly clothes with armpit hairs attached to it....surely you don't. If you want to be a good and honest businessman, try to imagine yourself as the customer. What does a customer want, that's what you do. If mixing clothes is the right thing to, try telling your customer that you mix up their clothes with others. If you are afraid to tell them that, then what you are doing is wrong.

A multi purpose commercial machine usually has 3 types of operation. They are small, medium and heavy load. If 2kg, just apply the small load. The washing time is reduced so as the consumption of water and electricity.

Hotel linen can be cleaned with ordinary commercial machine but you got to have a big tank to soak them overnight. These linen can be ironed neatly using a flatwork ironer ( not similar to the ordinary commercial iron set ). Auto ironing does not exist. Total number of machines depends your load. Rough capital for a complete laundry operation is around RM100k

---

Added on May 21, 2009, 8:33 amYes the brand is one of the best there is..

This post has been edited by am_eniey: May 21 2009, 08:34 AM

Did you market about your business here in Lowyat forum?
If so, is the marketing successful?

It does not work that well, my marketing outside the net works better. But at least the online marketing helps a bit.

Just want to hop into this thread to say hi to Am. You Good!

I see. Thanks for your feedback and opinion.
You were really honest to disclose so much information about this industry to members here, even if they turned out to be your potential competitors.

Just curious, where can I find those self operated machine to put in a hotel/hostel? And usually how much does a washer, dryer cost?

wah! need so much capital? and seriously is there so many competitors within 5km radius? hair saloon maybe lah. but for dobi, are you sure?



This post has been edited by zenwell: Jun 10 2009, 02:09 PM

Hi

First of all, I'd like to congratulate on your successful business Hope it goes well in years to come.

I'm interested in the laundry business and I have a few questions to ask.

The first is the capital. I've read you said the capital would be 30K - 300K (or more) but lets just take 30K, because most people would like to test out the market first before going on expanding the business. With 30K (or around that), can you provide the details on what have you spent on with the capital? Since this business is totally depend on the are where it is establish, the capital would vary and I like to know by how much so I can apply to my area.

Secondly, the place where you establish the laundry outlet. Before you rent the place, I'm sure you have spent time checking out the area for some potentials. How about sharing with us those aspects. Close to Uni, College, offices, residential area etc etc, what kind of residential area? flat? rumah teres? etc etc.

Also, the shop itself, you said you started out with one washer, one dryer etc etc, how big is your shop? how big it should be? since you also need space to keep other stuff etc etc, water piping, electricity, rental price etc etc everything there to consider about

When you first starting out, in the first few months, we wouldn't aspect we generate profit yet, do we? or maybe low profit margin, all due to not having profitable number of customer and monthly rental, I assume. Would you like to share with us the experience of those few months? What you did, and what you could have done better, that would be really great. Also, in what ways you did your promotions. I could list a number of ways but its nice to hear from real people who actually done those thing

Lastly, regarding the monthly expenses, can you share the details?

edited : Is there any gov organizations provide some kind of training course on this? I would like to know

I'm sorry I have posted so many questions. I know that you're busy, please don't be obliged to answer all of my questions, do take your time. I would check this thread regularly.

Wish ya best

This post has been edited by Andicom: Jun 11 2009, 06:33 PM

@Andicom

First of all, if you want to open a laundry outlet, do you plan to commit 100% of your time and energy on it or just let someone else take care of it while you sitting and sleeping at home and do nothing?

Mind my question please because you play an important role.

Actually if you consider me, I would have some other plans in the mean time (I'm still studying).

But I do have family members who are willing to start out this business together and take care of it. The plan is (god willing) to start out together with family members (and have someone of among us close to manage it full time) until I'm finished and able to take over the operations fully by myself.

I might chance my mind in the future, nevertheless, but this is a good opportunity (because I got some cousins who're not working but are willing to, too old to study to get cert for job etc etc). Given how good the business is, I might just settle down with it.

Anyhow it still depends on how potential the business is around my area, or somewhat close-by. I live in Kemaman, Trg and pretty close to Kuantan to consider starting out there.

Hope that helps.

@Andicom

OK, starting with RM30k means you don't have the dry cleaning machine. The dry cleaning machine actuallly generates more than 50% of all your income. But to be safe, start small.

Yes I spent 7 months looking for a good location at first.

The rest of my story, you can check at http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/557066

The thread might have all your answers because I can't type the same answer over and over again.

Thanks, actually I have been following the thread for a while.

The idea was around (was from my mom. She ran a Wedding Boutique with my Untie at my area and was quite successful, but had to give up because she loves teaching more. The business is still running and operated by my Untie.) a while before I found out this thread though, but since I'm busy studying, I didn't give much thoughts into it.

There are really a lot of works to do to and hopefully your experiences will ease my path and others'.

---

Added on June 14, 2009, 3:27 pmAm,

Can I know where did u attend the training course? I read about it somewhere in this thread or the other one. Might reply here or pm me, thanks


This post has been edited by Andicom: Jun 14 2009, 03:27 PM

Hi am.

First i would like to congratulate you for you success in business.

I'm planning to open one myself in 2-3 months time.Gods will.
I do have few questions if you dont mind answering and advice.

1. Will there be any obstical in applying Municipal Licence? Besides municipal and SSM registration, is there any sort of licence that we need to apply from any authority?

2. Currently, my budget is about RM30k (still sourcing for extra $$), what modal and cost for your dry cleaning machine?

3. Can you direct me to where i can attend a course regards to this business? pm me the contact .. thanks.

4. Can i drop by to see you, maybe for a drink and chit chat (need a mentor to go thru and make in this business)

thanks in advance.
Cheers.

Hi,
I have some question which I hope you would be able to answer:)

1)How long did you took to get your intial investment?
2)Did you required additional capital to keep your business running?
3)Roughly how long did it take before you start running your machines at 80% utilisation?

Thanks.

thanks TS for your sincere sharing

May i know what is your customer group? are they students/foreigner/single working person/family? can TS composite your customer groups in ratio? (like single worker/student/family : 2/1/7)

thanks in advance

Very late reply....

Here's the answer : I prefer those family with stable income as they wear expensive coats, suits, jackets and they will send them for dry cleaning. Dry cleaning is the income generator for laundry business. Not singles or students. Students and singles are those who sends very light clothing for normal washing and it need a lot of hard work and less pay.

Bro, its been a year.

Haha, I just realized that I have a thread regarding the business. haha !

the ironing we have to do ourselves right?

yes of course. who else is going to do it ?

"Ourselves" as in what?
Yes. It is your laundry who has to do the ironing.
And No, it is done by your workers (if you hire).

Anyone interested on Big Washing machines & Dryers
Heavy Duty machineries
Or Laundries business???

Dear TS,

I'm thinking of taking over a laundry business, do you mind gimme some advise what to ask the current owner, before taking the plunge..
as its quite a big money to me :-(

How long do u wait for ROI >

Thanks..

based on yr observation does the business currently doing well & have good customer based? then at least u have a good start already

Seems like TS is not around for quite a while. Let me help him.

Find out this before we can help you.

1) How much is the business selling?

2) Have you seen the business customer flow and account?

3) How much are they charging?

4) How many machinery (wash machine, dryer,etc.) they have?

5) How many workers they have?

6) Where is the location? Nearby got residential area? or commercial area?

5k income? that's 30 mths ROI

am_eniey,
how much do u charge for bedsheets, including ironing.

Roughly how much i need if i plan to open a laundry with 4 washer, 2 big dryer, 2 dry cleaner ? And all the chemical and stuff ? Is around Rm70k sufficient ? Do i need to fork out more ?

More than enough. How big is your big dryer? What you mean is heavy duty dryer and heavy duty washing machine.

any laundry washer here? im looking forward to sub out my collection of laundry to fast and good laundry shop in subang jaya. pls pm me if u do provide such service.

I'm into this business... But how do I acquire the knowledge and know how to run the business? Like the proper procedure etc.

I don't think I can get the answer just by asking around.... where can I learn more about this business? Is there a course or something?

Also, I wonder if anyone has experience with this:
http://www.laundrysetup.com/faq.html

Thanks!

This post has been edited by relaxtoday: Sep 3 2010, 12:51 PM

hey thanks for sharing the website info. im not interested in investing machine yet but probably coin machine . I been looking for dobi that can collect clothes from us and return back to our shop.

Is having just 2 washer, 1 dryer, and ironing set enough to earn a living? or do we need more?
how much is the revenue with basic set up?
can we earn like at least 10k RM a month?

ERk some Q here.

1) the dryer and dry cleaning machine is differ , i suppose ?


dryer to dry clotheshine cost around rm80000?
dry cleaning machine is dry clean without liquid ?
this mac



2) How to you know which material can luntur warna ??

Just to add one more question...

Is the one time training (the RM 250 one) enough for you to run the business, or is it advisable to work at a dobi shop for months before opening your business?

of course u need to learn the hard way ma.

If you can afford to pay for the training then why not? Either it is paying the fees or working in a laundry shop, as long as you can learn the basics in laundry management.

Thanks

I ask because the laundry training course is normally just one or two days (with manual of course)
But I was wondering if 1 or 2 days of learning is enough to handle such a business (the management, working process, handling client and workers etc.)...