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How to open a dry cleaning business. Your own business: how to open a dry cleaner

Where to begin?
What documents are needed?
Franchise business
Business plan
Current expenses
Underwater rocks
Payback period and profitability

Dry cleaning is a business that is in demand in the context of the rapidly growing business burden on a modern person. At the same time, its organization requires a serious approach. This applies to both the volume of capital investments and organizational issues. Next, we will tell you how to open a dry cleaner from scratch, what documents are needed and how much it costs.

Where to begin?

Before opening your own dry cleaning, you need to weigh everything carefully, because this business requires serious investments and is associated with the following risks:

The need to maintain the quality of services at a high level, the slightest errors or errors in work immediately trigger the anti-advertising mechanism.
Seasonality. The largest number of orders occurs in the fall, when people take warm clothes out of their closets. Work in winter can be relatively stable, but you need to be prepared for the fact that in spring and summer the number of orders will sharply decrease with all the ensuing economic consequences. Therefore, it is necessary to distribute profits wisely.
Lack of a serious analytical base. Marketing research shows a stable annual increase in demand for dry cleaning services by an average of 20-30%. But these studies were conducted in large cities, where the level of competition is quite high, which also needs to be taken into account. At the same time, in a small town, opening a dry cleaner may not be profitable at all due to the lack of demand. Here you should carefully study the features of the economic development of a particular locality.

Therefore, deciding whether opening a dry cleaner will be profitable or not must be based on a serious analysis of the specific situation. It will help to conduct surveys of the population of the area where it is planned to open a dry cleaner.

What documents are needed?

Dry cleaning requires staff. Its standard version looks like this:

Technologists – 2 specialists.
Workers – 2 people.
Ironer – 1 person.
Accountant. But in order to optimize the accounting process and save money, you can use outsourcing.

Accordingly, if there are collection points, receptionists and drivers will be added to the staff who will deliver laundry to the dry cleaner.

Attention! A fully staffed staff eliminates operational disruptions, so there is no need to skimp on staff. You need to be realistic and understand that workers may get sick or be absent for other reasons. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a replacement.

The optimal form of organizational ownership here would be an LLC. What documents are needed for registration can be found on the website of the fiscal authorities. But here it would be better to contact specialized companies. This will speed up the process and eliminate possible delays. The cost of such a service is in the range of 8,000–24,000 rubles.

The optimal taxation system would be the simplified taxation system or “simplified tax system” with the payment of a 15% tax on profits or 6% on turnover. The appropriate OKVED code for the new classifier is 96.01 “Washing and dry cleaning of textiles and carpets.”

Franchise business

Franchising in this case is not the key to success. This is only a calculated business scheme, tailored to certain conditions that may not work under other circumstances. Therefore, opening a dry cleaning franchise may well be a waste of money, which is from 100,000 to 200,000 rubles (using the example of the popular Diana franchise).

You can also open a dry cleaner as part of an existing chain. But in this case, you will have to sacrifice independence and part of the profit, which is not very attractive and comfortable.

The optimal solution would be to develop and implement your own business plan based on the information provided. Here is a list of everything you need to get started and a breakdown of how much each action costs.

Interesting strategy -wise investment in real estate, especially if you live in a metropolis. By investing your money wisely, you can make good money.

Business plan

The first priority here is to find a suitable premises. According to the law, it must meet the following requirements:

be at a distance of 80 meters from residential buildings;
located on the ground or first floor;
ceiling height must be at least 3 meters;
It is mandatory to have an industrial-standard ventilation system;
the room must be equipped with a heating system.

From this list, the most difficult to complete is the first point. This problem is solved by renting a separate building or premises in business centers. But in this case, you will have to additionally open a collection point or their network in residential areas, which requires additional financial costs.

You should also take into account the need to organize a flexible order accounting system and create a transport system for transporting clothes and carpets from collection points to dry cleaning and back.

Attention! Failure to comply with regulatory and legislative requirements or ignoring them will result in the need to pay fines or closure of the business, which will lead to complete or partial loss of invested funds.

The optimal rental price here will be 450-1500 rubles per 1 square meter, depending on the location of the premises, the building and its condition. Repairs will cost an average of 1,500,000-2,000,000 rubles, taking into account the development of the project and installation of the ventilation system.

Now you need to purchase equipment:

stain removal booth;
perchlorethylene cleaning machine;
steam-air ironing mannequin;
universal ironing table;
apparatus for packing clothes;
compressor;
steam generator.

The cost of such a new set of equipment is $70,000 or 4,550,000 rubles. But this amount can be reduced by purchasing used equipment. At the same time, you can open a laundry if there is free space and funds for equipment.

You might be interested in: How to make money at bankruptcy auctions without leaving home

It is necessary to budget 700-1000 dollars or 46,000-65,000 rubles for commissioning and personnel training. This must be done before opening a business. In total, there are 5-8 employees on staff, provided that the dry cleaner works in two shifts. The presence of a collection point adds 2 people to this number. Accordingly, the load on the wage fund increases.

In total, to open a business you will need 6,096,000–6,615,000 rubles.

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Current expenses

In addition to the starting costs, you should consider the running costs:

payment of rent if a deposit has not been previously created;
employee wages with taxes;
taxes;
payment of utility bills, mainly for electricity and water consumption;
purchase of consumables – household chemicals;
transport costs if there are collection points.

The optimal level of current expenses is 80,000 rubles. At the same time, it is better to try to work with minimal costs. This is achieved through the reasonable use of production materials, energy and administrative resources.

Equipment repair and maintenance. It is better to create a fund for this expense item from the very beginning of the dry cleaning operation. This will relieve some of the burden on the budget and will allow for timely implementation of technical measures, which will increase the service life of the equipment.

Underwater rocks

Many business theorists say that opening a mini dry cleaner or one collection point is profitable. In this case, costs are reduced to 70,000–80,000 rubles. But before organizing such an activity, you need to find a partner who will clean the clothes, and this is very difficult.

Opening a mini dry cleaner is also unprofitable from an economic point of view; it is obvious that a business with a closed structure brings more profit and allows you to be independent from other business entities.

Payback period and profitability

The optimal payback period for dry cleaning is 2 years. This is an average figure, taking into account the amount of start-up investment. At the same time, the profitability indicator is in the range of 10-40%.

In the West, dry cleaning services for household linen and clothing are quite popular. Many live in rented apartments and do not own their own washing machines or do not want to spend time on cleaning and washing, knowing that there are dry cleaning stations that solve all current problems. Opening a dry cleaner can very well become a profitable business that brings real and stable income, and this is worth taking into account.

Business Description

So, if we talk about how to open a dry cleaner, then it’s worth considering the two ways that are available for this. The first involves owning the enterprise itself, and the second involves organizing a collection point for laundry with its subsequent sending to existing dry cleaners. If you are not entirely sure that opening your own business will be successful, then you should take the second path, that is, open a dry cleaning collection point.

This way you can study the legislation of your country, assess the general situation, understand what pitfalls there are in this matter, gain confidence and a clear understanding that the investment will pay off. Then you can look for a place and purchase equipment for your own dry cleaning.

Initial Investment

It is worth noting that to organize your own enterprise, an investment of 100-120 thousand dollars will be enough. Such a business has a number of advantages compared to all others, for example, opening a beauty salon or providing forwarding services. In Russia, this type of business has not yet found proper distribution, but it is beginning to gain momentum, so it is really worth drawing up a business plan for a dry cleaning business and opening it.

As people's income gradually increases, people can afford to buy more clothes that need to be cleaned and washed. And that is why it is quite natural that an entrepreneur should be faced with the question of how to open a dry cleaner.

Of course, many similar enterprises are now opening, but this is still not enough to cover the needs of the modern market. The income of dry cleaning owners is $1000-1500 monthly, and this is the average for most cities, and in metropolitan areas it is significantly higher. That’s why it’s worth figuring out how to open a dry cleaner and finding out in more detail what you need for this.

Important points

In order for your enterprise to be profitable, you need to draw up a clear and detailed business plan for opening it. You can do this yourself, which will definitely take a lot of effort and time, or you can use the help of specialists. When drawing up a dry cleaning business plan, you should consider whose dirty laundry will be cleaned there.

Pricing depends entirely on the category of people for whom you will work, their position and social status. And over time, when you gain momentum, you can open a laundry or clothing repair shop, providing additional services to the public in the free space of your premises.

Selecting a room

The best option is to place the first or ground floor in a large business or shopping center, the area of which is 100-200 square meters, if there is permission from the sanitary-epidemiological station, and in the absence of such, you will need to find a room located at a distance of at least 50 meters from residential buildings.

Opening a clothing collection point

You can open a dry cleaning collection point yourself, or you can buy a ready-made one for 7-10 thousand dollars. Organizing a business on your own will cost much less. All that is required for this is registration of the enterprise, a small room in which you will work, two or three employees, namely a receptionist and a driver with a car, a minimal furniture set consisting of several tables and chairs.

There is no exact recommendation as to where exactly to open such a point, since sometimes it is profitable to do it near retail outlets, and sometimes in residential areas, that is, in close proximity to the bulk of customers. If we’re not talking about how to open a dry cleaner, but considering the option of a clothing collection point, then it’s worth talking about the initial and ongoing expenses in rubles that await you.

Initial costs involve the following:

Renting a room of 5-10 square meters costs 7,500-25,000 rubles per month, depending on the location;

Necessary equipment, consisting of a minimum set (table and two chairs) - 4500-7500 rubles;

The salary of the driver and two receptionists is 30,000-42,500.

That is, initial expenses await you in the amount of 42-75 thousand rubles.

In addition, monthly expenses will be about 39,500-75,000 rubles.

The principle of operation of the clothing collection point

Here it is important to sign an agreement with a large chain of dry cleaners, which is popular among consumers and has its own workshops and enterprises where customers’ clothes will be brought into proper condition. And after this, the receptionists can begin their immediate responsibilities: receiving dirty clothes, sorting them, preparing them for sending to a cleaning factory, as well as receiving clean products and handing them out to customers.

Almost 60% of your proceeds will go back to the business. The rest comes from employee salaries, premises rental, and profits. An agreement with a large and well-known company has a number of advantages:

They often pick up dirty clothes and deliver clean clothes themselves, which saves on driver and transportation costs;

It is always easier to work under a well-known brand;

A large company is ready to bear responsibility for defects in its work, which implies mandatory compensation for material and moral losses of the client.

The initial investment will pay off in a maximum of 2 years, sometimes even six months is enough, after which you can receive a net profit. The profitability of dry cleaning is 10-40%. The owner of the reception point receives a monthly income of approximately 1000-1500 dollars.

Mini dry cleaning as an alternative option

As at the reception point, the most important thing here is to choose the right premises. The distance from residential buildings for mini-dry cleaning should be at least 50 meters. You cannot open it near catering establishments or grocery stores. If we talk about how to open a dry cleaner, it should be noted that such a business does not require a license, but you will have to run around with obtaining permits to open production.

Typically, such enterprises are equipped with the following types of equipment:

dry cleaning machines using perchlorethylene;
a special cabin in which cleaning and stain removal is carried out;
steam-air mannequin designed for outerwear;
specialized ironing table with iron;
device for packaging clothes after processing;
conveyor unit designed for storing clothes;
laundry trolleys;
steam generator;
compressor.

You should also purchase auxiliary equipment. On average, we can talk about the cost of dry cleaning equipment at 100 thousand dollars, and for a mini-dry cleaning, the price of equipment will be from 25 thousand dollars.

The best option

The simplest option for organizing such a business is to purchase a franchise. The advantages of this method are obvious - it is an opportunity to organize a serious business even in the absence of any special preparation. All concerns associated with opening a new business, training management and staff, setting up equipment and recruiting employees fall on the franchisor.

For this, he takes his interest not only at the stage of starting a business, but also during its supervision. You will not need to fill out the paperwork yourself and purchase dry cleaning equipment, since it all falls on his shoulders. A franchise enterprise pays for itself quickly enough, and the profit after that will be $7,000-10,000 monthly.

When understanding the question of how to open a clothes dry cleaning service, it is worth saying that you can do it yourself, and then organize several clothing collection points. It is important to understand that you first need to obtain all permits to organize a mini-workshop. An independent business has a lot of advantages, which include endless opportunities for its subsequent expansion.

Unfortunately, there are many things that cannot be washed, such as a jacket, a coat, a sheepskin coat, a winter hat with a frame, etc. By the way, sweaters from some manufacturers also cannot be washed, they either shrink (reduce in size) or stretch . And you can make good money from this by opening a clothes cleaning business, or, simply put, dry cleaning. How to open a dry cleaning business and how profitable is this business?

Motivation

According to statistics, there are 150,000 people per 1 reception point in a large city, and more than 200,000 in a small city. Moreover. In many Russian cities there is not a single collection point operating, but in this case, what should the residents of this city do? Drive 80 kilometers and further to the nearest clothing point. But jackets and winter clothes get dirty all the time! On average, every resident of Russia, aged from 14 to 65 years, has a need to clean non-washable items 2-3 times a year. That is, each opened clothing cleaning collection point already has more than 250,000 potential orders with an average bill of 600 rubles. Consequently, after passing the payback period, each reception point can receive 1,250,000 rubles of average annual total profit per month.

Format

Like any business, the clothing cleaning business requires proper organization, otherwise you may go bankrupt, and since dry cleaning, in addition to expensive European cleaning in shopping centers, is registered as an individual entrepreneur, you may lose your personal property. Therefore, it is important to adhere to some strict sequence of actions.

First of all, you need to decide on the opening format; it depends on the funds available.

Clothes collection point. If you are opening from scratch, you need to rent a room with a total area of 20 m2 on the first, ground floor or basement of a non-residential building or a separate room at a distance of at least 80 meters from the nearest residential premises. The main equipment is a perchlorethylene machine, a stain removal cabin, 2-3 steam-air ironing dummies, a steam generator, a universal ironing table compressor, installations for packaging and storing things; this equipment will be enough for you for the first 18-24 months, until you pay for the collection point for cleaning things and accumulate funds for further business development. One-time investment of 300,000-400,000 for the purchase of equipment, 100,000 for refurbishment of the premises in accordance with the standards of the SES and State Fire Supervision. Monthly investments - 50,000 in a small city, 250,000 rubles per month or more in a large city. The average annual monthly profit in a small town is 30,000-50,000 rubles; in a large city – 150,000 or more. The payback period is approximately the same 3-6 months.
Dry cleaning. This is one room with a total area of at least 150 m2, where the clothing cleaning process is carried out and collection points are located not far from the main premises in a large city or scattered throughout the city in a small one. A one-time investment is about 3,000,000 rubles, monthly investments are 250,000 in a small city and more than 500,000 rubles in a large city. Profit depends on the number of collection points. Payback period – 12-18 months.
Eurocleaner. A company that cleans any clothing, including even those on the label of which the manufacturer indicates that the item cannot be cleaned. Additional equipment - fabric composition analyzers, machines for laser molecular cleaning of fabric. One-time investment - 9,000,000 rubles or more. Monthly investments are 25-30% more than in dry cleaning, since only consumables are added to expensive equipment.

Registration

The main difficulties arise in the process of refurbishing the premises. Before opening a dry cleaner, take the standards for dry cleaners from the SES and read them. Absolutely everything is described there in detail, down to the type and color of the paint. Before opening a dry cleaner, think carefully about whether you can afford such repairs? If not, then try to find another room. Then everything follows the scheme: registration of individual entrepreneurs, conclusion of standard contracts for disinfection and disposal... But for dry cleaning or an independent collection point, disposal of harmful chemical compounds will be required. The tax rate for a collection point will be 5-7%, and for dry cleaning up to 13% of total profit.

Important! Dry cleaning is a business with seasonal income, which peaks in the cold season. During the hot season, only jackets, suits and some non-washable items are cleaned. And this is a quarter or less of winter income. Therefore, it is better to choose a percentage taxation scheme rather than a fixed monetary amount. If you have opened a clothing collection point without a centralized dry cleaning building, you may be subject to a simplified taxation scheme.

It is advisable to register Eurocleaning as an LLC, in which case you will be able to fulfill corporate orders from the offices of large companies. Although it is 5-10% cheaper than from individuals, it is 100 or more suits at once 2-3 times a year from only one company.

Grow while saving

If you have 3,000,000 rubles or more and you can open a clothes cleaning business from scratch with several collection points, get ready for a long payback period of 30 months or more. Firstly, in the first months of work you will not have a large flow of clients, because you are unknown to a wide range of consumers, therefore, transporting clothes in small quantities is an additional waste. Secondly, you need to open at least 3 clothing collection points, respectively, pay rent for additional space and staff salaries. So it makes more sense to enter this business gradually. Start with one collection point with a minimum of equipment, and six months or a year after it pays off, rent a room for full-fledged dry cleaning.

After the opening of the dry cleaning shop, the point will perform the purely function of receiving clothes from clients, so in the first 3 months, old equipment can be used in the dry cleaning shop. Its capacity of 360 kg per day is enough to service three collection points.

It is advisable to open a Eurocleaner six months or later after the end of the dry cleaning payback period and after reaching full capacity. At least 5 reception points. Due to the unstable profits of Eurocleaners, do not make a major bet on this business. This is an additional service of the network of clothing collection points.

In a small town with a population of less than 150,000 people, opening a Eurocleaner is unprofitable. Unless it is a resort town or there is an office of a large company with a staff of at least 100 people.

And now about profit

What can this business give? The profit of the clothing collection point and dry cleaning by 3 points was mentioned above. Now, let's look 3 years ahead. In a small city with a population of 75,000-150,000. in the absence of competition, you can open 5 dry cleaning points. Minus current expenses, you can earn up to 300,000 rubles per month. In the regional center, you can open 2 more European cleaning points. The average bill for a European cleaning service is 3,000 rubles. Average annual total profit 600,000 per month. Your 25% from two points is 250,000 rubles per month and that’s about 600,000 per month in a small regional center! In a large city with a population of 300,000-800,000 people you can earn more than 1,000,000 rubles, and in a metropolis - 3,000,000 rubles a month or more from cleaning clothes!

If in Moscow and St. Petersburg the competition among dry cleaners is quite high, then in the regions the market for household services is still developing. Entry for new players is still favorable here. Despite significant investments, well-organized dry cleaning is a very profitable business.

What can I say, in Europe there is one dry cleaning station for every 5,000 residents, in the USA – for every 10,000, and in Russia – one dry cleaning station serves about 100,000 people. As you understand, the market has room to grow.

The monthly profit of an average dry cleaner ranges from 100 to 300 thousand rubles per month, and profitability is at the level of 30%. Moscow companies earn up to $600,000 a year.

The list of services that dry cleaners can provide is quite wide:

dry cleaning of clothes and accessories;
dry cleaning of fur coats and fur products;
dry cleaning of down jackets;
dry cleaning of curtains and home textiles;
comprehensive cleaning of leather and suede products;
express cleaning services.

The minimum price for the service by region is 200 rubles. For that price you can clean your tie. The maximum price reaches 2,500 rubles if the client is going to clean the wedding dress:

Express dry cleaning service is also popular. This service is necessary for those who need to receive a clean item within a few hours. In this case, at least 50% is added to the standard price.

Let's look at a step-by-step guide to opening a dry cleaner.

Step 1 – Investment Planning

Starting a business begins with finding sources of financing for the project. Financial investments in opening even a small dry cleaning service with economical equipment cost around 2 million rubles, taking into account the opening of a dry cleaning service in a rented premises:

renovation and design of the premises, installation of communications – 600,000 rubles.
preparation of permits, business registration – 50,000 rubles.
purchase of equipment and its installation – 1,000,000 rubles.
advertising + website creation – 100,000 rubles.
deposit for renting premises - 100,000 rubles.
purchase of consumables – 50,000 rubles.
other expenses – 100,000 rubles.

TOTAL – 2,000,000 rubles

Step 2 – Search for premises

The practical part of the matter begins with finding a suitable premises: not everything that is called a premises is suitable for organizing dry cleaning. The area of the room should be at least 60-80 square meters. m., so that you can not only supply equipment, but also allocate space for a warehouse and an order processing room (receiving and issuing things). In addition, SES and fire safety standards must be observed.

According to the law, dry cleaning can only be located in public buildings on the first or ground floors. The distance to the nearest residential complexes must be at least 80 square meters. m. This creates certain difficulties when opening a dry cleaner in residential areas of the city (therefore, in such places only collection points are created).

The height of the ceilings in the room must be at least 3 meters, all communications must be connected: water supply, electricity, there must be ventilation and sewage systems. Not every room meets such requirements, so we are prepared to incur additional costs to create the necessary conditions for dry cleaning to operate. Renting premises, depending on the region, will cost from 40 to 100 thousand rubles per month.

Step 3 – Business Registration

The most suitable form for a small dry cleaner is individual entrepreneurship. Registration of an individual entrepreneur is very fast, inexpensive and requires a minimum package of documents. If you attract an investor to your business or open a business with a partner, then you cannot do without registering a legal entity (LLC). Suitable OKVED - 93.01 “Washing, dry cleaning and dyeing of textiles and fur products.”

UTII is most often used as a taxation system for dry cleaners. This is the most favorable tax regime, which does not require payment of VAT, income tax and property tax. The tax amount does not depend on your income and is strictly fixed. The transition to UTII should be carried out immediately at the time of business registration, so as not to waste extra time on OSNO.

Step 4 - Purchasing Equipment

The most expensive step is purchasing equipment. Mandatory equipment includes:

dry cleaning machine for clothes,
universal steam mannequin,
stain removal table,
professional ironing table,
steam generator and compressor,
packaging machine and auxiliary equipment (trolleys, hangers, films, labels).

The main function in this line is given to the dry cleaning machine. The dry washing process is as follows: the item is loaded into the machine, and by spraying a special reagent, the clothes are cleaned of stains and dirt. Then the item is ventilated with warm air, and the remaining chemicals are driven into the condenser, after which they are disposed of.

Modern dry cleaning machines can process up to 15 kg of textiles per hour. For a small dry cleaning service, it is enough to purchase just one machine so as not to risk unnecessary funds. In any case, if demand grows, you can always increase capacity by purchasing another machine.

Step 5 – Hiring Staff

A large staff is not needed to operate a dry cleaner. It is enough to involve 6-7 people: a technologist, two ironers, two shop operators and a driver. The services of an accountant and cleaner can be taken under an outsourcing agreement. If you want to win the trust of clients from the first days, then hire experienced people, at least an experienced technologist. Otherwise, you will have to spend money on training and advanced training of employees. A damaged item is the worst thing that can happen in dry cleaning. And most often this happens due to the fault of inexperienced and irresponsible workers.

The work of qualified personnel requires appropriate payment. The technologist will need to pay at least 25 thousand rubles, operators and ironers - at least 15 thousand rubles per month. In total, the monthly wage fund, including payment of insurance contributions for employees, will be at least 110 thousand rubles.

Step 6 – Advertising Campaign

The first thing you need to do to advertise your dry cleaning services is to hang a bright sign above the entrance. In most cases, this will already be enough for the residents of the residential area in which you are to know about you. If you are at a respectful distance from the roadway or pedestrian paths, then you cannot do without additional advertising. And here you can already connect such traditional methods of advertising as: TV (requires high costs, but television is trusted), radio, distribution of booklets and flyers, advertising in entrances (via mailboxes), advertising on the Internet (on forums, in social networks ). The best advertising is word of mouth, which works very effectively if you provide services efficiently and in a timely manner.

It is best to plan the opening of a dry cleaner closer to autumn: this period is considered seasonal in the work of dry cleaners.

Dry cleaning business plan

Investments– 2,000,000 rubles

Fixed monthly expenses:

Rent of premises – 50 thousand rubles.
Utility bills – 25 thousand rubles.
Salary + insurance contributions (6 people) – 110 thousand rubles.
Tax (UTII) – 10 thousand rubles.
Consumables – 15 thousand rubles.
Other expenses – 20 thousand rubles.

TOTAL per month – 230 thousand rubles

Income:

The average bill for a dry cleaning service is 600 rubles.
The average number of clients per day is 20 people, per month – 600 people.
Monthly revenue – 360,000 rubles.

Hence the profit: Revenue - Fixed expenses: 360,000 - 230,000 = 130,000 rubles. With such indicators, the return on investment occurs after 16 months of dry cleaning.

♦ Start-up investment in business: 940,000 rubles
♦ Payback period for dry cleaning: 24-48 months
♦ Business profitability: 15-35%

For the generation that grew up during the Soviet Union, the opening of a local dry cleaner was a common event.

At that time, this was not an attribute of luxury, but simply an obligatory component of every microdistrict.

In addition to the attitude towards the availability of dry cleaning services, the scope of ownership in this industry has also changed in our time. Previously, it was completely subsidized and generously financed by the state.

And now how to open a dry cleaner decided mainly by private entrepreneurs.

In order for a commercial structure to exist and make a profit, you need to invest a lot of money and effort in business development. The clothing cleaning service for the public is no exception.

In addition, entrepreneurs now have to fight with young competitors, of which there are more and more every day.

Which is not surprising, since the existing formats of dry cleaners allow you to enter the business even with a small capital. And the potential profit is very attractive.

Let's figure out what you need to do to achieve success by opening a dry cleaner.

Planning to open a dry cleaner

Dry cleaning project summary

Depending on the budget that an entrepreneur is willing to invest in the business, the format of the future establishment also varies.

There are mainly three common options:

Organization of a reception point.
This cannot be called a dry cleaning business to the fullest extent, since the entrepreneur makes only a place where orders are taken from clients.
And the cleaning process itself is delegated to another dry cleaner.
This option does not require substantial cash investments, but you don’t have to expect much profit either.
Creation of a mini dry cleaner.
In this case, the entrepreneur creates a small dry cleaning service with a minimum standard set of equipment.
Subsequently, the business can develop into a whole network of mini-dry cleaners.
Big dry cleaning.
If the budget for starting a business is not particularly limited, an entrepreneur can immediately start with a large dry cleaner, which will have high-quality equipment, have large capacities and offer a wide range of services.
To expand in the future, it will be enough to open order collection points in other parts of the city.
This option is the most profitable and has great potential. But the start-up investment will also require an extremely serious investment.

Dry cleaning advertising campaign

The dry cleaner is one of a number of establishments whose customers usually include all the people who live in the neighborhood.

Such “related” businesses (this includes pharmacies and bread stores) also need advertising.

It will just have small distinctive features.

Hire promoters to distribute advertising leaflets in nearby crowded places - at intersections, near markets, passages, metro stations.
Order advertising on a local radio or TV channel.
It is definitely worth introducing a system of cumulative discounts or other conditions into your business that encourage regular customers.

Carrying out promotions for cleaning clothes, original commercials, bright slogans - how many great options for attracting customers you can come up with!

Dry cleaning target audience

Fact from history:
In the first dry cleaners, dirty, greasy clothes were simply rinsed in kerosene. Then, after all the dirt had dissolved, the clothes were hung up so that the kerosene dissolved. In this method, things did not deteriorate, were clean and did not shrink.

The main target audience of the clothes cleaning business is solvent people aged 20-55 years. They have an average income level, which allows them to sometimes buy expensive things for themselves.

Careful handling of such purchases forces them to go to the dry cleaner several times a year.

It is these people who mainly visit the average dry cleaning order collection point.

Therefore, in the service business, they value, first of all, the following factors:

how much does it cost to provide basic dry cleaning services?
what range of services are provided;
Does the item have high-quality and modern equipment?

Choosing a dry cleaning room

Before you open a dry cleaner, you need to find the ideal premises for it. A number of requirements are put forward to it:

For such purposes, only a room that is located on the first or ground floor, in the basement or in a separate building is suitable.
If an isolated premises is chosen for a business, the distance from it to the nearest house with residents should not be less than 80 meters.
For the dry cleaning to operate fully, the height of the building must be greater than 3 meters.
Sewerage, hot and cold water, and electrical wiring must be provided.
Everything should work properly and without interruptions.
The building must have a properly functioning ventilation and heating system.
Typically, a room with an area of 100 m2 or more is chosen for dry cleaning needs.

It is a well-known fact that in order to attract more customers, it is recommended to open a business in crowded places.

It is prestigious and attractive to have a dry cleaner in the center, but the rental cost is extremely high. In addition, in residential areas the demand for dry cleaning services is high, and many will not want to go to the center in order to drop off clothes, but will look for something closer to home.

In fact, both of these options can be successfully combined!

The dry cleaning service itself can be opened on the outskirts of the city, but in each district an additional collection point can be located.

This will reduce rental costs while maximizing audience coverage.

However, we must not forget about the business expenses for salaries for additional workers and for the delivery of accepted clothing to the workshop.

How does the dry cleaning process work?

shown in the video:

Dry cleaning staff

If the entrepreneur has decided on a business option that involves opening an independent dry cleaner, rather than a collection point, 3 positions must be added to the staff.

The entire future success of the business rests on how professionally the employees perform their work!

Experienced employees will minimize the risk of claims, damage to clothing, and, therefore, business expenses for compensation to clients.

In addition, this will allow you to avoid investing additionally in training people.

So how many people will it take? The staff for a small dry cleaning service looks like this:

This list provides for a minimum number of employees, taking into account shift work schedules.

A technologist can combine his job responsibilities with the ability to accept orders and consult clients.

But accounting, if the business initiator does not plan to do it, can be outsourced to an outsourcing company or hired on a part-time basis with an hourly wage.

If you plan to open a clothing collection point separately from the main workshop, or even just one point, then transferring orders to a partner clothing cleaning company, personnel for these points must also be provided in advance.

Salary is included in the financial section of the business plan.

Financial calculations for opening a dry cleaner

Costs of opening a dry cleaner

Monthly dry cleaning costs

Potential business risks

Dry cleaners are enterprises whose activities involve a certain risk.

The entrepreneur must identify these dangers to the business in advance and provide an option for action in the event of their occurrence.

Violation of the rules and requirements of the SES, which will lead to the closure of the dry cleaner.
Introduction of new legal requirements for business.
Changes in prices for chemicals necessary for dry cleaning.
Damage to customer products, which will become a stain on the reputation and incur expenses.
A decrease in the level of demand for a given business due to an economic crisis or season.