The cleaning business is a hot market and always will be. Starting a drycleaning or laundry business is profitable in almost any city worldwide, where people are sometimes too busy to do their own laundry. If you are opening a laundry service or dry cleaning business and running it successfully, a must is a detailed business plan.
Your Business Plan Guide to Open a Laundry & Dry Cleaning Business
If you are looking for details like start-up costs, target markets, and how to open your laundry shop or dry cleaning business, check out our detailed overview of Pick & Delivery Dry Cleaning Business.
Once you know the basic details about starting a dry cleaning or laundry business, you must develop a proper business plan. This article will help you if you are looking for:
A sample laundry business plan
Dry cleaning business plan
Laundry business plan conclusion
Mobile dry cleaning business plan
Pickup & Delivery laundry service business plan
Writing a business plan for your dry cleaning services or laundry shop will be simple and easy if discussed as chapters. So here it goes:
Chapter 1: Business Service Introduction
Although the executive summary can be the first to present, we’ll discuss it last as it’s written at the end.
Now coming to the introduction, it’s all about how the business/service focuses on customer satisfaction, i.e., by rendering excellent service, on-time delivery, timely pickup, using quality products, and all other stuff that make it appealing.
The sub-sections of the chapter should include:
- Objectives
- Mission statement, Motto, or a Tagline.
- Growth potential.
- Keys to success, i.e., range of services, clientele, reputation, etc.
In all, for the first chapter you’ll really want to pack a punch, but be informative. Make sure that once the reader of your plan is done with the Introduction, they’ll know exactly what your business is all about. At least include the basics so that you can go more into detail later on about each section.
Chapter 2: Startup Details
This is to discuss the details like where the service/business will be located, area, the strategic importance of the location, etc., along with the numbers and statistics. Details to be included here are:
- The start-up capital (equipment, installations, etc.).
- Distribution of the owner’s investment and borrowings.
Do use the tables and graphs effectively; they don’t just look good but also make it easier for the reader to understand more in less time. Don’t overdo it, though, potential investors will be able to tell if you’ve skimped on the actual content of your business plan. Use them in moderation, but never underestimate the power of good data visualization.
Chapter 3- Products and Services
In this section, you’re going to detail every single thing that your business is selling. Make sure to include the key features of each product (really make it look attractive) and their price points. If you’re a laundry service, really focus on the different tiers of your services and how much they fluctuate in value. Make sure the margins make sense!
Depending on the area you are operating this business, it could be better to create a rate card. Once the rate card is ready, you can present it smartly in the business plan. Doing so will save you time, and your rate card will also be ready with the business plan.
Chapter 4- Market & the Competitors
Here you will write down the strategy and implementation summary, i.e., what’s so special about the business that makes it stand out in the market, what type of customer service you will provide, and how you will work on client satisfaction.
Studying your competitors closely helps you add up all the points missing in their business; by offering the best rates, advance packages, more flexible hours, weekend services, ease of access, and so on.
Doing a SWOT analysis of your business will better help writing this section.
Chapter 5- Marketing Action Plan:
Without proper marketing, you cannot do any business. It’s the key to acquire more customers and keep the business running. From local promotion via pamphlet distribution to catching prospects online via Google Ads, Facebook & Twitter, you need a plan to do everything rightly.
Follow these detailed guides and develop a marketing plan for your laundry and dry cleaning services business.
- 25 Free Marketing Options Every Startup Must Use
- 15 Ideas to Get Huge PR in $100 or Less
- 29 Essentials to Boost Sales & Revenues
Knowing the common and specific marketing strategies above, you should identify what to include in the plan and whatnot. Once you have a filtered list of marketing mediums to be used, you should grab a Marketing plan template and edit it according to your needs. Use a marketing plan template that has the capacity to work as a marketing action plan.
Chapter 6- The Financial Plan
Grab a financial plan template and add up your details to make your life easier. Remember that mostly financial plan templates come with detailed documents that you might not need. So, only take account of the documents that you need at this stage, i.e., balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, and so on. Do not go into too many details of the stuff that you are not familiar with.
Chapter 7- Forecasts & Milestones
Expected revenues in one year, distributed into 4 quarters, make a good forecast. Using graphs and tables makes it more attractive and easier to understand. This is one of the most important sections because if one of your readers decides to invest, they’ll want to know what to look for as your business progresses. This will give them comfort in their investment and the ability to hold you accountable! Make realistic goals and concrete plans to achieve them.
Remember that milestones are just the smaller parts of bigger goals; if you plan 100k revenue in one year, you must know that in the first quarter, you may not hit 25k, so set realistic milestones.
Chapter 8- Human Resources
It’s a must for any business plan to have details of the people behind it. Ideally, add the details about the owner(s)/management first and then the experts you have. If you have not hired people at the moment, write in detail about the job profiles you plan to hire.
Time for Review & Rechecking
As proofreading is a must for any business document, a recheck of facts, figures, information, and the structure for your laundry/dry cleaning business plan is required. Make sure that the business plan covers everything mentioned above and is ready in the same order.
The Final Word:
As I mentioned at the beginning of chapter 1, the “Executive Summary” is the first and foremost part of a business plan. It is presented on the first page of the document, but while developing the business plan, it is the last part to be written as it summarizes steps 1 to 8 in one or two pages.
Once you are done writing all the details mentioned above, now it is the time to organize your laundry service/dry cleaning business plan in the proper table of contents and add the appendix if required. Here is the format that you should present your report in, for a more visual example:
- Executive Summary
- Business Introduction
- Startup Details
- Products & Services
- Market & Competition
- Marketing Plan
- Financial Plan
- Forecasts & Milestones
- Human Resources
There, now you should be able to picture a complete business plan for Laundry & Dry Cleaning services.
Caution:
You can use samples for ideas, while templates can be used where replacing content works great, like in the Marketing and Financial plans. However, you cannot rely on a whole business plan sample or template. A business plan represents the soul of your business, and it must be as unique as your business.
So, we hope this article has helped you get a better idea of how to write your business plan. Starting a laundry service is a great idea, and we wish you the best of luck! If you have any further questions on where to go from here, let us know in the comments. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you back here next week.