Store Owners Share Some of Their Laundry Business Miscues
Originally Published in Planet Laundry
Read The Full Article Here
Ken Barrett
Washin Anniston Coin Laundry
Pell City, Ala.
I got into the self-service laundry business at a very rapid pace – three stores in seven months. The first laundry was a renovation of a closed-down store; the second was an operating, unattended store; and the third was an operating store, which was attended by the owner.
The last store provided my biggest challenge, as I jumped into running it myself – 12 hours a day, seven days a week while renovating it at the same time.
My business plan was set up for unattended laundries only. That was a big part of the decision to get into this industry – no employees, no inventory and flexible hours. But the third store was three miles from my first store, had a solid drop-off business and was a good investment – but it was not built to be unattended.
So, I started to hire attendants and train them, but it was mainly just “follow me and watch what I do, and I’ll tell you if you do something wrong.” It was frustrating for them and me. I was moving fast and making things happen, and my attendants never seemed to have the same enthusiasm. Of course, many other owners will already know why – attendants are employees and don’t have the same investment in the business.
Finally, one of the employees I hired fit well into the business. In fact, she recently celebrated her four-year anniversary. This woman created some stability, and I was finally able to get the training processes in place and documented. Currently, I employ three attendants, working individually to cover 11 hours a day, seven days a week.
The biggest mistake here is that my work background includes more than 20 years with a major automotive manufacturer – where every step in the manufacturing and maintenance process is based on specific operational standards. I’d even been involved in developing these standards, but I initially didn’t believe that the same systems could be used in any size or type of business.
Today, my training has been reduced from weeks and endless phone calls with endless questions to only about five working shifts before attendants are capable of running the store themselves.
Also, giving my employees the ability to make the decisions regarding customer issues has given them more confidence and a sense of ownership. They all have more of a “manager mindset,” rather than an “employee mindset” now. Whenever an attendant brings an issue to me, I always ask, “What do you suggest we do?” This changes their mindset.
Ken
