How to Start A Dry Cleaning Business & Laundry Service

The dry cleaning business has made life a lot easier especially for wives with time-consuming jobs. Gone are those days when it’s a poor man’s business.

It is so amazing to see that you can now make your order online and your item will be picked up in minutes and delivered to you at your convenience.

In fact, you can use garment tracking system to track how far they have gone with your garments. With the rate at which men now wake up to the 50-50 responsibility in the home, laundry and dry cleaning in the house is covered.

Then, what is a commercial laundry service in Nigeria all about?

What Is Commercial Laundry Services?

Simply put, it is the biz that makes money from dirty clothes. Yea, a dry cleaning service is the washing of clothes in a professional way with the aim of gaining profit.

While Laundry services involve washing of clothes with water using special laundry detergents and chemicals, dry cleaning makes use of cleaning fluids such as a liquid solvent to remove oils and stains that prove stubborn.

Dry cleaning helps maintain the color of clothes, lowers the risk of clothes shrinking and stretching.

Laundry and dry cleaning business go through marking/ inspection, mending, pretreating of stains, sorting, washing with respect to laundry, drying, post spotting, finishing, and packing.

It can be carried out with laundry equipment or through manual methods within a given number of days before it is delivered to the client.

Dry Cleaning Business In Nigeria

Yes everybody can wash, even a ten-year-old can.  However, dry cleaning business goes beyond all that as it is not a business you can wake up one morning and start. 

Though thriving businesses in Nigeria one of the It involves much more than dipping your clothes in the detergent to wash.

You need to acquire basic knowledge about providing dry cleaning services. Such expertise includes sorting of clothes, ironing, taking customers order, operating machines and many more. .

Depending on the capital at hand, dry cleaning business in Nigeria can be carried out either on a small scale or on a large scale.

While small scale does not involve so much capital as manual means is used in washing and can be carried out from the convenience of your home, large scale needs substantial capital for equipment, labor, laundry shop, delivery van and many more.

Dry cleaning services is gaining more prominence in Nigeria, as long as you provide excellent services, you can be sure of considerable returns.

Meanwhile, is this business idea lucrative in Nigeria?

How Lucrative Is Dry Cleaning Business Model?

Fixed Asset in dry cleaning business include;

• Business registration: N35, 000
• Rent: This depends on the environment
•  Equipment for a starter: – N200, 000
• Other expenses for a month may cost N200, 000
• These expenses include;
• Laundry Detergents
• Stain removers
• Nylons
• Petrol for generator set
• Baking soda
• Labor: depends on the environment
• Miscellaneous

For a start,

If average number of customers per day = 10

 Average number of clothes brought by each client at a time = 8

This means per day you have 80 garments to clean

If the least amount charged for the clothing: N300 – N500 (it could be more)

This means per day, you should earn N24, 000 (300 × 80)

If you work for 6 days in a week = N144, 000

In a month, you should earn N576, 000 (144, 000 × 4)

Profit then should be 576,000 – N200, 000 = N376, 000

As you can see, starting with a profit of 300,000+ in a month is not bad at all

Please note that a local dry cleaner may use manual means of washing in his house and that means he won’t have to spend on rent, registration, and major equipment.

However, his customer base and charges will be low and as such the returns too will be low.

How to Run A Successful Dry Cleaning Business In Nigeria

The following factors should be put in mind in other to provide excellent dry cleaning services:

Capital

Capital is needed if you wish to run a dry cleaning business on a large scale. Rent, Laundry equipment, delivery van are some of the fixed assets you will need especially if you are operating a large scale laundry services.

Most times customers will like to see the work done before paying which means payment is usually on delivery.

Remember, you will have to pay your employees, carry out maintenance on the machines plus contingencies which may arise.

However, you don’t need so much money if you wish to start on a small scale as local dry cleaners probably from your backyard.

The downside about this is that clients are not willing to pay as much as they do when they patronize large scale dry cleaners.

They regard those who run a dry cleaning business on a small scale as cheap dress cleaners.

Registration

Business registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission is on the high as business owners are showing that they are serious.

This is an important aspect as it gives you confidence and permits to practice.

Although it is overlooked by small scale dry cleaners or local dry cleaners, it cannot be exempted in some environment as it gives you the needed recognition.

Make thorough research

Making thorough research is highly important in this type of business. You need to know:

• The number of people running a dry cleaning business in the intended environment so you don’t add up to the already saturated area.

• The price existing laundries charge in the intended area. Do they provide satisfactory services? Do the people complain about their prices, late pick up or delivery? Etc. You can make all their weaknesses your own strong point.

• Which types of people live in the intended area? Is it the rich upper class area? Or is it a poor neighborhood. This will help to determine their priority.

• The rich upper class will most likely prefer you to pick it up and deliver at their convenience, provide higher quality of service and will not mind to give more than the price you charge.

• However, a poor neighborhood will put affordability as the first on their scale of preference.

Location

This factor sometimes determines your number of customers provided you give a top notch service to your customers.

It is advisable to locate your laundry shop or collection centers in highly trafficked areas as dry cleaning business tend to grow faster in such areas.

Your laundry shop or collection centers should be located where your targeted clients live or work.

Even if you provide mobile dry cleaning service, it is still important to have a particular location where your clients can still check you. This will help them feel safe with giving their clothes to you.

Laundry equipment

If you are operating a large scale laundry services, dry cleaning equipment are highly essential to be purchased.

This equipment make work easier and faster such that you are able to serve more customers. It also help to reduce the number of labor needed.

It is vital to put all equipment under adequate maintenance so as to avoid unnecessary cost.

Labor

The number of staffs to be employed will depend on whether you are operating on a small scale on a large scale.

It is advisable to pay based on the quantity of work done by each employee. Also, the more the equipment the fewer the number of staff needed.

Marketing

Branding of your garment bags and delivery van with your company details boldly printed on it will o a long way. Use large banners, bold sign board and flyers to promote your brand.

Another way of promoting your brand is by being time conscious and providing excellent customer services. Train your employees to have good relationship with your clients.

Good customer service leads to more referral. There is high probability that your clients will recommend you to their friends and family thereby increasing your number of customers.

In fact you can make it possible for your clients to track their garment and even pay online.

To expand your client database, you can offer to provide the following services:

Rush service: This is also known as same day dry cleaning. As a same day cleaner, your clients will be sure to get their clothing that same day.

To provide this service, you must have the necessary equipment and its advantage is that it comes at an extra dry cleaning cost.

Specialty cleaning: This involves cleaning attires that require special laundry needs and professional touch as some of these attires are sophisticated and delicate. Example is wedding dress cleaning (wedding gowns suits). etc

Materials such as leathers, rug and carpet also require special laundry needs. Clients who bring such materials also know that it comes at an extra dry cleaning cost.

Pick up and dry cleaning delivery: this involves picking and delivering clients clothing at their convenience.

However, to avoid the excess cost of petrol, you may decide to choose a day with your clients for pickup and delivery.

Express Ironing: This means you are willing to iron clothes that have already being washed and also deliver within a very short time.

Experience/Training

Dry cleaning business is not a business you can just start without acquiring adequate knowledge about it.

Although you can decide to employ an expert to work with you so you can learn from them but it’s so good to be a master of your trade.

Some challenges to bear in mind include:

• Not all stains can be removed hence inspect for heavily stained garment. Although, such clothes are passed through strong stain removals, it is good to duely inform your clients if 100% result is not guaranteed.

• Damage to clothing occurs and clothing shrinks.

• Clothes get burnt or even go missing. Hence proper care and record keeping is essential.

• Absence of sunlight during rainy season.

Laundry And Dry Cleaning Equipment

The following items and equipment are needed for a dry cleaning business:

• Washing machine: This is the most essential dry cleaning equipment as it is the major machine used to wash in the laundry. It should be cleaned regularly in other to avoid bad odors. The size of your laundry and capital at hand determines the size of washing machine that is fit for you.
• Washing basin: This is used to separate, soak and hand wash different materials and colors of clothing.
• Generator set: Due to constant power outage, a generator set is highly important for constant supply of power.
• Dryer: This is especially important to those who carry out same day cleaning or rush service to dry cloth automatically. Ensure to keep it clean from crayon stains.
• Drying rack:  It is used to drape delicate clothing so they can dry. It allows the clothing to dry naturally
• Garment conveyor: This is used to hang finished clothing.
• Ironing table or board:  Choosing ironing board or table depends on the amount of space available and choice, while ironing board can be folded and packed when not in use; ironing table is placed permanently in the laundry room.
• Industrial steam iron: It is used to straighten out wrinkles on clothing.
• Water storage or tanks: Dry cleaners and water are like 5 & 6.they can’t do without water hence it is highly important for a constant supply of water especially during water scarcity.
• Wooden shelves: This is used to arrange folded finished clothes that are yet to be collected.

• Tags: As simple as this is, it can save dry cleaners from lots of stress and embarrassments  as it is used to identify clothes
• Nylons: This is special nylon specially designed for clothingdry cleaning business delivery.
• Sink: It is good to have this in the laundry room as it helps to treat stains and hand wash clothes without making the laundry room untidy.
• Laundry detergents: This is as important as food to the dry cleaners as it is used in washing out stains and dirt from clothes.
• Baking soda: This brightens, cleans, remove odors and stains from clothing
• Stain removers: Best dry cleaners make use of different forms such as gel, stick, and spray. It helps in removing different types of stains.

General Laundry Price List In Nigeria

Prices vary based on the environment and location. Of course, you can’t compare the price of dry cleaning services in Ido Ekiti to that of phase 1 in Abuja. Take for instance Maitama.

Other factors such as type of clothing material, pickup and delivery charges, rush service and any other special package will definitely account for the differences in prices across the country.

Dry cleaning business prices list is as follow:

Women’s wear

• Skirt suit: N200 – N3, 000
• Trouser suit: N300 – N3200
• Cat suit: N800 – N3000
• Jacket (ladies): N500 – N2, 500
• Complete blouse, skirt and scarf: N600 – N3, 000
• Jean trousers: N500 – N1800
• Complete track suit: N800 – N2, 000
• Day dress: N500 – N3, 000
• Iro and buba: N500 – N3300
• Head gear: N500 – N1500

Mens wear

• Complete Suit: N800 – N5000
• Jacket: N500 – N3000
• Trousers: N500 – 2000
• Tie: N200 – N1, 500
• Socks: N100 – N500
• Shirt: N500 – N1500
• Shorts: N300-N1500
• Complete Agbada, Buba & Sokoto: N800-N5000
• Native cap: N200 – N1000
• Trouser and Buba: N 800 – N3000

Bedding and household linen

• Blanket: N500 – N3000
• Duvet: N600 – N3500
• Bed sheet: N200 – N1500
• Pyjamas: N500 – N2000
• Napkin: N100 – N700

Which Are The Top 5 Laundry Services In Abuja

Here are the top 5 laundry services in Abuja Nigeria;

Ritman Laundry & Dry Cleaning Services

• They offer free home pickup and delivery services.
• It is located at Shop T, 1^st Floor, Vale Mall, Sunny Vale Homes, Abuja
• They open from Monday to Saturdays: 9 am to 9 pm
• Tel No: 08068771970
• You can like, follow or connect them on facebook, twitter and even linked in
• Web address: www.ritmanlaundry.com

Snowyclean Laundromat

• Head Office:  House 114, 4^th avenue Gwarinpa Abuja.
• They open from 9 am to 6 pm on Mondays to Saturdays while on sanitation Saturdays and public holidays, they open from 12 noon to 6 pm.
• Web address: www.snowyclean.com

Nathan’s Superior Dry Cleaning & laundry Services

• Head Office: 10 Lobito Crescent Wuse 2, Wuse Abuja
• Tel No: 08103802844

Posh Wash Dry Cleaners

• Head office: 62 Parakou Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja
• Tel No.:07098819330

Capstone Cleaners

• Head office: Luxury shop 10, section 2, Block 2, Garki Int’l market, Garki 2, Abuja
• Tel No: 08145446785, 09035256192.

Dry Cleaning Services Business (Summary)

Have you seen a man skillful at his work? He will stand before kings. Do not be scared.

Yes! Building a customer base can be challenging but you can be sure to succeed in your dry cleaning business for as long as you give your best of services to all your clients.

All thanks to the city life style that has been embraced by many. The sky is wide enough for all the birds to fly as the market is massive and it is growing fast.

Even if there is money constraint, you can still start small.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Try as much as possible not to use all your five fingers to eat, cultivate a saving habit, give yourself time and you will grow as you earn the trust of your customers.

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