Pick-up and delivery

[Daniel Craine]

Hi, all!

What resources are out there to help a laundromat owner expand into the pick-up and delivery business?

Thanks!

Dan

[Mark]

Hey, Daniel. I’d be happy to help if you have any questions. We do quite a bit of pickup and delivery at The Folde (www.thefolde.com) in Texas. Any particular questions or just looking for a springboard to bounce ideas off of?

[joshua fraiser]

Howdy Mark,

Heard about you guys on the podcast, checked out your site and watched a few The Folde youtube videos. For what its worth, I am super impressed with what yall have accomplished. Seems like you really have things figured out. Congratulations on your success so far! I am currently in the process of buying a mat. It will be a complete refit so I am still a 4-6 months out and going through the financing stages.

My Business plan centers around PUD, Think there are Huge opportunities in this space, especially in FL. No one in my market is doing it on a large or even small scale, so I have a TON of questions. I live in a fairly small community (500,000 residents). Im sure most of these would probably be better explained over the phone, but figured others may benefit from these questions as well.

Here goes;

1) How does Starched UP compare to other POS systems like Cents. do they offer an app-based option that allows easier consumer-provider interaction, vice just a website-based application? or is that something you have to build separately?

2) I plan to start PUD prior to opening my store by using local retail assets to figure out the process on a small scale and start establishing a customer base. Aside from low to no margin, what were some of the challenges you faced early on with this strategy? Marketing, processes, quality control, customer communication, etc? I plan to control 100% of the product cycle from start to finish.

3) Were you guys a flat rate bag price from day one, or did you start with LB pricing then pivot? What are the benefits of flat-rate pricing compared to LB?

4) Can you think of a couple of bottlenecks during the operational cycle, something you guys didn’t see or even think about early on when you first got started? For example, In my research, I’ve heard having storage space is a big part of it..

5) What type of onsite product management system do you use to keep orders organized? Do you have barcodes on bags with a scanner that tracks everything, or do you somehow print out tickets and attach them to each bag?

Understand if you don’t want to go in-depth here, I am grateful for any direction and guidance your willing to share.

Would love to connect further if you’re up for it.

Cheers,
Josh
[email protected]

[Mark]

Hey – all good questions. Happy to take this to a phone call if easier. I’ll give you the spark notes here and let you reach out by email if you have more. My email is mvlaskamp @ thefolde.com.

1) Starchup has an app for the end customer so they can use the app on their phone or the iFrame embed on your website. We find most people use the website for their first order then download the app and start using the app for all future orders. It is super user-friendly! On top of the customer app, the drivers have their own app and they are developing a facility app for the laundry teams to use. So, it’s all mobile-friendly.

2) Good idea. The vertical integration is the only way to get scale and retain customers. My advice would be to just talk to the store owner. It is a better deal for him than it will be for you. So, get any wholesale price you can from him. But, realize that any break-even customers you have now will be very profitable customers when you get your own laundromat. Theoretically, it is simple. But, managing your burn rate is going to be your biggest challenge.

3) We have always been flat rate. I don’t like per pound. It is how the old school guys price their service and they like to be vocal about how wrong flat rate pricing is. I see a couple benefits to it: 1) it lowers the barrier to entry to a customer who is unsure about testing it out bc they know exactly what they are paying 2) we save a ton on payroll and efficiency not weighing every bag, 3) we’re doing a ton of laundry anyway – who cares if the customer stuffs it full? Letting them feel like they are gaming the system is a huge marketing approach to gamify the ordering process.

4) Have a solid terms and conditions on damage and refunds. You will need lots of storage space. Vet drivers before hiring them because insurance will kill you on certain drivers with a bad record.

5) Everything runs through Starchup – barcodes, routes, tracking, time clock, coupons, etc. If you reach out to them, tell them I sent you.

[Sandy Keating]

You could have your drivers as independent contractors.

[Jesse Kuhns]

HI! Can you tell us where you get your bags? I’ve been looking online and they’re super expensive!
Jesse Kuhns
Sunshine Laredos Laundromat

[Brad McGuire]

Hey Mark! I looked through your website and noticed some interesting things I haven’t seen before in your PUD services. Would you be up for a chat? My email address is [email protected] if you’re up for dropping me a line.

Thanks!

Brad

[Mark]

Hey, Brad. Just saw this. I’ll follow up by email.

[b A]

I too am interested in starting a PUD. There is one service in town and there is a market for other players, however I haven’t found in great resources on the nuts and bolts of starting a service.

[Long Island Laundry Company]

Hey, Daniel. I’d be happy to help if you have any questions.
We do quite a bit of pickup and delivery at The Laundry Service in Glen Cove. Any particular questions do you have?

[Author]

Posts