A person is less and less attached to things and more and more appreciates mobility. The ability to get the desired service anywhere in your stay is what is valuable. Landromats are another step towards comfort and independence from circumstances. These devices will help everyone to quickly solve the problem of dirty laundry.
What are landromats and why are they needed?
The development of technology simplifies the receipt of services. Automated systems are able to completely replace human labor. Now the machines not only do the work, but also act as the seller or cashier. This approach to the sale of goods of any nature is called vending. Landromats - one of the incarnations of the vending associated with washing.
Where to wash clothes?
The market is saturated with automatic washing machines (CMA), and the problem of washing has not yet been 100% solved. And this applies to all countries of the post-Soviet space. The point is not even a low standard of living, but the lack of promotion of services widely used in civilized countries. So, for example, public transport can be more profitable than personal, centralized heating is more convenient than individual. There are things that at a particular point in time are more appropriate in the form of receiving services. Why buy an expensive car if you can go and wash things in the machine?
Under any conditions, a person needs to wash clothes - clothes, bedding, etc. But not all people live “settled”, surrounded by comfort and all necessary equipment. A huge layer of the population lives in hostels, in rented apartments, has work associated with long business trips. Where do such people wash their clothes? There are several options:
- Handing laundry to the laundry - there are such enterprises in big cities.
- Buy inexpensive SMA. Or take a semiautomatic device - it's cheaper. But this option is suitable only for people living in rented apartments.
- Go and wash the laundry in the landromats. This is an ideal option, we’ll talk about it.
How is the landromat arranged?
This is a washing machine that works without human intervention. There is no intermediary between the client and the AGR. Each professional SMA (PSMA) at the self-service enterprise is equipped with its own payment system. The latter includes a replenishment unit with a bill acceptor. The user loads the laundry into the machine, and puts banknotes or coins into the bill acceptor - just as is done, for example, in coffee machines.
The control unit allows the owner of the PSMA:
- Set and change tariffs.
- Monitor the status of the AGR.
- Take into account and control the funds deposited.
The main clientele of mini-laundry:
- Students.
- Tenants of rented apartments.
- Traveling. There are professions and activities in which you have to live in a foreign city for several weeks.
- People who have a broken washing machine - it happens, it takes a month or more to repair. While they order the item, while they bring it, while they deliver ... But it is necessary to wash it.
- Just travel lovers. Some activities, such as freelance, allow you to change your place of residence. Free professions can roam from city to city. Today we managed to rent an apartment with household appliances, tomorrow I came across a house without a washing machine, and washing with hands is not an option.
- Businesses wishing to wash workwear for their employees.
Usually, for the laundromat laundries, they choose the most "bread" places - near student and family dormitories. This is where the main contingent of potential users is located. The service is especially useful for students - this category of consumers is more difficult to solve the issue of dirty linen.
Laundry equipment
The market has enough professional equipment that can be used to open mini laundries. Suitable PSMAs offer about 20 brands, among them - Electrolux, Bosch, Siemens, Miele, BEKO, Maytag. Ordinary household washers are not suitable - their operational capabilities will not pull the load that they will have to experience. And we must proceed from the fact that the machines will have to work a lot, almost continuously.
How is the work organized?
The principle of the organization of laundromats:
- Full automation.
- The client independently launches the washing and drying.
- Each machine is equipped with a coin receiver.
- Not necessary, but desirable - the presence of machines with different loads. In a large machine, washing is more expensive.
- Powders are sold in special installations.
- Drying is paid separately.
Landromats are extremely popular in the USA and European countries. In principle, the idea came from here. In New York, for example, a cycle in the smallest washing machine costs $ 3, in a bigger car - $ 5. 6 minute drying - 25 cents.
What devices are needed?
Normal SMA is designed for only 1500-2000 cycles. If you wash every day - one full cycle, the resource will be depleted in 5-7 years. In the laundry, cars will have to work in a different mode - every day for 5-10 or more cycles, depending on the number of customers. And the more the machine will work, the greater the profit of the project owners. It is clear that the equipment used in self-service enterprises should be unprecedentedly reliable and durable. Home laundry in laundry mode will last six months - at best.
Use unprofessional equipment does not make sense. She will quickly fail. And when it gets into service, they will cancel the "warranty service" due to the merciless operation of the machine, this will be called "commercial use", for which household AGRs are not intended.
For a self-service enterprise, you will need a CMA Professional (Commercial) class. Such machines are able to work ten times more than their home counterparts - from 15 to 30 thousand full cycles. The "pros" have another advantage - the speed of the process. An ordinary washing machine for one cycle with an extraction spends about two hours, a professional machine - half as much.
What else to consider:
- Vandal proof covers. The behavior of people is sometimes unpredictable, so the owners of PSMA installations sincerely advise their followers - install protective covers on the washers that prevent unauthorized access to the system control panel.
- Powder dispensers. The profitability of each portion of the sold powder or conditioner reaches 100-200%. This is a good increase in profit.
Characteristics of the average dispenser:
- Dispensing time - from 10 to 20 seconds.
- The minimum dose is 50 g.
- The error is 5–10%.
- Powder is dispensed into the customer's container.
- Power supply - 220 V, power - 400 W.
The main problem for an entrepreneur who wants to start his own business is the purchase of washing machines. The cost of one PSMA is from 500 to 1000 thousand rubles. That is, investments are colossal, risks are big, payback is not fast. Business, so popular in the West, does not find much development in Russia. Let’s try to figure out why the landromats are not widespread in our country and whether this enterprise has prospects.
The high cost of professional SMA forces novice entrepreneurs to look for less costly ways. So, for example, craftsmen offer people who want to open their mini-laundry, a kind of landromats - they attach household machines to a common control unit with a bill acceptor. It is clear that such an organization of business is at a "primitive stage" and cannot be a reliable source of profit. Moreover, the owner of such ersatz landromats will face many problems - breakdowns, possible vandalism, etc.
Laundromat business plan
Almost any business today can be started through a franchise. First, consider the option of opening an automated laundry from scratch.
Services offered:
- washing;
- drying;
- ironing.
Payment:
- made through a bill acceptor - taking into account the selected mode.
The target audience:
- catering enterprises;
- Hotels
- hairdressing salons;
- Beauty Salons;
- individuals.
Paperwork
To open a company, you need a minimum of documents - it is registered as a small business. Required documents:
- Certificate of registration of an individual enterprise (IP).
- Permission of a sanitary and epidemiological station.
- Help from the fire service.
- Lease agreement.
Selection of premises
The room should be spacious and bright. And most importantly, it should be located in a crowded, passable place - at dormitories, hotels, train stations. The room should have about 10 PSMA. For so many cars, you need at least 30 square meters. m
The room must be in a non-residential building or at least on a non-residential floor of a residential building. If the premises are neglected, repairs will be required. In any case, it should be perfectly clean and tidy. During the repair, immediately make the wiring of communications for the installation of SMA and drying machines. The cost of renting a room is from 40,000, payment of a communal apartment is from 15,000 rubles.
Equipment purchase and other expenses
The purchase of equipment is the main expense item. There are several options for accepting payments:
- An automatic device responsible for several machines at once.
- Installations with integrated bill acceptors.
The best devices are from Germany, USA, Sweden. There is also a Russian development - Vyazma.
When buying PSMA, you should consider:
- The relevance and fame of the brand, reputation and reviews of the purchased equipment.
- Price-quality ratio".
- Service and warranty service.
- The presence of specialists in the installation and configuration of equipment.
For the enterprise, vending washers with different loads are required - from 3.5 to 8 kg. Costs - from 50,000 to 80,000 rubles per unit of equipment. If you buy 10 pieces, the cost will be 500 000-800 000 rubles.
- Drying machines - 40 000 rubles.
- Ironing equipment - 15 000 rubles.
- Water filtration system - 10,000 rubles.
- Consumables - 20 000 rubles. This refers to detergents - powders and conditioners.
Staff recruitment
The main business partners are washing machines. Landromats are good because they do not require hiring personnel - administrators and other assistants. But specialists may be needed to solve technical problems.
There are two options for resolving technical issues:
- Hire a master maintenance technician - 35,000 rubles.
- Pay for the work of the master one-time - if something breaks.
The accounting issue is also solved in two ways:
- Hiring a full-time accountant - 25,000 rubles.
- Using outsourcing - a remote accountant.
The total cost of opening a business will amount to 2,000,000 rubles. Investments will pay off - under favorable circumstances, at least after 1.5 years.
Do I need advertising and promotion?
To promote the service, you can use any type of advertising:
- registration on online sites;
- outdoor advertising;
- calling organizations;
- creating your own website.
It is clear that in the first stages you will have to limit yourself to minimal advertising. Website development and other methods of promotion on the Internet make sense when expanding the enterprise.
Advertising, in order to avoid unnecessary costs, should be as close as possible to the target audience. You should analyze the market, identify your potential customers and try to convey useful information to them.
Pros and cons
The market has virtually no competitors. If you choose the location of the premises - close to potential customers, you can get a steady income.
Disadvantages:
- Seasonal decline. If the business is aimed at students, then during the holidays, especially summer, there is a prolonged decline in income. The total drop in profits can be 10–50%, depending on the contingent.
- Rent. It is difficult to find a suitable room and negotiate a rental.
- Investments. The initial costs are very large - a considerable initial capital is required.
- Expenses. It is required to cover considerable expenses for utilities - to pay bills for water, electricity, etc.
- Vandalism. Great risks are associated with the likelihood of damage to the AGR. This is especially true when serving students.
What does the franchise give?
There is another scheme for starting a business. Those who are not sure that they will be able to create a project with their own hands can acquire a franchise. Today there are already companies offering turnkey projects.
So, for example, there are companies offering the launch of a mini-laundry for 100,000 rubles, offering their own developed landromats. In fact, they take ordinary household cars and equip them with payment systems.
In this business, the main thing is expansion. Firms of this kind open point by point. And when their number exceeds the interest of the company within one city, they begin to offer partnership to everyone. Such "innovators" offer not only SMA with a payment system, but also training.
What exactly do franchise sellers offer:
- Finished equipment.
- Ready-made business model and work under the name of a company selling a franchise.
The result is the launch of a successful enterprise and gaining profitability in six months.
Profitable or not?
The main difference between washing vending is the lack of need for a constant supply of consumables. So, for example, coffee machines need constant maintenance - they must be seasoned with sugar, coffee and a bunch of ingredients. For washing you need only two components:
- Water. It costs inexpensively, from 30 to 60 liters are consumed per cycle.
- Detergent. Customers can bring it with them. You can organize a sale - as in American laundries. This is at the request of the owner. But it’s easier, at first, to shift the problem of the powder to the client - let him erase with the product that he likes.
If you believe the representatives of companies installing washing machines with bill acceptors, the cost of one wash costs 7-8 rubles. This includes water, electricity, rent and more. If you take at least 50 rubles for one wash, then the profit will be 42 rubles. That is, the profit from one wash is 500%.
The business in question can become profitable if favorable conditions for its development are created:
- A large number of consumers.
- Reliable equipment.
- Minimum rental costs.
- The exception to vandalism.
- Prospects for expansion.
And certainly self-service enterprises are beneficial for people who do not have their own SMA due to the circumstances. As soon as the opportunity arises to come and wash the laundry without further ado, these people will immediately take advantage of this opportunity.
Owner and user reviews
One of the companies involved in the production and installation of self-service machines is Stirkatime, a St. Petersburg company. The owners of the company generously share the idea and sell the franchise. According to the founders of the company, they managed to create a profitable network of laundry outlets. About this in the video tells the founder of the company "Wash Time".
Feedback from service consumers is only positive. Students are especially pleased - thanks to the landromats, they were able to solve the problem of dirty laundry. Those to whom a wave of new business has come, are free from fussing with basins, no need to carry bales of bed linen home - all issues are resolved at the place of residence. Dormitories today do not consider it necessary to provide students with clean linen - well, entrepreneurs are gradually filling this empty niche.
Conclusions
To summarize:
- In the Russian market, the niche for mini-laundromats is almost not occupied. There is no competition, which gives an impetus to the development of entrepreneurial activity.
- The biggest expenses are associated with equipment. Few people are able to buy several professional devices. More often they use household machines equipped with payment systems in a semi-artisanal way.
The business associated with the opening of laundromat laundries is promising, but requires large investments and pays off for a long time. Sustainable profit requires the expansion, modernization of equipment, control and maintenance of equipment.