Starting A Dry Cleaning Business
It’s not an easy business for a start-up, asserts Jon Meijer, vice president of membership for the International Fabricare Institute, based in Silver Spring, Md., the leading trade group for dry-cleaners. These business owners cope with long hours and slim margins. People don’t wear fancy dry-clean-only clothes as much as they did in decades past, which has hurt sales. Moreover, there are about 32,000 dry-cleaners in the U.S., he points out. “There’s too much competition,” he says. “It’s that simple.”For a college student, the capital outlay may be a significant barrier to entry. A start-up dry-cleaner should plan for about $150,000 in initial capital, he says, just for the machinery, not including real estate.
Still, for the best shoe man in town, one who instinctively understands good service, there is more than one way to clean a shirt, especially if you start small. Successful start-up dry-cleaners today must have a niche, says Mr. Meijer. Some pursue, for example, environmentally sound cleaning practices, eschewing the solvent perchloroethelene, used in the “perc” process that gives your dry-cleaned clothes that particular smell. (Mr. Meijer says that efficient new machinery has reduced the use of solvents such as “perc” by about 70% over the past decade.)
mhoffman on July 12th, 2005 1:54 am
who is Mr. Meijer?
and do you think a drycleaning service is needed for the public?
thanks,
mh
Adam Dartez on September 21st, 2007 9:11 pm
My name is Adam Dartez and I started a dry cleaning business in Austin Texas about a year ago. I definiatly agree with this post about the long hours. I have been working 70+ hours a week for the past year. I also agree with the environmentally friendly approach being a good marketing tool. My cleaners, Austin Cleaners ( http://www.austincleaners.net ), does not use PERC, a fact that I market heavily. Whether it’s the environmentally friendly approach or a different niche, being in a market with competitors literally on every corner, differentiating yourself from the competition is a must!
Christian Dreke on October 20th, 2008 3:27 pm
Starting any business is challenging. Those who stretch the dollar most wisely and use technology effectively are much more likely to succeed than those who do not. These days a good website is a must for any business, small or large. Our company (http://www.mylocalway.com) provides entrepreners with an easy and effective way to get started with a website that is indexed by Google and Yahoo.
Chuck Dalfone on January 17th, 2009 4:43 pm
I recently got laid off from my job and had heard great things about getting into the dry cleaners business.
I contacted a company called Dry Clean Concepts (http://www.drycleanconcepts.com/) on a reccomendation. Aaron, the owner, answered a majority of my questions over the phone but we met soon after and he helped me understand everything involved. PERC seemed to be the way to go, so thats the route i went, but he knew about a few others too.
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