Ironing business... help and creative ideas appreciated

zara*elise

Hi everyone,

I've just set up my ironing business, and need some advice as to how to proceed next.

Have advertised on the usual sites (yell, thompson, touchlocal... got the obligatory sales phone calls too... how much for advertising per year?? :mad: ) I've got website set up and have created a nice little niche for the area. I'm charging per item and have made sure that I'm cheaper than all the competition in the area I'm working.

Anyway, I was wondering: to those who run an ironing/laundry business and those that use one, how do you sort out payment? Do you have any paperwork that you give your customers, aside from the receipt etc? As I'm charging per item should I check the amount of clothes on the door or when I get home?

My idea was:

Book ironing in over the phone or via the website.
Collect ironing at specified time.
Drive home.
When home, check all ironing and price up accurately.
Iron.
Deliver back and take payment.

Is this wise? Or should I check items at the door?

Does anyone actually do this, or am I over thinking things? I just don't want to collect a bag of items, spend hours ironing it all then have a customer complain about the price.

Emmamumof2

Could you ring the customer and quote the price after getting home and pricing it all up accurately? Im not sure its really necessary but if it would put your mind at rest, at least until they are regulars, might be worth a 2 min phone call!

paulofessex

How about getting either a friend/relative to use one of your competitors to see how they do it and then you can compare their service to the one you wish to present to customers.

For me, seeing an advert stating a price per item would possibly be off putting. Would a set price for x5 shirts x2 trousers etc etc be better

paulwf

Would you perhaps need to log the number of items when collecting so they couldn't turn round later and say you have lost something? If you are logging them it'd only take seconds to work out the price.

zara*elise

Thanks so much for all your help! I think it would probably be easier to do a basket load, but don't want people turning around and saying I've lost items etc. I've checked with the local companies and those that are actually trading still tend to go by weight.

I was thinking that pricing things up individually would be a good idea as it would mean each item is accounted for. but if I'm going to log the items anyway then I might as well do a bag load of items.

As a compromise, how about pricing up items individually, and also have a sort of bundle package that people could use. Then I'd be able to determine which sells better and go from there.

paulwf

OP there have been loads of threads about ironing companies on MSE, especially on the Up Your Income board. As frustrating as the search function is it would be worth wading through the threads as there has been a lot of talk about pricing strategy.

My take on it is that whatever method you go for make sure it is clear to the customer. I hate companies that can't give you an idea of price for a job when you call them so a clear pricing scheme is essential.

BTW in your first post it seems that your unique selling point is that you are cheaper than the rest. That way madness lies, you are in this to make money. The competition probably aren't on fantastic margins so don't try and undercut them, instead be the best and have something that sets you apart. By all means offer an introductory discount but make this clear to customers, they won't like it when your prices suddenly go up otherwise.

Have confidence in yourself, not many people make money by being the cheapest in the long term.

jexygirl

Hi there,
At my previous pub, I used an Ironing service and it was a godsend, seriously make sure you flyer your local pubs and any other B&B, guest houses, people who have 24/7 buisnesses. B8B & guest houses may also talk about guest service ironing too, as well as if you have a pub, you talk to everyone - word of mouth is the best advert you can get imho! I should have been on commision!

It was collected, and pricing was by weight, using one of those fish weighing scale type things. I would bag it in bin liners, he arrived, weighed it, told me the price, wrote it in his book, and took it away. I knew the cost, he had a record, would pop a hand written sticker on the bin bags with weight and name. (I guess this was a paper trail for his ironers as well!) It came back 2 days later ironed, hung, and covered in plastic. I returned the hangers when I got too many.

We had a good relationship / service and he would call if he was going to be late / car broke down / someone was sick, (rarely) and that counted as good service, it made you feel like you mattered to him. They also offer "strict non smoking policy" which will appeal to many (at the time there was no smoking ban in england so I stank whatever!) but might well be worth thinking about.

Also, the plus side/buisness side for you if done by weight, is people are likely to think less about what they are putting in the bag as they arent thinking that every item has a cost, its the overall price ( I know I was this way, it came out of the dryer and mostly went into the bag, I had limited time out, and didnt want to spend it ironing and this was truly brilliant for me. Private customers may think a little more, but rather than looking at a shirt and thinking about price, I guess I looked at it being a weight and didnt think too much about cost, whereas if I had known the individual cost I may have thought more, who knows)

The website doesnt list prices - it does however collect from home or work... AND GENIOUS - offers gift vouchers - what a present to give someone, and also, once they have teh service, the liklihood of returning, or word of mouth is again priceless....

As Paul says, it isnt about price, being cheapest sometimes may put people off, and also, means that you will be ironing at all hours, for little return. Make yourself stand out, and you can probably research what things weigh, appear to be cheapest, when actually you arent, but your service and the buisness you pick up because people will think less about what they put in the bag, means more throughput for you. Not saying weight is necessarily better than what you are doing, just that it was a very efficient way of collecting and pricing instantly almost.

Since we moved, I now use a laundry service, as alot of the hotel stuff goes there. She began as an Ironing service but spotted the niche of washing too. I only send hotel stuff to her and chef whites (only because I dont wear anything else these days lol!) but again, its the collection, quick turn around, level of service and friendliness that I like, combined with the quality of the work.

One thing I would say, do you have liability insurance, just in case? Also are you registered as self employed?

As for receipts etc. My first service used a normal receipt copy book, he weighed stuff, wrote it down in the book and on return of the ironing, he ripped the top copy off, gave it to me and I paid it. It had weight on it and price. The one i use now is slightly bigger and we get a monthly invoice, but thats only because we are a buisness.

If you want the name of the service / website I used to use before we moved, PM me, I am sure he would be willing to tell you what he charges by weight - provided you are nowhere near him !
hth sorry for waffle
jex

theonlywayisup

We use an ironing service, the usp for us was the fact the company also sew name tapes into school items for us. There is nothing quite like the school uniform (and it is a lot as it is a boarding school) all coming back, ironed and marked up. Fantastic service.

DKLS

I plumped for the local ironing service that charges a set amount per kg, nearly all the offer services, would have a sliding rate for what item it was, which puts me off.