Business ideas 

Opening a dry cleaner. Cleanliness is the key to health and wealth: how to open a successful dry cleaner. What does dry cleaning do, the advantages of such a business

Business in Russia. Guides to starting a business in the regions.
700,000 entrepreneurs in the country trust us

*Calculations use average data for Russia

Opening your own dry cleaner in Russia can be a profitable endeavor. At the same time, you need to understand that there are two different directions of this business - a full-fledged laundry and dry cleaning and a self-service laundry. In this article, we’ll look at the first line of business in more detail (how they differ, I think, there’s no need to explain).

First, you need to register as a business entity, and here you can register as just an individual entrepreneur or register your own legal entity. In general, to start your own business in this area, it will not be enough to simply register; you also need to obtain standard permissions from Rospotrebnadzor, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and many other authorities. An entrepreneur must have contracts for the maintenance of his premises, but in general almost every entrepreneur goes through all these procedures, and there are no special features provided for here. Only special attention needs to be paid to utilities and the condition of the premises. In general, registration will require from 800 rubles (the amount of the state fee for registering an individual entrepreneur) to approximately 20 thousand rubles (registration of a legal entity with the formation of an authorized capital).

Increase sales without investment!

“1000 ideas” - 1000 ways to differentiate yourself from competitors and make any business unique. Professional kit for developing business ideas. Trending product 2019.

The next step in organizing a business is actually finding a place to work. And here it must be said that an entrepreneur has several options available depending on what range of services he wants to offer his clients. In general, the size of the laundry room will be considerable, because you will have to have not only a washing area, but also ironing, dry cleaning, warehouses for consumables and ready-to-issue clothes, and an area for sorting linen. As a result, the size of the laundry room starts from 70 m2 to 100 m2. An entrepreneur should look for premises depending on the location of competitive enterprises, but still the most preferred places are residential areas with a huge number of houses. It is usually not advisable to be located in the city center, because it is still more convenient for clients to drop off and receive clothes close to home. This significantly reduces the cost of renting premises, because in residential areas it is always lower than in the center. On average, the cost will be about 500-600 rubles per square meter of area (this means premises not near roads, but somewhere among residential areas, for example, on the first floors of residential buildings, the main thing is that such premises are registered by the owner as a commercial real estate). In small cities it may be a little cheaper, but in megacities even such a room will cost much more. Also, when choosing a premises, you should pay attention to how suitable it is for this type of business - that is, it must be connected to a water supply system, the technical equipment of the sewerage and water supply system must correspond to the volume of water that will have to be used, that is, the calculations must be accurate, and you need to say that not every room may be suitable. Otherwise, you will have to do repairs, which will require additional investments, and here the amount may even exceed 100 thousand rubles.

When the issue with the premises has been resolved, you can begin to search for the necessary equipment. So, for a laundry, first of all, of course, washing machines are needed, professional ones at that, having a huge number of settings and working with different types of fabrics. Next are dryers, sometimes wringer machines are additionally purchased, and you also need to buy separate equipment for the dry cleaning area. Today, suppliers offer specialized machines, as well as so-called finishing equipment, which perform additional processing functions for soiled clothing. Dry cleaning employees must understand perfectly how to operate the equipment (but more about staff selection below). The cost of equipment can vary greatly; for example, foreign machines will be an order of magnitude more expensive than Russian or Chinese ones. Moreover, it makes sense to consider Russian equipment - it is not always inferior in quality to foreign equipment, but at the same time it is much cheaper, because transport costs are reduced and there are no customs duties. Chinese devices, in turn, are usually really inferior in quality, but can be the cheapest solution even taking into account customs operations and transportation. However, the cost of cars differs in other respects; So for washing, drying and wringing machines, the main parameter is productivity, that is, how much laundry the unit can process at a time; it is measured in kilograms, and here the simplest model has a maximum load usually no more than 8 kilograms. But for a professional laundry this may not be enough; In general, manufacturers supply devices that can be loaded with up to 100 kilograms of laundry. Whether it makes sense to buy such expensive (and very large) equipment - the entrepreneur decides for himself. The cost of all these cars is approximately the same, starting from 70-100 thousand rubles, but the most expensive cars cost up to half a million (and sometimes more). A separate category includes technical complex units that are analogues to simple machines, for example, barrier-type squeezing machines cost 700-1400 thousand rubles, and the most expensive units cost up to 5 million. But this is rather equipment for a very large dry cleaning service, which works not just with individuals, but with enterprises. There are also additional devices that improve the washing process, for example, detergent dispensers (allowing you to fully automate the washing process even for the entire working day), but their cost will not be small - from 100 thousand rubles for each washing machine. Next - ironing machines, their main parameter is the working surface area, so it doesn’t always make sense to buy wide units, because the laundry does not expect to work with wide products. A good ironing press costs about half a million, but for a laundry you need to buy significantly less of them than the same washing machines (a small laundry can be served by one such machine). Here you also need to understand that at least 100 thousand rubles will have to be spent on small additional equipment - boards, tables, racks and similar products. But the most expensive (of the necessary ones) will be dry cleaning machines. The cost of a normal machine starts from one million rubles, and although one machine may also be enough here, the equipment of a dry cleaning zone usually costs more than a simple washing zone. At the same time, opening a laundry without the possibility of dry cleaning is usually pointless, because a significant part of clients are interested in this. Hence it turns out that the cost of laundry equipment starts from 2-3 million rubles and can amount to several tens of millions, depending on how large the establishment will be, that is, how many machines will have to be bought. It is clear that even a small laundry cannot get by with one washing machine; sometimes up to a dozen of them are purchased (and in large enterprises, more than ten). If you buy used cars, you can save a lot of money. By the way, it should also be noted that all equipment must comply with noise emission standards, especially if the laundry is located near residential buildings.

Once the equipment has been supplied and installed (and ideally the supplier should handle the installation), you can start looking for staff for your laundry. To work in a laundry, you need to find people who have already worked in a laundry or at least understand how to use the equipment provided. Such an enterprise can employ quite a lot of people, but much depends on the laundry’s operating schedule, as well as its size. Moreover, sometimes in a laundry the equipment does not allow for complete automation of the process, so people are hired to perform some duties, for example, ironing clothes. It should also be noted that many laundries operate daily, and the schedule can even be twelve hours. Under such conditions, it turns out that even a small laundry needs to hire at least 4 people. There must also be at least one receiver, that is, a person who is responsible for receiving and issuing linen and works directly with clients. Additionally, if the entrepreneur himself is not going to be the head of his establishment, then he will need to hire a director, and this person already receives 30 thousand rubles. The laundry workers themselves receive from 20 thousand rubles (people at the reception) to 30 thousand (employees who are directly involved in the work process). It is also worth noting that today some of the laundries offer their clients good service, and the most common additional service is visiting the client’s home and delivering washed laundry. Of course, the laundry service may charge extra money for this, and quite a few people order this service. If an entrepreneur decides to engage in this area, then he will have to hire a person who will be responsible for visiting the client. In other words, you just need a driver (the salary of these people is from 20 thousand rubles). But then you will have to buy a car for the company, which will pick up and deliver laundry. In general, the very minimum that you will need to spend on a car is 500 thousand rubles. A good car costs about a million rubles. Also, all business processes that are not related to the organization’s profit making should be outsourced. This includes accounting, security and premises maintenance services.

The next step will be to search for suppliers of consumables. Depending on the services provided and the equipment used, consumables may vary, but this is almost always a huge number of different goods; however, in any relatively large city there is more than one company that supplies such products. At the same time, before purchasing equipment, you should familiarize yourself with exactly what consumables will be required for your work. In general, they are purchased with the expectation that their cost will be covered by the provision of services, and together with all expenses, the cost of providing laundry and dry cleaning services will not amount to more than 25% of the final cost. That is, the markup in this business is quite high, but you need to understand that running a laundry is a fairly expensive undertaking, and therefore you always need to ensure a considerable flow of customers. A full-fledged advertising campaign can help here, that is, it makes sense to advertise in local media and even create your own website. For the first time you will have to allocate at least 100 thousand rubles; later, of course, this amount will be reduced, but some money will have to be constantly invested.

To open a laundry you will need to allocate:

    Registration – 20 thousand rubles.

    Equipment – ​​2 million rubles.

  • Rent – ​​35 thousand rubles.
  • Advertising – 100 thousand rubles.
  • Salary – 110 thousand rubles.
  • Consumables for the first time - 20 thousand rubles.
  • Buying a car – 500 thousand rubles.

Ready ideas for your business

Total: 2 million 285 thousand rubles. Monthly expenses are 165 thousand rubles. The cost of laundry services, in general, should not be very high for the client, otherwise it will not be profitable for him to contact such establishments. In general, people go to the laundromat either when they have a lot of dirty clothes (which means that the main consumers will be large families), or when the clothes require dry cleaning. Dry cleaning is the most expensive service, and here you need to understand that sometimes it is cheaper for a client to buy a new item than to use laundry services; Only valuables are carried there. The cost of washing starts at about 200 rubles per kilogram of clothes; At the same time, many laundries that cooperate with enterprises and wash a large number of items for them at a time give a good discount - sometimes even more than double. Dry cleaning can cost more than 1 thousand rubles for one item, but much of this is determined by the difficulty of removing dirt and usually such prices are set for outerwear. To cover your expenses, you need to take in about 30 kilograms of clothes for washing every day - but this is calculated only at the lowest rate. From this it becomes clear that this business cannot be called highly profitable; profit is generated only with a very large number of orders - that is, with almost one hundred percent load of the laundry. For example, if a laundry takes in 40 kilograms daily, then its income is 240 thousand rubles, operating profit is 75 thousand rubles, net profit is 63 thousand 750 rubles (profitability is about 25%). Such a business will not pay for itself in a couple of months (according to our calculations - almost 3 years, if you do not buy a car), and it is recommended to have some reserve funds to ensure your work for the first time, at least for the first six months of work, until the number of clients becomes large enough .

Experts and analysts claim that the market for household services has been growing by 25% annually over the past few years. That is why many businessmen consider the pressing question: how to open a clothes dry cleaning business.

Reception point

If you do not have a large starting capital and can afford to spend no more than 3 thousand, then you can only count on organizing a reception center. You can open it on your own or buy a ready-made business. Opening a dry cleaning collection point costs three times less than purchasing a ready-made solution.

The business organizer will need a small room, 2 receptionists and one driver with a car, registration of an emergency and a minimum set of furniture.

It is beneficial to enter into agreements with large companies, since they can pick up and deliver the clothes themselves and are responsible for completing their work.

Mini dry cleaning

If you have a start-up capital of 1,750 -2,500 thousand rubles, you can open a mini dry cleaner. Problems with the premises may arise here, since according to the standards, the distance from the dry cleaner to residential buildings must be at least 50 meters; it should not be located near residential buildings or public catering establishments. This business is not licensed, but it will take time to obtain numerous permits.

The most basic way is to open a dry cleaning franchise. Some money, of course, will have to be paid to the existing network, but in this case there is much less risk. All the hassle of selecting premises, opening a business, training staff and setting up equipment is borne by the franchisor.

The question of how to open a dry cleaner in the case of a franchise is clear. At the same time, novice entrepreneurs are interested in the question: how profitable is it to open. A franchise dry cleaner has a payback period of up to two years, after which the net profit ranges from 2 to 10 thousand dollars.

Autonomous dry cleaning

If you are thinking about how to open a mini dry cleaning shop on your own, let’s calculate how much it will all cost:

As you know, a business plan distinguishes between one-time and ongoing expenses.

One-time expenses include:

  • Equipment set – up to 70 thousand dollars;
  • Professional writing of a business plan – up to 1 thousand dollars;
  • Equipment setup – up to 7 thousand dollars;
  • Costs for obtaining permits and documentation – up to 5 thousand dollars;
  • Consumables – 5 thousand dollars;
  • Alarm system – from 1500 thousand dollars.

In addition, you should take into account the current costs of staff and cosmetic repairs of the premises. So, on average, cosmetic repairs will require you to have 20 thousand dollars.

The staff of a mini dry cleaner must include 1 technologist, two workers, two ironers, a driver and an accountant.

So, how much does it cost to open a dry cleaner? On average, opening a mini dry cleaner will require 116 thousand rubles.

An example of a business plan for opening a dry cleaner in a small city with a population of 120 thousand inhabitants.

Business prospects

The crisis of the 90s led to the fact that dry cleaning enterprises under state care fell into disrepair: the equipment became outdated, there was an outflow of qualified personnel, and the quality of the services provided sharply decreased. Ultimately, the provision of dry cleaning services was practically discontinued. However, the demand for such services remains high. It is much cheaper for the consumer to restore the product to its original appearance by dry cleaning than to buy a new item. Therefore, opening an enterprise providing dry cleaning services in modern conditions is considered a completely promising project.

How much money do you need to open a dry cleaner?

According to business plan calculations, opening a small dry cleaner will require at least 3,220,000 rubles:

  • Minor repairs to the premises - RUB 200,000.
  • Purchase of professional equipment on a turnkey basis - RUB 2,500,000.
  • Installation of security and fire safety systems - RUB 70,000.
  • Business registration, approvals and permits - RUB 50,000.
  • Advertising budget - 100,000 rubles.
  • Other expenses (consumables, work clothes, fuels and lubricants, etc.) - 100,000 rubles.
  • Reserve fund - 200,000 rubles.

Which taxation system to choose for an enterprise

The organizational form of the enterprise will be individual entrepreneurship. It is planned to use a single tax on imputed income (UTII) as a taxation system. Under such a system, the tax will be fixed and paid quarterly. A license is not required for such activities. Our dry cleaning will provide cleaning services for clothes made from different materials and groups: suits, coats, dresses, textiles, leather products, fur products, carpet dry cleaning, as well as manual cleaning of shoes, bags and suede. For urgent order fulfillment (within 24 hours), an additional payment will be charged - 50% of the price list.

Dry cleaning service technology

  1. Reception of products
  2. Sorting products by type and degree of contamination
  3. Removal of specific contaminants, stain removal
  4. Cleaning of products
  5. Processing with organic solvents
  6. Impregnation of products
  7. Wet heat treatment
  8. Checking the quality of work

Marketing and advertising

The first point of a business marketing plan is to determine the market capacity for dry cleaning services. According to some data, the average resident of Russia uses dry cleaning services on average once every 2 years. The population of our city is 120 thousand inhabitants. Of these, the number of economically active people (potential clients) is 60 thousand people. By simple calculations we get: 60,000 people. / 730 days = 82. It turns out that about 82 people need dry cleaning services every day. There are two organizations in our city that provide dry cleaning services. These are fairly well-known and established organizations that have been working in the market for such services for several years. However, the speed of customer service and the quality of the services they provide is not so great. We believe that the opening of our enterprise with modern high-quality equipment and trained personnel will allow us to attract the lion's share of clients. The average bill for the service according to preliminary calculations will be 1050 rubles. According to the most conservative estimates, an average of 12 clients will visit the dry cleaner every day (excluding time spent promoting the business). On weekdays the flow will be slightly higher than on weekends. This will allow you to receive an average daily income of 12,600 rubles, respectively, a monthly income of 378,000 rubles.

Download a dry cleaning business plan from our partners, with a quality guarantee.

Production plan

When choosing premises for dry cleaning, all SES requirements will be met, including the distance from residential buildings, which must be at least 50 meters. The size of the rented premises will be 85 sq. m. m. with a monthly rent of 42,500 rubles (500 rubles/m2).

The issue of accepting products for cleaning will also be resolved. The city will operate two clothing collection points in the most densely populated areas. One will be located in the same building where the equipment is located, the second will be a separate room (15 sq. m.) in a residential area of ​​the city.

What equipment to choose for dry cleaning

At least 2,500,000 rubles will be spent on the purchase of professional equipment. The line will include:

  • Dry cleaning machine Suprema LC 24
  • Universal steam manikin with built-in boiler
  • Stain removal table
  • Professional ironing table
  • Vertical packaging machine

Staff

The following personnel will be employed: technologist, ironers (2 people), workers (2 people), administrator and driver. It is planned to outsource accountant services. The permanent staff of the organization will include 6 people. The monthly wage fund will be 96,000 rubles.

Calendar plan

Launching a project involves performing the following sequential actions:

  1. Search for sources of project financing
  2. Registering a business with the tax authority
  3. Searching for premises and concluding a lease agreement
  4. Repair and design of premises
  5. Purchase and installation of professional equipment
  6. Certification, approval of the project with the state. authorities
  7. Personnel employment
  8. Starting a business

Business risks

Opening a dry cleaner is associated with the following risks:

  • High level of competition in the market
  • High dependence on the successful location of the enterprise
  • Lack of highly qualified personnel in this area
  • Long payback period

Financial plan

Let's move on to calculating the main indicators of business economic efficiency. Fixed monthly expenses:

  • Rent - 42,500 rubles.
  • Salary - 96,000 rubles.
  • Insurance deductions - 28,800 rubles.
  • Utility bills - 30,000 rub.
  • Consumables (powders, solvents, etc.) - RUB 25,000.
  • Taxes (UTII) - 6,000 rubles.
  • Accounting - 8,000 rubles.
  • Transport costs - 10,000 rubles.
  • Other expenses - 15,000 rubles.

Total - 261,300 rubles.

How much can you earn from dry cleaning services?

The net profit of the organization according to the business plan will be 116,700 rubles per month. The profitability of dry cleaning is 44%. With such indicators, the project pays for itself in 30 - 35 months of work (taking into account the period for business promotion).

This is a full-fledged, ready-made project that you will not find in the public domain. Contents of the business plan: 1. Confidentiality 2. Summary 3. Stages of project implementation 4. Characteristics of the object 5. Marketing plan 6. Technical and economic data of the equipment 7. Financial plan 8. Risk assessment 9. Financial and economic justification of investments 10. Conclusions

What is dry cleaning? Why is this area of ​​the service sector the most promising business even in today’s difficult economic conditions and why are there so many people in this industry? How to organize correctly dry cleaning business, spending exactly as much as you need and consistently receiving a decent profit? You will find answers to these and many other questions below.

Many people dream of having their own profitable business. But budding entrepreneurs are faced with the question of effectively investing money in business. The most well-trodden path is trade.

However, buying something is not a problem now, but selling it... Perhaps someone will be interested in an alternative solution: production, but this also has its pitfalls, and the main one is the initial capital, which at best is measured in hundreds of thousands of dollars .

And here it’s time to remember about a special field of activity located at the intersection of production and trade, which are one of the most promising industries and are characterized by growing demand.

One of the possible options is dry cleaning services for clothes.

When we talk about dry cleaning, we traditionally mean cleaning clothes. In fact, they clean carpets, curtains, soft toys, and even blankets and pillows. The technology for their treatment includes irradiation with special bactericidal lamps, which, coupled with mechanical effects and actual cleaning with chemicals, allows you to get rid of various microorganisms and their metabolic products that cause allergies.

This business can change due to a crisis, a change of government, etc., but it will never completely die out! Still, each of us prefers clean clothes, fresh tablecloths and bed linen. “And apart from a freshly washed shirt, I’ll tell you in all honesty, I don’t need anything,” wrote Vladimir Mayakovsky.

In Soviet times, the opening of dry cleaners was a planned event. According to the master construction plan, it was supposed to operate in each microdistrict with a certain number of residents. For obvious reasons, the industry was subsidized, but the employees and main managers of the “strongholds of cleanliness” did not complain - the state did not spare money on the sphere of personal services.

With the transition to a market economy, dry cleaners became commercial enterprises, and now the owners of this business began to have a headache about how to make the company make a profit. At the same time, newcomers began to enter the business, creating additional tension and increasing competition in the industry.

Currently, in Europe there is one dry cleaner per 5,000 inhabitants, in the USA - per 10,000, and in Russia one collection point serves over 160,000 people. These numbers are pre-crisis. Experts estimate the capacity of the dry cleaning market in Moscow at approximately 110-130 million dollars per year. At the same time, there is a clear prospect for the growth of this type of business.

In Milan, for 4,000,000 inhabitants, there are 4,000 dry cleaners, and, for example, in Novosibirsk, for about the same number of inhabitants, there are only 10. How many dry cleaners should there be in one city? There is no point in arguing on this topic, but it is obvious that there are good prospects for wider distribution of dry cleaners in Russia. This profitable type of business, but, of course, in normal economic conditions.

According to various estimates, 20-30% of companies in the consumer services sector did not reach the bottom of the crisis, having gone bankrupt last year. The increase in electricity tariffs and the freezing of business lending programs also played a role. Although demand - perhaps the most important business stimulator - remains high. Even in times of crisis, people need dry cleaners and laundries. And while in Moscow large chains have covered almost all residential areas, in the regions the market for household services has declined significantly.

Now is the time to start

Right now, when conditions are generally most favorable! The shock wave of the crisis will not affect you, the market is slowly growing (and you will grow with it), some competitors have gone bankrupt, and the entrepreneurship development departments have finally begun to receive money long promised by the state. It’s just that banks are being cautious, but it’s still easier to get a loan now than it was six months ago.

Business profitability, even in the worst times, rarely falls below 10-15%, and in some enterprises it reaches 40%.

Of course, this business has many nuances, ranging from strict requirements for premises to the specifics of choosing a reliable supplier who will offer high-quality equipment for laundries and dry cleaners, and organizing an effective advertising campaign.

The costs of opening a dry cleaner depend on the size of the business. When opening a “full cycle” dry cleaning service, be patient: the costs will pay off in 1.5-2 years, and you will need to invest at least 100,000 Euros.

Where to begin? As in any business, from planning

Before you enter the clothing cleaning business, there are three things you should understand. The first is what investments you are capable of. The second is whether you want independence, or are you ready to work under someone else’s leadership, in a team. Third, will this be your only and main business, or a side business?

First of all, decide what kind of business you need, whether it will be a franchise or an independent enterprise, and whether you plan to expand.

The advantage of being independent is endless opportunities to expand your business. It all depends on the owner. First, one mini-workshop and one or two collection points, and then, lo and behold, a large clothing cleaning enterprise and dozens of collection points. By promoting your brand, you can eventually sell a franchise yourself. Franchise buyers are deprived of such prospects. To some extent, they work “for their uncle.” But their risks and expenses are much lower.

The main advantages of franchising are well known - it is the opportunity to organize a serious business, even as a completely unprepared beginner. All the hassles of opening a new business, training staff and management, selecting premises, setting up equipment are the responsibility of the franchisor. For this, he takes interest both when starting a business and during its subsequent supervision. The owner will not have any headaches with paperwork, setting up equipment, or promoting a new enterprise. After all, he becomes a cog of some large operator, who will draw up documents according to the established path and include a new point in advertising campaigns.

You don’t have to look for easy ways, but organize your own mini-dry cleaning, and then a network of collection points yourself. The main thing is to obtain all permits to organize a mini-workshop. You can go through the bureaucratic corridors yourself, or you can negotiate with an intermediary law firm, which will draw up all the documents promptly, but for a fee.

After this, come up with a name, write down all types of equipment, installation and maintenance costs, the type and cost of chemicals that will be used.

If you do not have a specialized education, you will have to study the materiel. There are specialized magazines and Internet sites (preferably Western ones), where there is enough information about modern technologies in the field of dry cleaning. A license to open such an enterprise is not needed, but permission from government services will be required. In order not to waste time, in parallel with drawing up a business plan, send letters to the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision and the State Fire Inspectorate. If you are not short of money, contact a law firm and transfer all the hassle of registration to it. You will still have time to communicate with officials: state commissions inspect dry cleaners regularly.

You can draw up a business plan yourself or entrust this task to a specialist.

If you have firmly decided to open a dry cleaner, then the first thing you should start with is finding premises for it. It will not be possible to choose a room solely based on price: according to regulations, a dry cleaning shop cannot be located in residential buildings, grocery stores, cafes, restaurants, or on floors above the first (the main substances used in cleaning are heavier than air and therefore fall down). The production premises, of course, do not have to be “tied” to the reception point (which, by the way, is more profitable to place on the first floors of residential buildings and shopping centers). The main thing is that from point A (workshop) to point B (reception point) can be easily reached by car. The required area for a medium-sized dry cleaner is 100 square meters. m. The height of the production room (from floor to ceiling) must be at least 3 m.

Dry cleaning can be located on the first, ground or basement floors of public buildings, or in separate buildings.

According to SES standards, a mini dry cleaner cannot be located in the basement or ground floor of a residential building. You cannot open a cleaning shop in close proximity to food stores and catering establishments. A license, as already mentioned, is not needed for such a business, but you will have to run around with obtaining permits to open production.

Production areas required to organize work:

1. Acceptance of items and placing orders.
2. Pre-treatment and sorting, where things are sorted by type of dirt, color, type of fabric, etc., removing stains - the area is located in a common production area.
3. Cleaning (items grouped in batches are cleaned in a special dry cleaning machine).
4. Finishing (in this area, cleaned items are steamed, ironed, and packaged) - the area is located in a common production area.

In addition, an uninterrupted supply of water and electricity, well-equipped drains, and a well-functioning heating and ventilation system are very important for the premises in which the dry cleaner is planned to be located. Add to this the not very small size of the required area (preferably from 100 sq.m.) and the importance of locating a dry cleaner in densely populated areas with no competitors in the vicinity, and you will understand why it is necessary to start with the search for premises.

However, if you are going to open a dry cleaner with large capacities, then the problem of finding the ideal premises can be completely bypassed. Find a suitable building for dry cleaning on the periphery of the city (with an appropriate rental price), and open collection points in densely populated areas. In this case, you immediately increase your turnover and gain access to places where competitors who combine a collection point with a production workshop are denied access. As Moscow practice shows, it is these dry cleaning chains that are the most viable. And yet, the proposed path has its own difficulties.

First of all, this is the need to rent a large number of premises for reception points. Each such point must have staff who also do not work for free.

The accepted clothes will have to be taken to the workshop every day, which means add transportation costs. All this adds significantly to your running costs and is only worth it if you are confident that you can significantly increase your turnover.

According to fire safety rules, it is mandatory to have two emergency exits.

So, the premises have been selected, you can begin to draw up documents and purchase equipment for dry cleaning and laundry equipment

You will need: a stain removal booth or table, a perchlorethylene dry cleaning machine, steam-air ironing mannequins for outerwear and trousers, a universal ironing table, an ironing press, a compressor, a steam generator, installations for packaging and storing clothes.

>Equipment for mini-dry cleaning costs approximately 65,000 Euros. You must understand that approximately 45% of the total cost of a set of equipment is the price of the dry cleaning machine itself, so the final cost of the set depends on the load of the machine you choose. Installation and debugging of equipment will cost 5-10% of the cost of the equipment, and if you have never worked in this industry on installation, you should not save. Particular attention should be paid to the choice of equipment supplier, since many unscrupulous organizations engaged in the supply of similar equipment, in order to attract a client, indicate in advertising that they offer a set of equipment for mini-dry cleaning for only 40,000 Euros, in this case you risk purchasing a set, mildly Let's say, inferior. Moreover: often the choice of supplier is more important than the choice of the equipment manufacturer itself. Globalization is successfully doing its job, and the cars of the world's leading manufacturers do not differ much in quality and functionality. But the equipment supplier should become your reliable partner for the entire duration of your dry cleaning operation. It is he who will promptly and promptly support you with consumables and components, and advise you in technical and technological terms. Without such support, not a single dry cleaner can operate.

Where to buy equipment? The easiest way to purchase it is from distributors of the world's leading manufacturers of specialized equipment (in particular, the Italian companies TeknoZen, Camptel - Anghinetti and many others).

Standard kit for mini dry cleaning:

1. Dry cleaning machine
* Nominal load - 15 - 17 kg
* 2 self-cleaning tanks
* 1 self-cleaning nylon filter
* drum volume - 241 l

*pneumatic stretching of sleeves
*digital control panel (3 modes)

*pneumatic stretching of trousers
*digital control panel
4. Ironing table
* electrically heated work surface
* vacuum, supercharging, steaming (mandatory option)
* rotating heating sleeve
* electric steam iron with suspension
*table lighting

7. Wall packing machine
8. Hung 4 pieces
9. Trolleys for dirty linen, 4 pcs.
10. Steam generator (30 kW)

You also need to purchase chemicals, brushes, hangers, films, labels, etc. And we also did not take into account the renovation of the premises - but it will have to be done: for industrial premises everything is clearly determined, right down to the paint used and tiles on the floor.

Let's take a closer look at production capacities. In the regions, while the market for household services is not particularly developed, it is not worth purchasing machines with a large load. It is better to purchase more economical units with a productivity of 15 kg per hour. In an eight-hour work shift you can process up to 120 kg. What if you work two shifts?

However, today such workload in most peripheral cities is more of a fantasy, and if it resembles reality, it is only in the fall, when the dry cleaning season begins.

Staff

For one workshop and one reception point, 5-7 people are enough: a technologist, two ironers, two workshop workers, one accountant (if you do not plan to outsource your accounting) and a driver. It is advisable to find a technologist with experience. This is difficult: there are few professionals in this field, and salaries are below average. When opening a dry cleaner, try to hire employees who already have experience in similar work. At the initial stage, the technologist can serve as an order taker.

In this case, you will save significantly on staff training and will have confidence that the work will be done efficiently, and you will not have to return money to customers for damaged items.

And the problem of dissatisfied customers always exists. You can insure yourself only by carefully filling out the receipt for accepting clothes and always warning the client about possible risks.

This is especially important when, for some reason, the item is not marked with care symbols (a label with icons that prescribe or prohibit cleaning, washing, drying and ironing operations). In this case, it is better to refuse to clean this item altogether.

If the current state of affairs does not allow you to scatter orders, then be sure to require that the client note in the receipt that he has been notified of all possible risks and has no claims against the dry cleaner.

Promotion

Dry cleaning belongs to the so-called “related” establishments, such as a bakery or pharmacy. They are part of a person’s daily life, so all residents of nearby houses are your potential clients. You can enhance the effect of presence with flyers, distributing them near the metro or at the entrance to a shopping center. In the regions, advertising on local television works well. The system of discounts for a regular customer card has also proven itself well - this marketing ploy is used by almost all large dry cleaning chains.

Unusual solutions are welcome. Not long ago, one of the large Moscow networks organized its show “Behind the Glass”. The walls of the workshop where clothes are cleaned were made transparent, and everyone could see the impressive equipment, conveyors with clothes, and watch the technologists at work.

One of the promising areas in the segment is ordering via the Internet and telephone. Delivery is practiced mainly by “elite” dry cleaners that specialize in complex and expensive textiles. Clients choose them not according to the principle “the closer to home, the better,” but based on the range of services. And for their loyalty they receive a bonus in the form of home delivery of the order.

Who's responsible?

Not a single dry cleaner, even the most reputable one, can manage without conflicts with clients. The textile industry is developing rapidly, new fabrics are emerging that require special care. A specialist needs time to conduct an examination and select cleaning products. Impatient customers present the dry cleaning employee with a choice: either take a risk and process the item without prior assessment, or lose the order. Most workers choose the former.

Another problem is counterfeits that have flooded the clothing market. Not only are the labels on them fake, but also the labels with care information. At the same time, the Russian Federation Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” is entirely on the client’s side, so the owners of dry cleaners prefer not to bring the matter to court.