Please provide some primer on running a laundromat

First of all, the laundry industry has a long life cycle, during which there is little change, unlike many restaurants, which may constantly need to adjust and change their flavors.

Second, corresponding to the long life cycle, the laundry industry is also more stable in operation. Once a laundry has established itself in a place, its turnover will continue to grow steadily every year.

Again, laundry is a cash transaction, no delinquency, and the money back quickly. In some big brands of laundry, there is stored value consumption - consumers first pay money to the laundry, and then slowly consume, which is equal to the early return of funds.

Also, the laundry industry has low operating costs and no inventory backlog. Laundry is basically a one-time investment, less consumables after opening. The investor who opens the store just pays the cost of rent, staff wages, utilities and other costs, operating pressure is not great.

Finally, the laundry industry operating model is relatively simple, easy to operate and manage, stable technology, stable customers, 3 to 5 people will be able to complete the operation of the store.

Because the advantageous characteristics of the industry is more obvious, so many people look at this industry. Now open a laundry, even if they do not have the experience of opening their own store, you can join the laundry chain brands that are already very mature. Therefore, for investors, there is no too high technical threshold. In fact, as a service industry, investors will eventually find that a laundry most emphasized is the responsibility of service and operational flexibility.

In summary, the laundry industry is facing changes in three areas, from which you can grasp the future trend of the laundry industry.

The first is the growing influence of environmental policies on the laundry industry. In Europe and the United States, the laundry is subject to strict environmental approval. If you open a store in Hong Kong, you need to pass the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department certification before being allowed to open. The impact of environmental certification on the laundry industry in China is not yet obvious, but Beijing, Dalian and other cities have adopted a certain environmental access system. This is a signal, I believe that the environmental policy affects the laundry industry is the trend, which should also cause investors to pay enough attention.

The second change is consumer demand. In the past, people for the laundry requirements are relatively simple, as long as it is "cheap, clean" can be, and now it is further requirements "clean, professional, fast, hygiene". Why? First of all, people's clothing fabrics show a trend of diversification, requiring more professional laundry technology; secondly, people's pace of life to speed up the increase in a variety of social functions, requiring faster service; again is that people's health awareness is getting stronger, the laundry is also a part of a healthy life. Investors can use such a change to measure their own to join the laundry brand, to see if it is able to comply with the basic requirements of consumer trends.

The third change is the upgrading of the city's business model. A city's business model changes and even upgrades are centered around the "clothing, food, housing, transportation" changes to unfold. With the improvement of people's living standards, people around the "clothing" consumer demand is also increasingly high. Laundry "small, low, poor" image has not adapted to the requirements of modern business, upgrading laundromats, shaping the image of the boutique is the natural result of the development of urban laundry services.

What are the opportunities?

: "The correct positioning of the laundry is often decisive for the success or failure of the investment. At present, in addition to a few cities such as Beijing, the domestic laundry grade has a high, medium and low points, the majority of cities in the laundry industry is still generally in a small, low, poor state. This state is very similar to Beijing before 1998.

"Before 1998, Beijing's laundry industry, more than 5,000 stores, 99% of which are small stores, low-grade, store image is also poor. But after 1998, with the emergence of a number of high-end boutique laundromat mode, brought great changes to the industry. With the rapid expansion of brand franchising methods, competition has changed the landscape of the laundry industry. As we have seen, the result of competition is that the number of laundries in Beijing has dropped to around 3,000. And just in this structure, the number of high-end market stores less than 10%, but this 10% occupy the market share is but 40%!"

For investors may be confused, Zhang Yinmao explained: "In every city, the laundry industry is not a blank, there is no city lack of laundromats, but a city is often a lack of good laundromats. Many investors will say that there is no boutique laundromat in their city, so it is difficult to determine whether there is a market for boutique laundromats. In fact, there is a market for boutique laundromats, and those cities that don't have boutique laundromats are not cities where people don't need them, but where those who want to make a choice don't have a choice. In our opinion, the opportunity of the laundry market lies in the change, in the trend, in the market segmentation. Only by seizing these can we truly grasp the law of consumption and the consumer population. Occupy the most consuming people in a city, this is the guiding principle for high-end brands to open stores."

What to pay attention to join

For the laundry industry, there are a lot of brands of various chain franchises, so how can the franchisee consider the choice? Zhang Yinmao believes that the following aspects can be examined in detail.

The first is the problem of positioning. Different laundry brands have completely different positioning for their franchises, some aim at high-end, some do mid-range, some just aim at the low-end, this positioning should be clear. Investors can analyze and choose according to their own situation.

The second is a detailed examination of brand strength. As the laundry is a long-lasting business, it is important to choose to join a brand with vitality and resilience. Investors must examine the strength of the headquarters, support capacity, management capacity and resilience, whether the store image, site selection, equipment, service, assessment and many other elements of the complete support standards.

The third is to examine the company's history, background and brand stage. Put the brand into a specific stage of development to assess, the biggest benefit is to be able to more accurately recognize it, recognize clearly, your judgment will not be blind, and reason for the success or failure of the investment is self-evident. For franchised brands, from a few to a dozen generally belong to the primary stage, a dozen to dozens belong to the entrepreneurial stage, dozens to hundreds belong to the development stage, a few hundred before stabilizing and entering the maturity stage. At different stages, the enterprise management tools, methods, etc. are different, the challenges and market tasks are also different. You see these, for the upcoming intervention in the brand business will be able to draw the closest to the real situation of risk assessment.

The fourth is to understand the differences in laundry equipment. Franchise in the laundry industry, the general franchise headquarters will provide investors with a choice of equipment. As the main hardware of the laundry, the equipment is not only related to the positioning of the laundry, but also related to the ability to run a normal operation. Due to the characteristics of the long-term operation of the laundry, the long service life of the equipment, low maintenance costs, low operating costs, good laundry quality is the most desirable result, so be sure to examine the service life, failure rate, environmental protection, energy saving, humanization and other aspects. Practice shows that although foreign imports of equipment prices are relatively high, but many aspects of a trade-off, in the long run, but more cost-effective. The advantage of domestic equipment is cheap, for the low entry requirements, store positioning is also a practical choice for investors.

Fifth, pay attention to the risk of brand franchising. Although the Ministry of Commerce issued a "commercial franchise" management approach, but applied to the laundry industry, this standard is still not strict enough. Therefore, the risk of joining the laundry industry in the choice does exist. Who all want to join a stable franchise system, but how to judge the franchise system is about to join the stable?

Rongchang-Ilsa believes that the first look at the number of stores in the system, because the stable system is certainly built on a certain number of bases. Just look at the number of stores is not enough to keep an eye on the proportion of directly managed stores and franchises. Directly managed stores are an important part of the franchise, and maintaining a certain number and proportion of directly managed stores is an important guarantee of the stability of the franchise system and the healthy development of the future.

For many industries, what you see on the surface doesn't necessarily mean anything, you only have to go deep into the industry, to fully analyze and think about it before you can make the most correct choice.