With just about any business you might be thinking about opening, one of the first and most important things to figure out is how much you are going to charge your potential customers once you hit the market. While the US government actually has restrictions on discussing exact pricing details for pick-up and delivery of high-volume laundry, we can talk about the things you should be taking into account before you come up with the price you want to set for your services.

Luckily, Wash IQ can help you design a system that will help you use your resources most effectively and can even help you create a pricing plan. Before you get started, consider all these potential cost and pricing aspects for your laundromat business:

Rental Prices or Cost of Goods

Whether you plan owning or renting the commercial washer and dryer machines, the cost of either action will weigh heavily into how much you charge your customers. Since your commercial washers and dryers are going to be the backbone of the laundry services you provide, you will also need to take into account how much you’re paying toward maintenance.

With rental and COG prices, there isn’t a set-in-stone standard since the price range of used and new machines can vary wildly. Not only that, but you will also need to take into account the kind of volume that you are planning to accommodate as this will determine how many machines you will need. Additionally, don’t forget to add in the costs of owning and operating the vehicles needed to transport the laundry itself (if that’s a service you want to provide).

Cost of Labor

With a pick-up and delivery laundry service, you will need at least a handful of personnel to for driving and other various aspects of the job. These are the people who will do most of the physical work for you and includes jobs like picking up and dropping off laundry, operating the washers and dryers, and folding and storing the various linens for transport. Depending on where you live, the minimum wage can range from $7.25 to around $13 per hour, so you will need to adjust your prices accordingly.

Real Estate

The space to run your business isn’t going to come free, so however much you end up paying for the in rent also needs to be figured in to your operating costs.

Coverage Area

If you end up receiving contracts for businesses, hospitals or other facilities that are far from where you operate, the cost of gas will start to play heavily into how much it costs to stay in business. That being the case, you may have to adjust your per-pound pricing or agreed-upon minimum volume of laundry to stay competitive. Gas prices have been known to fluctuate, while they have decreased recently, that won’t always be the case, so plan accordingly.

Your Acceptable Income

Finally, to determine how much you will charge your customers for laundry service, you need to figure out how much you will accept as a payment for yourself. If the laundry is your sole source of income, you may have to start slow and do much of the work yourself just to make sure you’re getting a fair income. However, if you own multiple businesses already, this gives you a bit of an advantage in that you can keep your personal income from the business low while establishing a customer base.

With these in mind, you’re one step closer to opening your laundry business. For more information on commercial laundry systems, repairs or maintenance, or to receive a FREE quote, contact Wash IQ by calling (844) 4WASHIQ