How To Start A Laundry Business In India?

Table of Contents:

1. How To Start A Laundry Business?

2. Starting A Laundry Business

3. Starting A Laundry Service

4. How To Start A Small Laundry Business At Home?

5. Laundry Business Ideas

6. How To Start Laundry Business At Home?

7. Compulsory Documents For Laundry Business In India

1. How To Start A Laundry Business?

If you're starting a laundry business but are not sure how to start, don't worry! This guide will help you out.
Despite it being an essential household chore, many people don’t want to wash clothes in their home. They prefer to give it to outside dry cleaners or laundry. That is why, the professional laundry service industry is one of the fastest-growing markets in India, and is a very profitable small business idea. According to data given by Statista, the laundry business market size in India is expected to reach $ 4455 million in 2021. A Euromonitor International report says that only 5% of the market is organised, and it has seen tremendous growth in 2020.

The market is expected to grow annually by 3.2%, from 2021 to 2025 due to an increase in the working population, and rising disposable income. Apart from the usual domestic customers, you can provide commercial laundry and linen management services to the hospitality and healthcare sectors. Washing of bed linen has become very important because of the Covid-19 infection. You will need multiple washing machines to wash and dry dirty clothes. You can run these washing machines for 8-10 hours every day. To become a leader in the laundry and linen management sector, your must have:

• Best operating systems.
• Scalable data-driven processes.
• Astringent focus on quality.

2. Starting A Laundry Business

Before starting the laundry business, you have to first decide on your niche. There are different laundry business ideas, and you can choose the one that you are most comfortable with:

1- Home Pickup And Delivery Business

This is your standard business model, where you have a physical shop to collect dirty clothes and return the cleaned ones. You can pick up and deliver to the customer’s home.

2- Laundry Franchise Business

You can take a laundry business franchise in India by partnering with an established laundry and dry cleaning company. You should first go to their website, and see if they service your locality. The advantage of this is that the franchisor will provide you with the knowledge and advertising support, and will reduce some of the risks of starting a new business.

3- Industrial Laundry

This is a high volume business where you will be dealing with corporate customers like hotels or restaurants. You will need big industrial washing machines for this. The laundry business generally involves washing clothes. Apart from this category, the shoe laundry business is a specialised cleaning service, dealing in dry cleaning, repair and polishing of shoes. Washing and sanitisation of shoes is a growing business.

3. Starting A Laundry Service

Demographic and economic developments along with a growth in the apparel industry are driving the demand for laundry services. A laundry service business can be an easy and profitable venture to start. If you are thinking of starting a laundry business, the following strategies will help you:

1. Gain Experience- Though experience is not mandatory to start a laundry service business, it will be useful to you. You can work in a laundry for some time to gain knowledge about this trade. Also, there are lots of training videos available on the internet. You can do a basic course to identify different textiles, and know about the washing techniques.
2. Laundry Business Plan- All businesses should start with a plan. In it is necessary to write down the reasons for choosing the laundry service business. Before you start the venture, you can carry out market research to find out the demand for laundry services in the locality. It will also tell you the personal preferences of the customers so that you can design your services accordingly. You will need a laundry business plan if you want to get a bank loan for your business or have investors on board. A business plan will also give you a deeper understanding of the market.
3. Budget- Starting a laundry service business will cost you anywhere between Rs 15 lakhs to Rs 50 lakhs, depending on the location, equipment, and the type of clients you would like to service. If funding is a problem, you can onboard a partner to share the costs.
4. Location- A right location is very important for this business. You must keep the following factors in mind while choosing a location:
5. It must be within walkable distance to amass residential area.
6. Working professionals should comprise a major part of the population.
7. The rent is low, and there is space for future expansion.
8. You can also do a part-time laundry business from your home, and earn some extra money in the process.

4. How To Start A Small Laundry Business At Home?

1- Target Customers

Who are those people who can be your ideal customers? Generally, they will be:

• Families who do not have laundry facilities at home.
• Students who stay out of home, in P.G.s for instance.
• Working professionals who neither have the time nor desire to wash clothes.

2- Manpower

This business can be started with just two workers: a washing person, and one for ironing the clothes. When your business scales up, you would require talented production and service staff along with engineers to service the equipment.

3- Operations

You can keep the timings of your service from 8 am to 7 pm. You have to first do the sorting of clothes and keep them in separate piles: light colours, dark colours and whites. Also, you have to segregate the more delicate items, and those meant for dry cleaning, and keep all of them in separate laundry bags. You should check the pockets of the garments to see that they are empty.

Any coin or hard objects can damage the apparel, and you will be held liable. You can start with one commercial washing machine and add them as the business grows. You will also need a dryer. Similarly, for ironing, you can have a manual iron in the beginning and then graduate to automatic steam presses. Washing powder is a commodity that you have to purchase regularly.

4- Service

You can provide different types of washes depending on the quality of the clothes. In a highly competitive market, you can stand out by giving attention to details. You should pre-treat the garments before washing, and use the correct water temperature for different fabrics. Read the manufacturer’s instructions on the garments, and follow the washing procedures. Your aim should be to return the clothes to their owners in the best condition possible.

You have to be careful not to lose the client’s clothes. A misplaced garment can mar your reputation. Since people are not going out much due to Covid-19, you will have to make pickup and home delivery arrangements. For this, you must have a car or a van.

5- Marketing

First of all, prepare a visually appealing signboard. Also paint your businesses’ name and design on the side of your delivery vehicle with your phone number and website, if any. Promote in your locality with pamphlets in newspapers or banners. Fliers are pretty cheap to print and should have all your details including the prices. Along with them, you can hand out your business cards and discount coupons also. It will be a good investment to create a website so that customers can find you on the web.

You can provide details of your laundry service on Facebook, or list it in an online platform of similar service providers. It would be a good idea to register your business in Google My Business and take orders online. You can also start an on-demand home laundry and dry cleaning app, where customers can schedule pickup or drop of clothes. Hotels and restaurants, and hospitals have a high demand for quality laundry and linen services. So, expand your marketing efforts and get hold of these corporate clients.

6- Revenue Stream

The basic revenue will come from washing clothes from customers, for which you will get money. You can offer monthly or seasonal packages, and also charge a premium for express same day service. Payment for the service will be by cash, debit, or credit cards, or through apps like Paytm.

7- Additional Services

Apart from regular washing, you can add more add-on services like dry cleaning, starching, stain removal and carpet cleaning. Another source of income can be through clothes repairs like stitching alteration and mending. The laundry industry will never go obsolete. If you can give quality service, it will be a profitable business opportunity. We hope that the step-by-step ideas on how to start a laundry business that we have given above will be useful to you.

5. Laundry Business Ideas

Once you've understood all about laundry business investment and the laundry business in India, it's now time for a solid business plan to succeed. Some important things to include in your laundry business ideas for the Indian market are:

• Curate a Written Plan
• Analyse Startup Costs
• Make a list of laundry business equipments- washers, dryers, coat hangers, cleaning items, packaging bags, receipt software.
• Calculate mandatory monthly expenses- Location rent, electricity bills, marketing budgets, insurance coverage premiums, cleaning supplies, and equipment lease.
• Keep track of your Laundry Business Target Market like- Students, Bachelors, and Working Professionals.
• Price your packages keeping in mind the rates from similar neighbourhood competitors.

6. How To Start A Laundry Business At Home?

The laundry business in India is one of the simplest business ventures, to begin with. The best part is picking a strategic location like working professionals, hostels, and PG based areas in a metro city. Listed below is the step-by-step process for starting an Indian laundry business:

• Learn the basics of the industry
• Financial planning
• Setup services
• Hire employees
• Start marketing

7. Compulsory Documents For Laundry Business In India

Before thinking about How To Start A Laundry Business, you need proper documentation ready. The legal documents required for laundry business registration are as follows:

1. Laundry Business Plan
2. NDA (Non-disclosure Agreement)
3. Insurance and health-related permits
4. Employment contracts
5. Permits from respective State Government
6. License
7. Certificate of Incorporation

Also Read our guides on how to start:

1) Kirana Business
2) Stationery Business
3) Dropshipping Business
4) Footwear Business
5) Detergent Manufacturers in India

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FAQs on Starting A Laundry Business

Q. What are the things needed in laundry business?

Ans- To open a laundry business in India, you will need the following things:

• Fliers/Brochures
• Door hangers
• Detergent vending machines
• Laundry carts
• Coin machine or card machine
• Dryers
• Washers

Q. How profitable is a laundry business?

Ans- Laundry businesses in India make easily around 35,000 to 50,000 Rupees every month. In small towns and cities, the profit remains close between 17,000 to 45,000 Rupees. Hence, laundry business investment is a good business opportunity.

Q. How do I start a small laundry business?

Ans- To start a small laundry business you will need to follow things:

• Learn the basics of the industry
• Financial planning
• Setup services
• Hire employees
• Start marketing

Q. How do I make my laundry business successful?

Ans- Laundry businesses take care of their customers religiously. Some easy methods to follow for generating successful laundry business ideas are:

1. Understand your customers and launch customised packages according to their needs
2. Provide multiple modes of communication as per customers convenience
3. Maintain a thorough garment tracking
4. Supervise each and every delivery and transaction daily
5. Keep an eye for competitor pricing

Q. Which washing machine is best for laundry business?

Ans- Numerous wholesalers provide industrial washing machines at reasonable rates like IFB & Bosch. Laundry businesses in India make easily around 35,000 to 50,000 Rupees every month.

Q. Why is a laundry business good?

Ans- Laundry business in India is one of the simplest business ventures, to begin with. The best part is picking a strategic location like working professionals, hostels, and PG based areas in a metro city. Getting a couple of good quality heavy industrial washing machines plus dryers, along with a trusted staff, and maintaining neat customer records is the best way to succeed in the Laundry business.

Q. How do I start a laundry pickup and delivery business?

Ans- To start pickup and delivery you need to first understand- What is laundry business? The laundry business in India is a humongous market in both metropolitan and suburban regions. Some of the most important steps to follow to start a laundry delivery service are:

1. Proper Business Planning & forming Legal Entities
2. Having a working Business Bank Account & a Credit Card(if applicable)
3. Registering for Taxes
4. Obtain all Licenses + Permits
5. Get a Business Insurance

Q. How much does it cost to start a laundry business in India?

Ans- The minimum amount of investment needed to start a laundry business in India or an average laundry business investment lands around Rs. 3 Lakh Rupees. It includes store location rental, licenses, pieces of machinery, etc.

Q. Is a laundry service worth it?

Ans- Yes, laundry business investment in India is worth it. It comes like a social service for the people who lack time for laundry or cannot afford those super-fancy washing machines in the showroom. Go on and learn all about the laundry business in India and begin your venture.

Q. How much does laundry machine cost?

Ans- A general 15kg Industrial Washing Machine Price in India starts from 70,000 Rupees. While a 30 kg Commercial Washing Machine Price in India begins from Rs, 1,10,000 per piece. However, if you want to go bigger like a 50 Kg Washing Machine price in India falls from anywhere between 1,75,000 to 2,00,000 Rupees.