As your laundromat business grows, you may find that you need to hire more staff to keep up with the demand. This can be a tricky decision, as it’s important to get the right people on board who will help your business grow. Laundromat owners often struggle with knowing when to hire new employees to address their business needs. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at the different laundry business models and when it might be time to add more staff members to your team!

Different Business Models Will Have Different Staffing Needs

A self-serve laundromat may not need as many staff members as a wash, dry, and fold service. However, you’ll still need to be able to provide excellent customer service and make sure that the machines in your laundry facilities are running smoothly. If you’re finding that you’re constantly running out of laundry detergent or that your machines are breaking down often, it may be time to hire another staff member.

A laundry pick-up and delivery service will also have different staffing needs than a self-serve laundromat. You’ll need someone who is reliable and can handle customer service inquiries, as well as someone who can pick up and deliver the laundry.

As your business grows, you’ll need to reassess your staffing needs regularly. By taking the time to do this, you can ensure that your business is running smoothly and that your customers are happy.

Why Hire More Staff

Hiring additional staff is a decision that should not be taken lightly as it can affect your bottom line. With that in mind, here are some factors to consider before taking the plunge.

-The type of laundromat business you own: as mentioned above, self-serve laundromats will have different staffing needs than pick-up and delivery services.

-Your budget: hiring additional staff members will add to your overhead costs, so make sure you have the financial resources to support this decision.

-Your customer base: if you’re finding that you’re constantly getting complaints about late deliveries or poor customer service, it may be time to hire another staff member.

-Your business goals: if you’re looking to expand your business, hiring additional staff can help you achieve this goal.

If you’re considering hiring additional staff for your laundromat business, be sure to weigh all of these factors carefully. Keeping payroll low is one of the best ways to increase profits but with a growing business, it may be necessary to bring more employees on board.

With the right team in place, you can take your business to the next level!

When to Hire More Staff

The first decision you’ll need to make is what type of laundromat business model you will be hiring for. There are three main types:

• Self Service
• Wash, Dry, and Fold
• Pick-up and Delivery

While most laundromats are self-service, more and more are adding these additional services to increase profits and their customer base.

Self Service

For a self-service laundromat, ideally, you’ll have at least one employee on staff during business hours, if possible.

This person will be responsible for tasks such as restocking detergent and other supplies, cleaning the facility, and helping customers with any questions or concerns they may have.

If there are days when your business is consistently busy during certain hours of the day, it may be worth hiring additional laundry attendants to cover those times.

Keeping customers happy with quick resolutions to problems and a clean facility makes for returning customers.

Wash, Dry, and Fold

If you’re including the wash, dry, and fold service to your laundromat, you’ll need at least two employees on staff for optimal efficiency. One employee will be responsible for washing the clothes and attending the store, while the other will handle drying and folding. This will help the whole wash, dry, and fold process move quickly with the best attention to detail.

While many laundromats try to use the existing staff to fulfill their wash, dry, and fold orders, you have to take into account they have other existing duties as well.

The customer experience at your store can be affected if too much is put on one employee. You may get away with only having a single staff member for a while, but pay close attention to what they’re doing and how morale, in general, feels around the laundromat; you might notice that there are some problems before it becomes an issue!

Consider what needs to be done for each customer order and how many orders can be completed in an hour by one employee.  This will give you a baseline for how many employees you’ll need to hire.

When the service starts to grow, bringing on additional staff to help with the workload may be a good idea.

Pick-up and Delivery

Finally, if you’re offering pick-up and delivery services, you’ll need at least two to three employees: one to handle pickups and deliveries, one to do the laundry, and one to attend the store and assist with laundry.

This type of laundromat business is the most labor-intensive and will require additional staff to keep things running smoothly. Adding a delivery route requires you to bring on at least one more employee.

As with the wash, dry, and fold service, you’ll want to pay close attention to how your employees are doing and if they’re starting to feel overwhelmed. Hiring additional staff before this happens will help ensure that your customers are always happy with the service they’re receiving.

There are great software services, like Cents, to help with your Pick-up and Delivery service that provide a lot of analytics that will help when it comes to staffing decisions.

When to Schedule the Staff

Now that you know how many employees you’ll need, you’ll need to decide when to staff them.

The best time to hire additional staff is during your peak hours. This will ensure that your customers always have someone available to help assist them and that your laundry business is running smoothly.

If you’re not sure when your busy hours are, take a look at your sales data from previous years. This will give you a good idea of when you should be hiring additional staff.

Additionally, look at when the slow hours are. You may not need an employee at the laundromat at all times, such as during the late hours of a store that is open 24 hours a day. This will help keep your bottom line lower.

Qualities to Look for in New Employees

Once you’ve determined when to hire, the next step is to find the best employee for every job.

When looking for laundromat staff, it’s important to find individuals who are friendly and helpful, as they’ll be the face of your business.

You should also look for employees who are reliable and have experience working in a fast-paced environment. These qualities will be essential for ensuring that your customers always receive the best possible service.

Attention to detail is very important, especially with your “wash, dry, and fold” and “pick-up and delivery” services. You want to make sure your staff is treating the customer’s clothes with as much care as possible.

Previous delivery experience is a great bonus for hiring drivers for your pick-up and delivery service. Being able to meet deadlines is critical to the success of your service. You can ask about their experience during the interview process.

Finally, make sure to conduct thorough background checks on all potential employees. This is important for both the safety of your customers and the security of your business.

Training New Employees

Just as important as having a solid hiring process is offering quality training. Your training is what will create great employees that become part of your winning team. You’ll need to train everyone in a few different areas.

Each of your applicants needs to understand the responsibilities that they will be in charge of. Depending on which job they are applying for, they may need to learn their cleaning responsibilities for your store, such as cleaning the machines, sweeping, cleaning the lint traps, and any other duties you want your attendants performing in their job. If their position is a laundry processor, you will need to train them to be familiar with the equipment, have a basic understanding of how to operate the washers and dryers, and how to wash different types of clothes. Drivers will need training on your company policies for working with customers, how to intake and return laundry, and your driving policies. Each of these jobs requires employees to be responsible for different things, so your training may vary.

By following these tips, you’ll be able to staff your laundromat business effectively and efficiently, turning applicants into great employees who create a great customer experience every day.

Conclusion

Hiring additional staff can be a daunting task, but it’s important to do so to keep your customers happy and your business running smoothly. By following the tips in this article, you’ll be able to find the right employees for your laundromat business and ensure that your customers always receive the best possible service.