10 Common Challenges of Running a Laundry Business In Nigeria
Challenges of running a laundry business abound. Laundry business pays well if all is done right and could be a calamity if you don’t get your game right. The rise of laundry services in Nigeria is down to the rise of women working in the Nigerian state.
Story for another day though as we want to concentrate on the different challenges of running a laundry service in the country.
The best way to understand these issues and problems you are likely going to encounter if you will start a laundry business is to carry out a feasibility study. The essence is to understand what the people in the business are already passing through in the process of running a dry cleaning business.
The truth is that once you are able to highlight the numerous challenges that confront owners of laundry business in your choice location, it will make it easier for you to devise a means to overcome some or even all of the challenges.
Knowing these challenges of running a laundry business in Nigeria does not guarantee that you will succeed in it. It does however; give you an edge over others who don’t. What really makes you successful is overcoming those challenges. There are a lot of means to do that.
For now, we will help your ministry by saving you the stress of carrying out the feasibility studies by highlighting the challenges of running a laundry business in Nigeria that you would have found out by yourself.
Related: How to start and equipments for laundry services in Nigeria
Challenges of running a laundry business in Nigeria
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Issues of Missing Clothes
If you are not careful when handling peoples’ clothes, you are going to have a lot of issues of missing clothes. This is the most common of the challenges of running a laundry business. This is common when you have a good number of customers. There is the possibility of misplacing a client’s shirt or trousers or under wears.
To avoid this, adopt effective documentation of items (proper labeling and handling) at every stage of the process of dry cleaning the clothes.
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Issues of Stained Clothes
If you are not careful, you will have a lot of stained clothes. It does not augur well for you and your customers. It could happen while washing or while ironing. It could be the clothes staining themselves. You are expected to read the labels on the clothes and follow the instructions. This gives you clues on how best to handle the cloths without staining them. You don’t want to keep replacing customer’s clothes.
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Rainy / Wet Days
A rainy day is a pain in the ass for drycleaners. It is one the many challenges of running a laundry business in Nigeria. To worsen it all, you can’t eliminate them because they are natural.
What you can do is to make sure you have an alternative. Drying machines were invented for this contingency. They are meant to mitigate the effects of rainy season to your laundry business.
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Burnt Clothes
If you are not careful when using industrial pressing iron, you are likely going to get your clients’ clothes burnt. You should read the label on the shirt clothe to know the heat that is suitable for ironing it. You can’t use same temperature to iron clothes made of silk and clothes made of pure cotton as I assume you already know.
- Clean Water Supply
An essential part of your laundry services is having clean water supply. When you own a laundry business, you are expected to have access to clean water supply. The lack of clean water supply is undoubtedly one of the challenges of running a laundry business.
You can’t afford to wash your customer’s cloths with dirty water so you must sort that out. You have to situate your business where you can get clean water supply.
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Electrical Power Supply
You need power to survive in laundry business. You need power for your washing machines, drying machines and electric pressing iron. When opening your business, factor in electricity or you end up spending the little money you have on generator sets and diesel. On the other, you need to also have the generator sets because Nigeria can be funny.
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Meeting Up With Delivery Time (Set targets)
Very important to this business is delivery. It is one of the challenges of running a laundry business in Nigeria. Delivery here refers to meeting up with the time set with customers or getting the cloths to the promised destination. Set up a strategy to meet up with the delivery time.
This business is for people. You have to have clients so as to make money from it. You have to overcome the challenge of attracting customers. You must attract them. Once you have a loyal customer base, you are good to go.
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Enough Space (Bigger Facility) in Good Location
The space you will use should also be considered. You need space for sorting out clothes, washing, ironing, packaging and storing the clothes. You have to get a sizeable location or you will need to get another one along the line.
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Equipment Breakdown
Equipment breakdown in the form of tear and wear is one of the challenges of running a laundry business in Nigeria. It is inevitable that your equipment will breakdown at some point as a result of consistent usage. You are therefore expected to factor it in and have enough backup now. You don’t want to get stranded. You should constantly service the serviceable equipment regularly.
Every business has its own challenges. We have taken time to give the challenges of running a laundry business in Nigeria. There are most likely others that we did not mention but are challenges nonetheless. We are however confident that if you surpass these challenges, others won’t be a problem.
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