Starting a Dry Cleaning Business

Starting a dry cleaning business can have many ups and downs, and can be very lucrative, but can wipe you out if you are not careful. Unlike some small businesses out there when you are starting a dry cleaning business you will be putting up a fair bit of money right from the beginning. Even before you start marketing. The first step to starting a dry cleaning business is doing research. What kind of dry cleaning business clients are you hoping to get? Can your dry cleaning business dry clean everything? Or will you have to send some out to others?

After you have researched what is involved with operating a dry cleaning business then you can look at what is involved in starting a dry cleaning business. I know that sounds funny, but in this type of business you are going to want to make sure you will succeed before you put out 10’s of 1000’s of dollars or more. Can you imagine spending that much money on equipment alone and not knowing how to run the business? Of course you can and should hire people, then that will leave you with all the other normal business, such as marketing, getting clients, and the daily management of the company.

The steps to starting a dry cleaning business are similar to other steps to starting a business of any type. Except when you are starting a dry cleaning business you will need to rent a bay or warehouse to hold the dry cleaning equipment. Try to get a good location to bring in the drive by traffic. Then you will need to renovate the location to suite your needs. Of course to do this you will need permits for the construction, and then an operating permit to run the company. You will also make sure that everything is within the fire codes as well. Check your location for operating permits and fire regulations.

The next step to starting a dry cleaning business is to get your name and phone lines hooked up, decals or paint job for vehicles you may be using in deliveries if you go that route. And business cards, yellow page ads, online advertising, website, letter head, and a marketing plan.