There are a WAH business that many people aren't aware of that requires no unique skills, very little start up money, and everything you need to operate it may be found in your laundry room. Not sure what I'm speaking about? Here's a hint: you already do it and probably happen to be for years now. I'm talking about a wash and collapse service.

Laundry. It is one of life's most dreaded tasks but for you it can be an extra $100 to $300 per week.

Many SAHPs looking for a WAH job or business most likely don't think of a wash and fold service as an choice. It certainly wasn't something I thought of initially once i was looking for something to do from home. But after trying out several different things and being disappointed with each outcome, the thought of a running home-based wash and fold service was created. It took some work, a few trials and errors, great I clean clothes once a week and gross $1, one hundred a month. Not bad for just cleaning clothes.

I'm going to share with you could began my home-based laundry service and give you excellent tips that would have saved me a lot of time. I will include a step-by-step guide as well as ideas for marketing. Starting a house laundry service is a great way to make extra money without having to compromise a lot of your time!

Step-by-Step Guide

1 . ) Take care of the particular legal stuff. You'll need to check with your state on potential certification and registration requirements. There will be a sales tax you'll need to spend on a frequent basis; it is imperative that you know what the florida sales tax is in the county you will be operating in.

You'll also need to establish how you can15484 be organized; Sole Proprietor, LLC, S Corp.

second . ) Open a business checking account. I strongly recommend keeping your personal laundry business and personal transactions separate. Although not necessary, it really is easier come tax time to report your earnings and costs if they are not comingled with your personal finances.

3. ) Setup your record-keeping. You will need to keep track of several things including; Laundry Customers, Payments Received, Expenses, and Mileage. This does not mean you have to go out and purchase fancy financial software; Google Spreadsheet will do a fine job of keeping track of everything and the price is correct; free!

4. ) How will you be paid? Determine your individual payment terms. Will your clients pay you before solutions are performed or after? Will you accept cash only or perhaps check as well? These are policies you'll need to establish prior to dealing with clients. Almost all of my clients prefer to pay via charge card. PayPal is an easy to use credit card processor with a reasonable charge (3% of transactions) that you can set up in a matter of minutes.

You'll also have to determine how much you will charge your clients. The two most typical methods I've observed are either by the pound or maybe by the bag size. If you choose to charge by the pound you will have to purchase a hanging scale (Amazon carries them for $10) and determine your rate ($1 - $1. 50/lbs is the average). If you choose to use bags you'll need to determine typically the dimensions and material desired for you bags and then look for a vendor within your budget. I use a nylon bag that is 22" X 28" and holds approximately two loads of clothes. You can anticipate bags to cost you $2 - $4/bag.

5. ) Make a website. Some may argue that this task is not necessary but I'd have to completely disagree. There is no need a brick and mortar store like the laundromats so your website, in a way, is your store. You NEED to have a way for clients to find a person and get information about your services. You will accomplish this through a site. WordPress is a free web design site that is very user friendly. You can easily create a website and find a web host from their "Hosting" section. I initially used GoDaddy for my internet site, and then later hired an independent contractor to create what is right now laundrycare. biz.

6. ) Market your services. There are many online and offline ways to market your services, I'll begin with internet marketing.

When it comes to creating your online presence you're going to have two choices; free marketing and paid marketing. I use a combination of both to advertise my wash and fold service. Free marketing might include listing yourself on free directories such as Gp and Yahoo! Local. Craigslist is another great source to market your laundry service for free. Paid marketing are the financed ads you see on a search engine results pages; the top dogs tend to be Google Adwords, Yahoo! Search, Microsoft Advertising and Facebook Ads. There are lots of more free and paid online marketers but this is a good starting place.

Social media marketing is an imperative piece to your marketing efforts. Myspace, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn are just some of the available media websites. You don't need (and won't have the time) to create multiple trading accounts, a Facebook Page is sufficient to begin. To get clients in order to "Like" your Facebook page you could offer an incentive for example money off their first order.

Online marketing requires only some a computer; for offline marketing you're going to have to roll up your company sleeves and do some real leg/mouth work. First thing you'll want to do is create an attention-getting flyer. Flyers really are a cheap way to promote your business and if there's a local university campus you can expose yourself to hundreds of potential clients every day. Make sure that your flyer has an attention-getting headline and print it upon vibrant colored paper. Include pull off tabs at the bottom of the flyer containing your business name, phone number, email and website if you have one. Business cards are another marketing tool you'll need for all those times when you are talking with a potential client. You can get two hundred and fifty business cards printed free through Vista (with $5 shipping).

Make a list of local companies that could use your service (Spas, doctor offices, daycares, restaurants) and contact them possibly by phone or in person. I know, I know, everyone loves marketing; this does not have be a pushy sales pitch though. A quick intro about yourself and your laundry service, coupled with how your company's service can benefit their business is all you need to do. Here's a small insider information that I've used to win over business clientele; you are less expensive than big, commercial cleaners & you don't need to require lengthy contracts. Most large commercial cleaners need at least a year's contract and will charge for several items such as fuel, processing, rental of towels/uniforms. Understanding this information can give you something attractive to offer potential business consumers.