National Clothesline

I recently dropped in on Bob Clarke’s plant in Foothill Ranch, CA. Bob and his wife, Carol, came out of the banking industry and decided to launder money in the drycleaning industry.

Of course, I am just kidding about the money laundering; however, it is interesting to me the number of people who have left banking and have gone into drycleaning. You probably know a few.

Bob runs his business under the name The Clothes Doctor. Bob and Carol have developed a product for automated telephone calling of customers named Voice Touch. If you want the ultimate in personal automated customer contact, other than email, this system is for you. Their office telephone number is (949) 206-1557.

Bob and Carol’s creativity partially stem from the book titled, Are You Doing Business Or Building One? authored by Richard G. Zalack. The Clarkes were kind enough to give me a copy when I was leaving their plant. I wish I had read this book when I first went into the drycleaning business. Thank you, Bob and Carol, for this super 57-page book discussing working on your business, not in it.

Michael Altshuler, noted speaker, made the following comment, “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”

How are you managing your time? Which hat are you wearing today? How many fires in the plant are you putting out? Are you having fun doing what you are doing?

You can still have fun while putting out those operational fires. I hope that does not come as a surprise to you. You probably are thinking, “How can you have fun in a drycleaning business?” It really is easy; however, you need to have the right mindset and be willing to take the time to make it happen.

When you walk into your plant in the morning, how do you greet your employees? Is there a smile on your face? Do you ask about the employee ’s family?

Having that positive attitude at the start of the day can make the whole day a success. Some plant owners never talk to the “underlings.”

What is the company morale like when the owner cannot take the time to say “Good morning, Mary” or “Buenos dias Jose”?

You may be at the top of the pyramid, but those employees are supporting you.

I had a large number of Spanish-speaking employees working for me. So that I could have fun with them, I spent my personal time going to school at night to learn conversational Spanish. It was time consuming, however, Berlitz made it easy. My employees loved the fact I was learning to speak their language.

Every employee became my teacher and the whole process was a win-win situation. The payoff was at our annual holiday party, when I got up to make my holiday speech and said in Spanish, “Somos una familia,” which translates into “We are one family.”

You know you have a good thing going with the employees when they start bringing in their relatives to work for you. The positive feeling spreads within the company. The best part is when you are listening to the employees joking with each other, bringing birthday cakes and having potluck lunches.

I never thought the words new and perc could be put into the same sentence. However, in this instance, I can actually do so. Because the vast majority of cleaners are still using perc to clean with, this new type of perc should prove very interesting.

The name of this new product is ReFresh. The number-one complaint by consumers, according to the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute is “drycleaning makes their clothes smell bad.” Odor-free drycleaning with perc might now be a reality.

According to Ron Herson, one of the developers, “ReFresh perchloroethylene is strategically enhanced, allowing it to freshen the cleaning system, resulting in garments which are void of the musty odors, sometimes associated with drycleaning ”.

Ron goes on to say, “It is well known within our industry that pristine perc has no residual odor, and in fact, it is the impurities within a perc system that creates such

odors”. I asked Ron how he changed perc and he told me that ReFresh has “a precise amount of formulated additives.”

Call Ron (301) 417-1300 to find out more about this new product and let me know if ReFresh actually does what Ron says it will do.

Maybe you will be able to say, “I love the fresh smell of perc when I wake up in the morning!”

The topic of building your own web site came up on the Fabricare Forum. I thought about the subject and then related it to our own drycleaning industry. As a drycleaner, you are a professional. If someone said he or she could clean their garments at home by following the directions given on the internet, what would your reaction be?

Why would you, an amateur at designing web sites, attempt to do it yourself? Yes, you might save a few dollars, but, and this is a very, very big but, how professional will that site be? The first impression of your business to a potential client may come from that web site.

I love to work on the computer and I enjoy creating. However, first impressions are extremely important. I would not write my own copy. That is why there are professional copywriters. I would not design my artwork. That is why there are professional graphic design artists. I would not clean my own clothes because I no longer own a cleaning plant.

A professional web site designer like Darcy Moen will provide your web site with a professional look from start to finish

Call Darcy in Canada at (306) 721-0124 and find out what a web site will cost. Remember, you have to be professional in all aspects of your business, including web sites and any other marketing.