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How much do you make as a Dry Cleaning Business Owner

You are looking for a business to buy or get into and you are not sure if it is even worth your effort.  You ask yourself, “Should I buy a Dry Cleaning business or look at something else all together”.  This is a huge question that cannot be answered simply, there is going to be some research to do in order to determine if the asking price for an existing business is fair, under or over valued.  The last thing that you want to do is buy into a failing business for more money then it is worth in the first place.

The question I have for you is how much time do you have?  If you have the time to do your own research then you can do some business analysis and comparisons from other similar businesses in your city or area.  The zone or area that business is located has a large impact on the performance of that business.  You have to consider the demographics and the target customers for your business.

If you don’t have the time, then you will need to hire a professional business analyst or broker to assist you in the assessment of the dry cleaner business you are considering to buy.  A business is a business, so the price should be based on the performance and profit that the business generates.  You can determine this in most cases by looking at the financial history.  The previous 3 years should give you a good idea on the profitability of the Dry Cleaners.  Based on the profit margin you can forecast your income from the business, from that point you can determine the return on investment.

A Business Broker specializes in the sales and purchasing of businesses of any scale.  The services offered by many of these companies include market assessments, business valuations, business appraisals and comparisons as well as a large listing of businesses for sale.  Even if you are buying a dry cleaning business and have done all your own research, it is still worth the cost for an independent valuation of the business.  Have a business broker who is not involved with the sale or purchase of the business to do a simple market value assessment of the business.

How Much Can You Make?

In reality, I can’t really tell you because each and every Dry Cleaners will be different.  I can give you a rough idea though.  Based on some survey data on salaries in the US and Canada for Managers and Owners of Dry Cleaners and other Cleaning services such as Laundromats, the Average Salary is between $45,000 to $60,000 annually.  First, remember that this is an average, so there is plenty of room to be making more.  In my opinion, this is a low estimate actually.  This survey that I found seems to target the “Managers” of the business, which in most cases are employees of that small business.  The net income from a business is really what the owners salary is and is often disclosed to the potential buyers as well.

Beyond the business financials, business plans, employees and all the other duties, what will it take to make a decent salary in the dry cleaning business.  In short, it will take your time.

As an example, lets look at a Dry Cleaner owner who is more hands off and hires a manager to run the business.  Out of the business gross profit you will have to pay your Manager, who in turn will make between $40,000 and $50,000.  The business manager will be responsible for day to day activities, storefront, marketing, licensing, permits, staff and other management duties.  The business in turn will be making a profit ( hopefully ) and your take home salary may as low as $20,000 a year.  Not great…. but you have to consider that this is probably income on top of whatever else you are making doing other things, or running other businesses.  You can then the owner and not the manager.

In most cases, unless you operating or buying into a multi-store business, you will both be the manager and owner.  Theoretically combining the income into one for yourself.  You will be the manager and have to put in the time to manage the business and all associated activities.  The more you do, the less you have to pay someone else to do them.  You also get to be your own boss.

The only real way to know how much you will make is to have a close look at the financial statements from the particular dry cleaners you are looking to buy.   This is where the business assessment comes in.  In most cases, when a business owner wants to sell their business they will want to have all the documentation ready for potential buyers.   Often the seller will have already arranged a valuation of the business, both for helping with the sale and knowing how much to sell it for in the first place.

Business financials are the key to knowing your potential income.  I have also found that business broker listings will show gross revenue and net profit/income.  The range on dry cleaners is from a net income of $50,000  to upwards of $250,000 + per year.  The Dry Cleaning business is a well established, long running business model with continued growth throughout North America.   The decision to invest your money and time into a Dry Cleaner is a smart one.  Finding the right size of Dry Cleaners is the next step.  Have a look at my article on Starting a Dry Cleaning Business as well.

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2012 01 18 ChadB Starting a new Dry Cleaners Comments (0) Permalink

The popularity of Home Dry Cleaning

What has Home Dry Cleaning become very popular in the last few years?

Nearly everyone has probably used a dry cleaning service at some point or another. They are everywhere. Most people use them for their delicate garments and hard to wash items. Some clothing is also dry clean only, not leaving you with a lot of cleaning options. The advantages of dry cleaning you clothing is that they usually last longer, don’t suffer from color fade and dry cleaners can often remove stains that normal home machines and products can’t.

In home washing machines, you are using a soap and water solution that is often damaging to all clothing in some way. Over time the chemicals actually break down the fabric. Normally you never notice, but it happens to all your clothing. Your clothes wear out, fade and become fragile over time. For this reason we have dry cleaners and other alternatives like hand washing ( but who wants to do that ). Specially developed, or discovered, chemicals are used in the dry cleaning process that do not damage fabrics and garments like normal washing machine soap does. The chemical cleaning process is targeted to the type of dirt and grime that get on the clothing, and not a friction and acid type cleaning process that happens in every home washing machine today.

It is true that normal washing in your home washing machine does damage your clothing, only slightly, but over the lifetime of your clothing it does a fair amount of damage. You could take all your clothing to a dry cleaners to have done for you, and if you have the money for it, great. Your clothes will last longer and look better. You also have the inconvenience of continually going to and from the dry cleaners for your laundry. The other option is a delivery and pick up dry cleaning service.

What has been happening recently is that people are finding ways to make their own dry cleaning machine or service at home. They are still using harsh chemicals and solvents. The main reason is the simplicity of the dry cleaning process and the availability of the chemicals used. Although the process is fairly simple, actually doing it at home is not. There are a lot of things to consider when you decide to try or look into doing this in your own home.

The dry cleaning process is time consuming and careful attention to detail is required. Some practice or even some training may be in order if you are unsure of what needs to be done. Chemical handling is one of the hardest parts of the process and must be done carefully and with the right equipment and ventilation. There are risks involve, yet many, many people are currently doing this at home.

There must be a reason or advantage to going through the preparation and work of chemical cleaning your clothing at home or no one would do it. You require some basic products like paper tissue, towels and a work space. You also need the chemicals to do the cleaning and other clean up chemicals and equipment. All dry cleaning chemicals today are available to anyone that looks for them, many are less harmful then perc ( probably not something you want to use at home ). Perc is a very dangerous and toxic chemical used in most dry cleaners today. There are others available that you can use at home that range from minimal toxicity to safe and environmentally friendly. Newer chemicals available today make the process a lot safer to do at home too and lower environmental impact.

There are both advantages and disadvantages to doing your own dry cleaning at home. The first benefit is a reduced cost as the chemicals are not that expensive and readily available. You can also save time from driving to and from the dry cleaners as well. In the end, the home setup is cheaper and with the right chemicals you can achieve as good or better results. There are many local and online retailers that sell organic, safe, easy to handle and safe on the environment products. be sure to sure high quality products, take your time and you will have superb results.

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2011 04 27 ChadB Dry Cleaning Chemicals
Dry Cleaning Equipment
Home Dry Cleaning Comments (0) Permalink