Finding Local Commercial Laundry Business Opportunities

A market analysis is the best way to determine promising commercial laundry business opportunities, including potential clients and projected revenue. Without a thorough review of the local landscape, new or expanding commercial laundries may miss out on potential revenue opportunities.

While you may not have the resources or experience to perform a thorough market analysis, Western State Design specialists do. We’ve been helping businesses start up and scale operations for decades, and our experience is one reason people choose WSD. We understand the importance of identifying laundry business opportunities and the best ways to capitalize on them. Explore the market analysis process and objectives with this guide, then contact our specialists for help turning your dream into an actionable business plan.

The Importance of a Commercial Laundry Market Analysis

Performing a thorough market analysis requires researching current and future trends and speaking to industry experts to evaluate the commercial laundry market, potential customers, and competition—and then putting that data to work. This isn’t an easy task, but it is a necessary one. Market research can shape the business model to help new owners and those expanding their operations find success by:

Evaluating the viability of their venture based on the current market landscape
Identifying opportunities to better serve commercial laundry customers within a specific location or industry
Targeting services and marketing to the customer base’s needs
Understanding competitors to earn advantages and capture underserved markets

Commercial Laundry Resources for Market Research

Market research is the cornerstone of a business plan, detailing a commercial laundry’s target audience, customer needs, and competition. Linen services are stable because many industries rely on laundry, including hospitality, food service, and healthcare, but you should prepare to back up assumptions with local market data and research.

Assessing the local market needs, stability, and outside influences may require a variety of resources, including:

Commercial Laundry Specialists: offer invaluable insights on market challenges, opportunities, and solutions.
Equipment Experts: WSD distributors stay up to date on equipment trends and advancements affecting the market, and they understand how technology can influence businesses’ bottom lines, capacities, and viability.
Market Research Reports: Agencies such as the Small Business Administration provide industry-specific reports that can tell you about the economic health of service industries, including commercial laundry.
Surveys and Focus Groups: Cost-effective, large-scale data collection and opinionated feedback from potential customers inform commercial laundry owners on market demands and service opportunities to shape their business models.
Competitor Mapping and Analysis: Gaining insights on direct, indirect, and potential competitors increases a commercial laundry business’s understanding of market positioning and industry gaps it can fill.

1 | Understanding the Commercial Laundry Market

Data from your laundry resources and your own experience and observations are essential to analyze the current and future state of the market and plan how your business will excel. We’ve gathered some questions to ask yourself to help you get a pulse on the commercial laundry market:

Defining the Current Market Status and Demand

Answer these questions about the current commercial laundry landscape to understand the revenue potential and stability of entering the market as it stands today.

Is there a local demand? Find and identify area businesses that may need commercial laundry services, such as gyms, salons, spas, car washes, clinics, and caterers. Then confirm opportunities to purchase or lease property proximate to the demand.
What is the market size? Examine the number of companies within the local market and determine whether these commercial laundry clients generate sustainable revenue.
Is the market saturated? Quantify the laundry options for your customer base, and identify niche commercial laundry business opportunities within any saturated markets.
Are there gaps in the market? Determine whether wash-and-fold, delivery, and other specific services are widely offered, and consider if businesses would contract with commercial laundry if better opportunities existed.

Future Commercial Laundry Market Considerations

You need to understand all future business opportunities and anticipate barriers. Ask yourself these questions as you consider how you’ll continuously earn revenue, meet consumer demands, and grow.

Is my business plan scalable? Consider whether your commercial equipment solutions, layout, and logistics allow the flexibility a growing business needs.
Is the laundry market growing? Estimate opportunities based on anticipated new business developments, chains, and expansions, all of which can bring in potential commercial laundry clients.
What’s driving local demand? Consider whether regulatory changes, employment challenges, or other factors may influence businesses’ choices to outsource commercial laundry versus operate an OPL, and ensure you’re set up accordingly.

2 | Identifying Commercial Laundry Clients

The target market for a commercial laundry service comprises local businesses that frequently produce a high volume of linens, such as hotels, clinics, spas, gyms, car washes, and similar entities. The potential customers your commercial laundry identifies may hail from various industries, including healthcare, food service, hospitality, manufacturing, and fitness, so you’ll need to do some homework to determine the best fit.

Use your observations on current and future trends to refine your market analysis on commercial laundry needs and growth opportunities. Let these questions guide your exploration:

What’s my ideal market share? Name an ideal operational capacity and consider a facility design that allows for expansion as your market share grows.
What are my planned specialties and services? Commercial linen equipment capacities and capabilities, such as ironing and folding, will define which businesses you’ll serve now and which you may grow into.
What is our service area? Identify boundaries for your preferred customer base to define a realistic service and delivery area based on your target market. Refine your service area to a location that won’t reduce your profitability due to extra fuel and delivery hours or inconvenience to your target customers.
What revenue potential exists? Consider what potential customers are willing to pay for commercial laundry services in a specific area to determine revenue potential and viability of your business.
Does the local market offer a viable workforce? Dig deep into workforce statistics and review earnings data and employment trends to identify potential roadblocks to finding and retaining laundry employees.

Follow Demand To Find Laundry Customers

Planning to target gyms, salons, and clinics is different than finding the exact companies you’ll market to and serve. To identify customers for your commercial laundry company, look in local directories, scan online reviews and ratings, and explore industry networks to find businesses whose linen or uniform demands complement your services.

You may want to split your potential commercial laundry clients into two service-based groups to evaluate universal versus specialty needs. This helps you reach your goals for customized laundry processing and high-value services while still promoting general linen care, balancing resources and capacities.

3 | Evaluating Competitors for Commercial Laundry Market Advantages

A competitive analysis should focus on learning your competitors’ customer bases, marketing strategies, pricing, and service options. This helps you identify strengths, weaknesses, market positions, and opportunities to differentiate your business to gain a competitive advantage. Competitors often fall into three categories, and you should investigate all as part of a comprehensive analysis:

Direct: Commercial laundries offering the same services as you, targeting the same market
Indirect: Laundries offering similar services as yours with a different model or features, such as an on-premise laundry at a hotel, or an industrial laundry facility servicing a hospital network
Potential: Up-and-coming competitors who are in development or franchising into your area

Putting Commercial Laundry Analytics Into Action

Once you understand the current climate of your local market, you can shape your commercial laundry business plan to capture customers you’ve identified and deliver on their demands. With data-driven insights, you can make informed decisions on equipment selection, workflow, and service options to start your business off strong. When you tailor advertisements and outreach messaging to the commercial laundry market’s needs, you’ll often see higher response rates and engagement with a better use of your budget.

Market analysis can inform a commercial laundry business’s decisions, from adopting a more intelligent workflow to enhancing the customer billing system. If you need help gathering data or making decisions for your start-up or expansion, contact an experienced laundry specialist today.