Be prepared for some customer attrition from the change. Smaller stores have fewer things to be cleaned and maintained, so it’s much easier to manage without an attendant, and because smaller stores typically bring in less revenue than larger stores, they often can’t afford the labor expense anyway.īe aware, however, that if your store has been attended for some time, and you are wanting to transition to unattended, you may get significant pushback from customers who have grown accustomed to having on-site help. With advances in modern technology, it’s fairly easy to keep a store secure and safe without anyone to watch over it so long as you keep your equipment user-friendly and provide good instructional signage.Īlso, being unattended is more manageable if your laundry is on the smaller side (less than 2,000 square feet). It’s also been found that a portion of customers like the idea of unattended laundromats, disliking the awkwardness of feeling watched over. (This is assuming that daily janitorial is performed by an outside contractor.)
Labor can easily be 10-15% of gross incomes, so with no employees, there is no labor expense. The first and obvious perk to being unattended is the financial aspect. But there is much more to the decision than that, so let’s consider the Pros and Cons, shall we? It’s easy to let your first thought be “Why spend extra money on an attendant if I can feasibly save the money?” And this is a logical question to ask. Each has its drawbacks and advantages worth considering. However, this topic is less about one being inherently better or worse than the other and more about what best fits the store in question.
So naturally one of the great debates when it comes to self-service laundries is whether it’s best to hire attendants or leave the store to run unattended. Employees mean overhead, and overhead cuts into profits. Anyone who worked a summer or two at their local mall as a teen is bound to have some colorful stories from their days behind the counter.īut you’re the boss now, and you’re deciding who is behind the counter…or, should you choose, no one at all. Oh the wonders of customer service (or the lack of it). Daymond John, Investor on Shark Tank and Founder of FUBU Clothing “You have to understand that there’s really only two ways of operating a business: more sales, or lower overhead.” Attended vs Unattended: The Pros and Cons
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