The Laundry List Blog

There’s a lot of noise right now about AI replacing people.
Smarter systems.
Faster automation.
Less human involvement.
But here’s what won’t change:
Humanity will always be greater than anything humans create.
AI can process information.
It can schedule.
It can optimize.
It can automate communication.
But it...

Tax season isn’t just about filing, it’s about strategy.

Too many drycleaning owners sit down with their Certified Public Accountant (CPA), drop off numbers, and hope for the best. Instead, come prepared with the right questions so you can legally minimize taxes and protect your profitability.

Here’s ...

Most drycleaners think marketing starts with ads, postcards, or discounts. That’s not marketing, that’s noise. Real marketing is much simpler and much harder: it’s the intentional act of leading your client through a journey where doing business with you becomes the obvious choice.

That journey sta...

Drycleaning owners don’t struggle because they’re lazy or uncommitted. They struggle because they’re pulled in too many directions at once.

On any given day you’re dealing with production issues, missed stains, upset customers, employee questions, equipment problems, and a dozen small decisions tha...

This is your last chance to register for our free AI training with AI Expert, Jonathan Mast.

AI is no longer optional but learning it the wrong way is expensive and time-consuming. That’s why we brought in someone who has already done the hard work. I was blown away when I first heard him speak on th...

AI is moving fast and most dry cleaning owners know it’s important, but don’t know who to trust or where to start.
That’s exactly why we hired Jonathan Mast, an AI Expert, to lead a free AI training built specifically for dry cleaning and laundry business owners. And you’re invited to join us.
Jonatha...

This Wednesday at 1 p.m. Eastern, I’m hosting a FREE don’t-miss DLI webinar where I’ll take a deep dive into the seven key metrics you must understand, measure, and act on if you want 2026 to be your best year yet.

Data gives us the brutal honesty of how our business is really performing. Most busine...

Most drycleaning owners are experts at cleaning and spotting clothes. Far fewer are experts at running a drycleaning business. That gap is where profit leaks, long hours creep in, and burnout lives.

If you want real growth—not just more work—you have to stop thinking like an operator and start thin...

Most drycleaning owners don’t have a marketing problem — they have a planning problem.

They run promotions when business feels slow, chase tactics they heard about at a conference, or rely on whatever worked last year. What’s missing isn’t effort. It’s a clear marketing plan that drives revenue consi...

Most drycleaners try to ask for referrals.
That’s why they don’t get many.
People don’t refer drycleaners.

They refer specific solutions to their problems.
And comforter cleaning is one of the most referable services you have.

No one talks about shirts.
They talk about:

• Big, bulky comforters
• Items the...

As the year winds down, I wanted to pause and say thank you.
Thank you for reading my weekly posts.

Thank you for spending a few minutes of your busy weeks thinking about your business a little differently.

I know how demanding this industry can be. The long days, the constant decisions, the feeling th...

Most drycleaners try to be everything to everyone.
We press shirts, clean suits, do alterations, handle wedding gowns, offer pickup and delivery—the list goes on.
But here’s the truth the industry rarely talks about:

The most successful drycleaners aren’t generalists.
They’re known for one thing—one “he...

When you compete, you focus on others.
When you focus on others, you react.
When you react, you become a watered-down version of one of your competitors.
Competition tempts businesses to:

• Match prices
• Copy promotions
• Mirror services
• Imitate branding

The result?
You fade into a sea of sameness.

C...

I’m going to ask a tough question that might make some people uncomfortable:
 
“What is your marketing designed to make someone do?”
 
Your marketing is only effective if it is designed to produce a specific action.
Otherwise, you will make excuses like:
 
“We’re getting our name out there...”
“We are engag...

When it comes to managing your team, most managers try to fix the person when they should be fixing the process.
 
If someone is not doing their job, there are only five possible reasons.
 
By sharing this framework with your team members, you can remove the personal blaming and focus on solving the cha...

As we have discussed before, there are only three ways to increase your revenue:

1. Get more clients, ideally right fit clients
2. Increase the monetary value of your current clients’ visits
3. Increase the frequency of your current clients’ visits

That’s it.
No other options.

You need to have a system...

Don’t look at complaints as problems.

Look at complaints as opportunities.

Opportunities to improve your business and an opportunity to WOW your client.

It’s important to understand that the client who complains cares enough to complain.

If they didn’t care, they would just move on to one of you...

Last week, I announced a proven roadmap for cleaning Patio Cushions. At In The Bag, we plan to pick-up over 6,000 patio cushions from our clients in Q4! And we’ve only been offering this service for the past three years.
 
Your list of clients, hopefully with full data points (name, address, cell phon...

I wanted to share with you a message I sent to my Leadership Team today. Since I work from home, I count on Slack for communication with my team, and this is what I asked them to do this week:

Team,
Can you please look up historical information so we can reach out to Patio Cushion prospects-
See how ...

Referrals can be extremely powerful in growing your business because a referred client already likes you because they have been properly introduced by another client of yours.
 
Before you focus on getting referrals from your best clients, you need to make sure your company is indeed referable.
 
Make s...