The Next Real Milestone is Self Sufficiency
Part of me knew this would happen, but then another part of me is flabbergasted that it has happened. This company is growing at a breakneck pace. So much so that it’s taking its toll on my mind and body. But I chose this, and I still choose this. I am now so deep in, so heavily invested, that I cannot stop at any cost. I often wonder how much longer I can keep this up, and when will I be able to get back to some life normalcy, where i have the time and energy to exercise and eat right.
My best estimate is three or four years. That’s a long time, but I know i can handle it. The path I see is simple. First, learn to master the fundamentals with this store. Then, open a second store and optimize the margins. The 3rd store will serve as the replicate model for the company in the long run.
Mastering the fundamentals with this store is to get the store to the point where it runs itself. Where there’s a store manager, a couple of delivery drivers, and a laundry staff. Right now the laundry staff is there, about 80% full. But I’m filling the other roles myself. I’m the store manager and delivery driver. The next step is to hire a driver but the sales and cash flow cannot support another employee yet.
What amazes me is the growth of the company. I have not increased my marketing spend. Instead I’m retaining more long term corporate customers, while acquiring new residential customers with the normal marketing.
So what are the fundamentals I’m trying to master? #1 is customer service. I do not want any unhappy customers. I do have a couple of customers that I’ve had to refund or even pay to replace their clothes. But no one has walked away from my company thinking they were ripped off. In nearly 3 years of business I have zero negative reviews on Yelp and Google.
#2 is employee happiness. In fact, I value my employees more than my customers. I go above and beyond to ensure they like their job. On most days I buy them lunch. If they ask for days off I do my best to comply. I give them raises regularly, every six months. I let them listen to music while they work and even have brief phone conversations. But I also make sure there is no time to jackass around by providing a high volume of laundry that needs to be done every day.
These 2 things about my business are examples of me betting on my biggest strength which is empathy: Making sure my customers and employees are happy. My other strength is that I’m good with numbers. Not necessarily good with money, but good with numbers. And I’m getting better with money.
But my weaknesses are that I’m not very organized and I’m not good at documenting the process. I know that this is a big part of what I need to do to make a model store that can be replicated. I have to create and maintain a documented process of how everything should be done from taking the order to doing the laundry, to making the delivery and collecting the payment. Everything needs to be documented and I have done very little of that work. So far, I’ve created an outline of what needs to be documented.
The other fundamentals that I’m still working on are maintaining positive cash flow and having a net profit month after month. I think I will be spending the whole of 2019 focusing on growing the sales and increasing the profit margin. And likely planning the opening of the 2nd and 3rd stores.
My preliminary hunch is that the 2nd store will likely be in the Irving Las Colinas or Carrollton area and the 3rd store will be in Oklahoma City. Las Colinas is growing very fast and a store there will allow me to service the airport, Grapevine, Lewisville, Flower Mound, Addison, and maybe even Frisco. There’s a lot of business to be had there. And I think I can really do well there. The reason for opening the 3rd store in Oklahoma City is two fold. First, it is a medium sized city so it is the perfect size to build the model to be replicated. Second, I have a network of friends and family there that will accelerate it’s growth initially.
But right now I need to focus on the more immediate task of getting this store to be self sufficient.
This story is part of a series documenting the journey of a Dallas startup called Feather Laundry. For your reference here is the Table of Contents for the series.
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