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September 12, 2012
10 Secrets to Promoting Your Cleaner...Now! (Part 2 of 2)

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Make sure your message is where the people are

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Brian Wallace, president/CEO of the Coin Laundry Association, was given a daunting task: to capture the audience’s attention during the final hour of a regional dry cleaning and laundry trade show in sunny Southern California.

But his task was no more challenging than one faced by every dry cleaner: to successfully market his or her store(s) in an environment where potential customers have access to information almost instantaneously and from a variety of sources.

On top of all the other “hats” that a dry cleaner “wears”—customer service, maintenance, production, human resources, accounting—he or she can add one more hat to that mix: director of marketing, Wallace told attendees of Fabricare 2012.

“You work incredibly hard for your business, but the fact of the matter is things have changed. … We’re all trying to reinvent ourselves on the fly, trying to deal with the new marketplace. I think that trying to come to grips with some of the new marketing techniques is really an important part of that overall process.”

May 24, 2011
To Your Credit, Part 1

CHICAGO  — According to the experts, the recession ended in the summer of 2009. Three months after that, however, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said, “This credit crunch is not over.” With all the available capital apparently going to big business and government, what can the financially-strapped small-business owner do?

September 3, 2010
Eight Things Every Drycleaner Should Do to Succeed in Business Today (Part 2)

Jolly Belin of France opened the world’s first drycleaning “business” in the 1840s. He accidentally spilled some kerosene on his stained clothing and saw the spots vanish. The rest is history, as they say.

Today, there are more than 30,000 drycleaning establishments in the United States. About 85% of are small, Mom-and-Pop establishments employing approximately five people and generating about $200,000 in annual sales.

May 17, 2010
Be Alert for Loan Scams

WASHINGTON — Small-business owners are complaining about a host of scams, high fees and abusive marketing tactics related to federally guaranteed loans programs, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Inspector General reports.

One of the complaints involves firms charging small businesses high fees to provide assistance in applying for SBA loans. The firms imply that the applicants will receive the loan if the fee is paid. SBA says it does not endorse or give preference to specific private companies or their clients.

November 30, 2009
SBA Requests Additional Stimulus Money for Loans.

NEW YORK — The Small Business Administration (SBA) told CNN Money last week that it has run out of the $375 million Congress provided to help it spur new investment.

October 27, 2009
Federal Government, SBA Ready New Small-Business Loan Initiative

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration (SBA) are collaborating on a new initiative designed to make it easier for community banks to obtain capital and raise the funding limit for SBA loans.

Under the plan unveiled last week, banks with assets of less than $1 billion will be able to borrow capital from the government at a 3% dividend rate. To qualify, banks will need to submit a small-business lending plan showing how the money will expand their small-business lending.

October 19, 2009
Stimulus Is Helping Small Business, Senator Says

WASHINGTON — The small-business provisions included in the American Recovery and Re-investment Act are working, according to Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

January 28, 2009
SBA Disaster Assistance Tops $21 Million; Economic Injury Funds Still Available

WASHINGTON — More than $21 million in U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster assistance loans have been approved for small businesses in Illinois that were affected by the severe storms and flooding that occurred there from Sept. 13-Oct. 5, 2008.

October 17, 2007
Cut Customer Losses to Increase Profits

The stock market is down, profits are shrinking, prices are up and demand is down. The “good times” are over. This is how pundits have described the economic situation for the last year. Drycleaning, however, has been described similarly for the last five years. So cleaners now are faced with a double dose of bad news. The industry is down, and now the economy is down, too.