⌛ Does Dumaguete need...

a laundrymat? When I stayed for 6 weeks back in '98 there was only one in town that I knew of. Given the student population, and the amount of hotels, pension houses and resorts, maybe a laundrymat business might be a profitable thing? What do you think?

 

there are a few around I believe, a couple there in front of the Silliman gates. It could be an idea. I believe there are two things to look at in terms of a successful business. One of course is identifying a need or deficiency in the market place. For me though an even more important point is running an efficient operation. That is its more important being the best laundry mat in town rather than the only laundry mat in town

 

I thought there might be a need for another one, and of course I would try and make it the best, I was just wondering what is needed in today's Dumaguete that could be started up by someone. I did think of a water store, where you could bring your own containers and buy purified water, but on second thought, it occred to me that alot of people dont have disposible income for something like that..

My third thought was a small resort with a restaruant, bar and maybe 4 or 5 nipa huts, and planning dive/fishing trips. That would cost alot of capital and may not pay off. Last but not least is a small sari-sari...

 

I am always speculating on businesses and like to chat about it. In terms of the laundry mat how about this?...Your planning a house? How about you plan a central laundry facilities, say you built an over sized laundry in the house. instead of a single washer dryer you put in two each or even three. That should not add a great deal extra to the total cost of the house. Then what you do is have small store front operations for drop off and pickup. That way you could maximize production with less overhead and have multiple business locations. You could even subcontract with other retail businesses to do your drop off and pickup as a side business to their existing ones. With multiple locations you could establish a retail identity around the entire city

 

When I was there last year, around August, I counted maybe 4-5 laundromats. I'm sure there's more. But what i noticed about them was that they were always all packed with dropped off laundry and some were open at odd hours and never late.
So if you're thinking of opening one, try a 24 hour one with a self-serve style after a certain hour or something,lol. Attached to a coffee shop!