Oh my, the clock is certainly ticking. The year is already half over, and I am looking at my list of things I hope to accomplish this year – but my to do list seems like it just keeps getting bigger. Yes, the first part of the year has been good. Sales are up, our piece counts keep increasing, we are well staffed and the trends seem to be on the right track; regardless of what the experts say or predict.
So, instead of worrying about all those items on my to do list, I am going to reflect a bit and celebrate the successes we have experienced so far in 2023. For too many years I stressed over my failures, worried about things not getting done, and never taking the time to appreciate what my company and our team members have accomplished. Nope – it’s time to change my attitude, look for the positives and leave the negatives in the rear-view mirror.
And as one who has been in the dry cleaning and laundry business for nearly 30 years, I don’t think I am alone when I say there have been too many sleepless nights worrying about work that needs to be done, bills that need to be paid and the daily stresses that come from trying to balance one’s professional and home life.
We all know being in this business is tough – I would suggest it is more difficult than many businesses – and it is more complex than even we as owners will admit. One reason for this is that our profession does not require special examinations or training for entry.
Technically, anyone can hang a shingle and call themselves a dry cleaner. But as many of us have learned, the world of business can be a mean and expensive teacher. From the single location mom and pop shop to the large multi-location operation, we all face unique and difficult circumstances. For example, a supermarket owner learns what products sell well and those that don’t, which suppliers provide the best service and quality and how to greet and serve his or her clients. The supermarket manager must know how to ensure that perishable items are sold by the expiration dates, staff his store properly, train employees and earn an adequate margin on goods sold.
A dry cleaning operator must deal with many of these same issues, but at the same time know how to process a large variety of garments, remove stains on individual garments, packaging and deal with logistical and delivery issues. In effect, we attempt to apply concepts of mass production to unique, individual garments and textiles. As owners, we are also blessed with the joys of hiring, firing and supervising our employees, managing costs, marketing, customer service and compliance with all those wonderful environmental and local regulations. (Yes, there is a bit of sarcasm in that last sentence.)
In contrast, my prior career required me to obtain a college degree and pass a 20-hour uniform examination administered by the state – just to enter the profession. These two requirements were enough to limit the number of people entering this field and it also provided an educational foundation for those wanting to enter the profession.
We learn how to fix things, understand basic principles of physics, chemistry and mechanical processes. We develop people skills to help solve our customers’ concerns and get our team members to work together for a common goal. We find ourselves learning computerized systems and operations to ensure efficiency and accuracy. And we must make sure the bills get paid too!
That is a lot of stuff we are responsible for. It can certainly be overwhelming and when something doesn’t go according to plan, we can go into a tailspin quickly. Staffing issues can cause delays in getting work done. Labor costs can steal our margins. Supply issues result in inefficiencies. Equipment failures can create unexpected expenses and workflow challenges. Oh, and have any of you had to deal with legal issues? All these problems (among many others) are sources of stress that can lead to major cash flow issues and result in poor decisions that can impact the future of our businesses and our personal levels of stress.
And although there are some successful franchises out there, most of us run our businesses as independent owners and operators. Most of us don’t have an extensive support network to turn to when things go south. Yes, we can talk to our peers and get technical support from our professional associations and others, but the final decisions rest on our shoulders – good or bad. And you know, most of us wouldn’t have it any other way.
We knew when we got into this business, it would be challenging. We also knew it would be difficult and there would be times when we would be overwhelmed by it all. But we continue to show up and meet the challenges every day. Step by step, day by day, month after month, and then year after year. The past couple of years have shown us how difficult this type of work can be, but we continue to press (pun intended) forward.
So, while we deal with all this stuff – doesn’t it just make sense to take some time to celebrate our victories? No matter how small they may seem at the time?
For example, when was the last time we congratulated an employee for taking an extra step to take care of a customer? Do our employees know that we set a record for sales last month because of their efforts? How about an impromptu celebration to let them know they are appreciated?
A customer let us know we helped them out of a jam by getting their order ready on short notice. Did we take a minute to celebrate that little victory? Well, shouldn’t we take just a minute or two and raise our glass to toast our success?
An employee was having difficulty getting to work on time and we did some counseling to let him know his tardiness was unacceptable and set up conditions for him to work on. When those efforts worked to our mutual benefit – we congratulated him and had a private congratulatory celebration.
When we switched to a new computer system last year, there were some major challenges we worked hard to overcome in the initial months after the change. Now that things are much smoother and many of the initial obstacles have been overcome, we are planning a celebration to mark our first anniversary of the change and the positive impact we have realized because of operational changes that resulted.
In addition, there have been several one-off projects we have been doing for various schools and businesses. As each one is finished, we make it a point to thank everyone for their efforts in getting these jobs out the door.
In these dog days of summer, we can easily get bogged down in the day-to-day drudgery of our work. It is our responsibility as the dude or dudette-in-charge to keep our staff motivated and inspired. I truly believe by celebrating our victories as a team, we can create a positive atmosphere that will make us more efficient, improve our relationships with our employees and our clients and as a result, make our businesses more profitable.
So now I am going to turn my attention to a wedding gown that I’ve been trying to get finished for the past week or so. And when I get it done, I’m going to party like it’s 1999. Well, at least I’ll allow myself to smile at the finished product for a minute or two and give myself one official attaboy. The late singer formerly known as Prince would be proud.
Steve Thompson is the owner and operator of Sand Dollar Cleaners in Jacksonville, Florida. He has been in the dry cleaning business for almost 30 years, starting with a dry cleaning pick up and delivery service and developing it into the full service dry cleaning operation it is today. He was previously in the banking industry, working with organizations in Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma and Florida. While in the banking industry he earned designations as a Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Bank Auditor and a Certified Internal Auditor. Steve has previously written articles and developed training programs for accounting and internal audit organizations. He is a graduate of Indiana State University with a degree in accounting.
