Fresh Out of College, Full of Fresh Ideas: A Third-Generation Dry Cleaner Who Wasted No Time Joining the Family Business

By: Kate Hames

Dry Cleaning has been around long before my time, and I know that it will be long after too. Growing up in a family where my dad, his brother, and their father all owned their own dry cleaning businesses, I’ve seen many of the practices and routines that have become standardized over the years. As a fresh college graduate, I know I can’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to innovating in this industry, but I believe that my fresh perspective can still make the wheel better.

My Story

Like I said, I’m a third-generation dry cleaner. I spent my entire life in and around my family’s plants in Central Ohio, watching their routines and learning the day-to-day logistics of the business. The only time I spent away from the business was the time I spent attending Grand Canyon University, where I just graduated this past May. Although I was away from the machines whirring and my family talking shop, the business never really left my mind. My classes, internships, and degree in entrepreneurship all drove me back home, where I officially started working by my dad’s side only a week after crossing the stage in Phoenix.

My Perspective

I recognize the countless best practices that make my family’s company and the larger industry tick. With that being said, I still believe I have a role to play when it comes to introducing ideas that can push my family’s business forward.

In school, we were constantly reminded that new-age marketing is driven by innovation and creativity – two ideas that aren’t all that easy to implement in a century-old industry. However, in dry cleaning, I believe that innovation is possible in moderation.

My very first proposal to my dad was a weekly brainstorming session. Once a week, we try to come up with an idea that can incrementally improve revenue. Our goal is 52 ideas that can each generate $1000 – in other words, an attainable way to add $52,000 to our annual revenue. Of course, 52 ideas sounds ludicrous, but when you really think about the opportunities that become available to us throughout the year, it isn’t all that far-fetched. Just by considering holidays, world events, sports, and the trends that crop up spontaneously, there are dozens of ideas to easily tap into.

My First Implementation

On day two of my official career in dry cleaning, excluding all the days spent working in the store as a kid, I drove the implementation of a cap and gown promotion. Knowing that it’s graduation season, and with high school not all that far behind me, I recognized the most common need for every 18-year-old in our area – a cap and gown that will look presentable when it’s time to get a diploma. I brought the idea to my dad, and with his knowledge of the business, we were able to identify a financially feasible number to mark down our normal cap and gown services. Now, we were able to reach out to local schools, Facebook groups, and parents in the area with a discount on a much-needed service that would still result in profit for us.

With just a few calls, a little editing in Canva, and a few minutes of brainstorming, I was able to do real good for my family’s business. I know my professional career is still very young, but that sense of accomplishment only makes me want to do more. We’ve already got more ideas in the pipeline, but we aren’t ready to share all of the secret sauce just yet!

My Advice

My advice to other people like me, who may be coming up in their family’s business or just getting into a career in dry cleaning after college, is to not bite off more than you can chew, but also don’t be afraid to try something new in a long-standing space. Like I said, innovation in moderation. Think of what appeals to you as a young entrepreneur and understand that there’s a market for that.

Conversely, for people like my dad, my uncle, or my grandfather, who have been doing this for decades, be open to fresh perspectives. I’m incredibly lucky to have a dad who believes in me and lets me make things happen like this, but to other dry cleaning veterans, I understand it isn’t always easy to listen to someone with far less experience. It can take a bit of a leap of faith, and some ideas will always be better than others, but once you hit on one success story, it makes it much easier to keep trying new things.

Looking to start a family-friendly business you can pass down to the next generation?  Click here to learn more: martinizingfranchise.com