Tell us a bit about your business.
I'm Ocean Van, and along with my wife Ivy, we own Coco Laundry in Long Beach, California.
Before, I worked as a project manager in the Real Estate/Construction Management industry for a large national general contractor. While pursuing an MBA at UC Berkeley, I realized my passion for entrepreneurship. This led me to acquire Coco Laundry in November 2022 during a break from my previous career.
Running our laundromat felt like the perfect opportunity, and nearly two years later, we're still enjoying every moment of it! My wife also works full-time as a Senior UX Designer for a tech startup. This year, I returned to the corporate world while continuing to operate Coco Laundry.
When we started, we had just one employee but over the past year and a half, we've attracted a lot more customers, allowing us to grow our team to six employees. We run our business on a set schedule: the store opens automatically at 6:00 am for self-service, and our team begins their day at 8:00 am, working until 8:00 pm. We then use the remaining time to complete end-of-day tasks and close up shop by 10:00 pm.
One of our key services is pick-up and delivery (P&D). The previous owner started the P&D service, but it was fairly manual, relying on text and phone calls, and he personally handled deliveries. When I took over, I did the same for about 4-5 months before hiring a delivery driver. As demand increased, I hired another driver and adjusted our pick up schedule to fit our customers' schedules better, especially for those who work during the day.
We've developed a specific time slot model that is efficient for both our drivers and the business while giving customers’ enough options. Our drivers operate on an on-demand basis, clocking in only when orders are received. By grouping orders into fewer time slots, our drivers can use their time more efficiently compared to managing individual orders scattered throughout the day. Plus, our drivers can contact customers directly to adjust delivery/pick-up times as needed to fill up the time slots.
What inspired you to take ownership of Coco Laundry?
Laundromats have a super resilient cash flow—they're pretty much recession-proof and they offer the potential for semi-passive ownership. As someone who really wanted to get into entrepreneurship, the quality of repeated revenue and low barrier of entry of this industry is a good starting point for me. Coco laundry has given me the chance not just to run a business, but to apply what I learned in business school to grow and modernize it, introducing new services and technology along the way with CleanCloud.
What services do you currently offer?
We are a one-stop shop for all laundry care. We provide different services to our customers, including self-serve laundry, wash & fold, pickup and delivery, commercial laundry and dry cleaning (which we do through a dry cleaning partner). One of our key differentiators is our same-day service, for both in-store, drop-off and pick-up and delivery customers. Dry cleaning was an easy addition as we already knew that CleanCloud had the tools and workflows to support this type of service. It’s a quick way to provide even more value to our customers.
Our commercial laundry service is gradually expanding and we cater to Airbnbs, hotels, and other businesses needing linen and bedding cleaning. I like to use CleanCloud's features for commercial accounts and invoicing as I can easily separate these clients from my normal day to day customers.
How have you evolved Coco Laundry with CleanCloud?
When I took over the business, the previous owner was already using CleanCloud, but only at a basic level for in-store orders, and personal deliveries. Over time I've continued to incorporate CleanCloud into our daily operations, to better manage customer orders, expand our pickup and delivery services, and grow the business through CleanCloud Marketing functionalities.
I've hired new drivers with the addition of the CleanCloud driver app, which allows our team to track their pickups, follow delivery routes, and reach customers quickly without any need for manual coordination. CleanCloud’s system works perfectly with the services we offer and the size of our customer base. We also use the customer app, allowing our clients to book orders easily online, removing manual phone calls and text interactions, making Coco Laundry much more accessible to different people in the area.
One other part that I really appreciate about CleanCloud is its interface. The process and workflow of the app are self-guided, making it easy to train our staff to handle everything from taking orders to checking them out. This user-friendly design has been really beneficial for me and my team.
You use CleanCloud Payroll for your business. Why did you switch to this service?
Initially, I used Gusto for payroll, but it wasn't an integrated service at that time. Once the integration was established, I switched to CleanCloud Payroll. It’s been a great improvement! And I appreciate the tracking tabs and the ease of inputting data into the payroll system. In California, managing taxes and complying with laws can be complicated, but CleanCloud Payroll simplifies this with its automatic tax law compliance feature.
We handle weekly payrolls, and managing everything from one platform has made the process much quicker for me as a business manager. Previously, we relied on a manual punch card system for tracking hours, which took a lot of time to manage every two weeks. Now, I can track and edit everything digitally in one place, it’s really sped up the process!
What are your plans for Coco Laundry in the next few years?
We are considering introducing a new subscription service, which we could offer to our customers or students. We also have plans to open a new store in the future, though we still have growth potential at our current location. The great thing is that CleanCloud already provides everything we need, so it will be easy to continue using CleanCloud when the time does come to open a second store.
Lastly, would you recommend CleanCloud to others and why?
Absolutely, I would definitely recommend CleanCloud. I've been a big advocate for a long time, especially as a CleanCloud pro for the Facebook community. When I took over the business, I explored other industry specific systems, but CleanCloud has been the standout choice. It's incredibly comprehensive, with lots of new features continually being added.
We use CleanCloud's reporting tools to track our financial metrics and customer management, which helps us build a business strategy. We can identify our biggest customers, track customer churn, and determine who may need a bit more attention.
Overall, CleanCloud is a great product to work with! And the system offers everything we need to run and grow Coco Laundry in the years to come.