Are You Willing to Be the Fool?

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson once said, “You have to be a fool before you can be a master. And if you're not willing to be a fool, then you cannot become a master.”

I think about this every time we do something new in the laundry business, like when we:

• Separated the WNF and PUD business from our laundromat
• Added dry cleaning services (3 times!)
• Added sneaker cleaning services
• Outsourced our WNF
• Incorporated DoorDash and Uber into our PUD system
• Started posting laundry content online
• Launched the Laundry CEO Forum

We knew these were opportunities to grow and do something different, but would it be worth the negative comments and ridicule?

In hindsight we can say “Absolutely!” But during those moments, we weren’t so sure.

In 2021, we decided to launch DoorDash as a PUD partner with our current drivers. We were one of only a few laundromats in the country to launch this service.

When we started announcing the partnership, we were told it was a great addition to the business…and that it was a horrible idea that would fail.

As I think back, I realize that we got more criticism from people in the industry than from our clients. They pointed out the flaws in food delivery and made online posts about how the laundry business would deal with the same issues. The list of criticisms and “what-ifs” were long.

• Sometimes drivers eat the customers’ food. What if they steal the clothes?
• The client experience will be ruined because you can’t control the drivers.
• What happens if they lose an order?
• You won’t be able to get return deliveries from a client you delivered to.

Between the posts, forums, Facebook groups, and indirect call-outs, it got pretty brutal.

Thinking about the thinking of laundry:
When you realize not doing the normal creates the normal.

As we slowly switched from using in-house drivers to DoorDash drivers, I noticed the business leveling off. The words of the online critics went through my mind, and I started to wonder if I made a mistake.

Instead of quitting, I looked deeper into the data. Even though business had leveled off, orders were coming in from new areas. DoorDash was capturing a wider delivery area than our drivers at no additional cost to us. In some cases, clients were spending almost as much in delivery fees as they were for laundry. Business picked back up and eventually we began relying 100% on gig workers for PUD.

During that time, I was invited to speak on podcasts, webinars, and panels about how we use the gig economy. The critics faded out, and more and more people started reaching out to learn more. Fast forward to today, and almost every POS system has an integration with delivery providers like Uber, Roadie, PostMates, and more.

I say all of this to say:
Try the idea. Do that thing. 
Criticism sucks, but regret and missed opportunities suck more.

That's all I got for you today.

Waleed

Find me on Linkedin, YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram

Echoing the thoughts of Margaret Thatcher.

Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you.

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