Laundry service startup Desi laundry launches services in tier 2 cities

In this fast pace world, where people are busy with their life and hectic work schedule, less time is left for people to complete there household chores like cooking, cleaning, and laundry, etc. This gives rise to a new market and understanding the need of the market many startups like Dunzo, Bigbasket, Zomato, Laundry Anna have evolved who have used technology to solve day-to-day issues.

With the same business idea Founders Nawal Bansal, Ayush Agarwal, and Ashwin Agarwal founded Desi Laundry in 2019. Based in Siliguri, it is trying to provide solutions to the laundry segment by using technology.

Ayush says, they launched the startup after realizing the gap in the traditional laundry services segment, where users had to visit stores or constantly make calls to get updates.  Ayush who himself is a B.Com student in Kolkata’s Ashutosh Mukherjee College got the idea to start up when he experienced issues in the laundry services. After returning home and finding similar issues in his hometown Siliguri, he discussed the idea with his brother and friend and decided to improve the laundry services available in their city.

The co-founders added that they are having headquarters in Siliguri which allows the start-up to target its large population, and have great strategic importance as it connects four international borders – China, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan.

The place is also apt because  Siliguri corridor, also known as the ‘chicken’s neck’, is also an important junction, connecting the Northeast region with the Indian mainland.

“For the first four months, we acted like an online aggregator, where we worked with local laundry shops. We got the demand for them and they used to provide the laundry services for the users. Through this, we wanted to gauge the customer reaction to this kind of online model. While the users were satisfied with our services, they had quality issues. We then decided to offer cleaning services as well for best customer experience,”. Ayush adds they have also set up their own factory and started cleaning services. According to the founders, the startup was launched with an initial investment of Rs 10 lakh.

The Siliguri based startup currently provides services such as laundry, ironing, dry cleaning, cleaning of rugs, curtains, uniforms, weddings suits and gowns, comforters and bedding materials, among others, customers can book the service through the website, WhatsApp, or via calls, and schedule a time for pickup. The clothes will be picked up and delivered within 48 hours.

“We are also trying to provide employment opportunities to women. Currently, we have 10 employees, out of which five are women,” says Ashwin. The startup is into B2B and B2C services. It works with hotels, restaurants, and PGs in the B2B segment, and provides door-to-door services for B2C customers. Desi Laundry charges users Rs 79 per kg for washing and ironing services, including the pickup and delivery charges. It managed to get at least 70 orders per day before the COVID-19 outbreak Nawal says.

Coming to the challenges, the founders say recruiting and finding appropriate talent has been challenging for the company, and are thus currently looking for like-minded people to join the team.  The current team members, including themselves, had to undertake training to get ideas about the online laundry market. The start-up currently competes with the local laundry stores in Siliguri as many users still believe in the traditional laundry service approach.

In order to expand its brand, the start-up is considering a model to work along with the local stores.