New ironing service? Am I delusional?

[wishthiswasreallife]

I’m one of the strange people who love ironing ok 😂 I’ve finally worked up the courage to offer out my services on a smallish basis to iron for people. As a new start I’m not wanting to charge too high I really just enjoy it and as I only work part time and my family are out all day I really need something to occupy my time.

so if you were interested in such a service; how much would you expect to pay? I also intend to drop off and pick up as I have a car so would I charge for this?

im under no impressions that it’s going to take off and earn big money I’m just looking to spend my extra time doing something useful to help people out.

thank you

5 shirts for a tenner?

My ironing lady charges by weight. I think it's £5-£6 per kg, plus a flat fee for shirts which is ridiculously reasonable like £1.50 or something.

Do not undercharge. As you're starting out, totally reasonable to keep your prices at the lower end of average, but if you undercharge you will start to get frustrated.

Also, don't forget that you need to factor in incrased cost of electricity - I would expect an iron to be relatively low cost to run BUT anything with a heating element has an overall higher cost per minute than non-heating related appliances.

Also other costs will include hangers, platic packaging to ensure clothes don't get wet/marked in transit, travel costs to collect/deliver, time to liaise with clients etc.

Oh, and remember that in the beginning it will take you a lot longer. YOu have to iron PERFECTLY. So that means you will take a bit more work probably until you're nailing through box sets while doing it.

That's about the rate for shirts near me. It's charged per shirt. Then per kg for other stuff.

I think you need to build your transport costs into the price to make sure you don't end up out of pocket.

And insurance.

I pay £12 per hour and take and pick it up. She gets loads done in that time she is very quick so a blue ikea bag full is usually about £18-£20 but she charges the time it takes so doesn’t matter what is included.

Don’t do drop off / pick up and it could be a nightmare trying to coordinate with people when they will be home and be very frustrating

Yeh the one I was thinking of has a minimum order value and charges an extra fee for missed deliveries. I can imagine it being a lot of work if you're on your own.