LULA BELL HOUSTON LAUNDRY

STRATEGIC PLAN
WINTER 2005

Mission Statement

The mission of the Davidson College Laundry is to provide laundry services to students, college departments, and private individuals.  By doing so in a convenient, timely, personalized and financially responsible manner, the College Laundry enables students to spend more time in academic and extra-curricular pursuits and effectively supports departmental activity.  Services include the care and handling of personal clothing, bed linens, dry cleaning, and catering linens.  

Core Values

• Integrity  Every member of our organization behaves in an ethical manner. We will do the right things for the right reasons.
• Customer Service  We will act in the best interest of our customers, providing the highest level of customer satisfaction through service, quality and responsiveness.
• Collaboration  Through collaborative efforts we will foster opportunities for individual and organizational growth. We will treat all employees with dignity and respect.  

 Vision Statement

The Lula Bell Houston Laundry continues to provide high quality service to its customers by implementing services and programs that provide greater convenience to their lives.  The College Laundry has provided broader services and greater accessibility with enhancements like the after hours laundry drop-off, a larger, more accessible self-service washroom with amenities allowing students to study or relax while waiting on their laundry.  Simultaneously the College Laundry has grown its cash business significantly through improved marketing and promotions efforts.

S.W.O.T. Analysis 

Strengths

• Provide great laundry service
• Impressive pricing for services
• Quality Dry cleaning
• Alterations
• Meeting expectations
• Getting good feedback from Customers (Gratitude from customers)
• Bringing money to the college
• Teamwork
• Prompt service
• Flexibility
• Communication with other department
• Home like atmosphere  

Weaknesses

• Low exposure to the outside market
• Hours of operation
• An adequate amount of staff
• Not having enough equipment (washer / Dryers and Folding table space)
• Trying to keep up with the Joneses when there is day to day work to get done.
• Health issues keeping people out of work
• Taking on too many different jobs, being too diverse
• Becoming so care to the person that we forget about the larger group 

Opportunities

• Air Conditioning Now!
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Great Facility
• Beauty of the campus
• Location of the Laundry
• Sense of job security
• Growing Student enrollment
• Growing town  

Threats 

• Changing Economy
• Laundry closed at down times – lose $
• Not having the money or approval to make the necessary changes
• Our own fears of getting so big/diverse that we lose what we’ve had for so long… our sense of family 

Critical Issues

• The current self-op wash/dry room for student use is very small and students clamor for more such space.  The residence hall satellite laundry rooms run the gamut it terms of size of space, condition of equipment, and cleanliness and represent a headache administratively from both the Residence Life Office and the Physical Plant.
• Keeping up with volume increases on “fixed” revenue is a budgetary challenge, particularly in the area of labor, our single largest expense item.
• “Cash customers” are not cultivated from a marketing or promotional standpoint and represent opportunities for new dollars.
• Should an expanded self-op program be implemented, current responsibilities and roles at the Laundry do not include its management. 

Strategic Goals

• Increase revenue from cash business by developing creative marketing strategies that promote non-student wash-dry-fold business and dry cleaning business from all customers.  Utilize web in particular.
• Develop a business plan for the establishment of an expanded self-service washroom option within the footprint of the current Laundry facility.  Use plan to gain approval and funding for the project.
• Advocate for additional work-study students in our labor force to control labor expenses as volume of work increases.