They are ‘washermen’ with a modern twist and tumble on a virtual Dhobi Ghaat. Unlike Mumbai, not every city has a Dhobi Ghaat, a traditional industry that has been thriving successfully for years now. But, a bunch of young entrepreneurs from Bhubaneswar has introduced the dhobi-culture in their city with a modern twist. They have started an online portal providing laundry services. It all started when Srijeet, an IT professional, during a visit to his hometown Bhubaneswar, failed to find a laundry service. Necessity led to creativity and he thought of coming up with an online service where laundry needs could be taken care of right at people’s doorsteps. To begin with, he shared the idea with his two confidants Animesh Ekka, a friend and Ajay Behera and then began the journey of dhobiwaale.com.
“A service that collects soiled clothes from customers and delivers cleaned and ironed clothes at their doorsteps after laundry is quite rare. This is what prompted us to start Dhobiwaale offering the facility a year ago. We guarantee delivery in 24 -48 hours depending upon the items. The delivery boys from the unit collect the clothes from various points of the city. Our laundry men use hands instead of machines to clean the clothes as ‘We wash with love’. This saves the fabric and makes the clothes last for a longer time,’’ informs Srijit.
Explaining the ordering system in their website, Srijit says, “Ours is a user friendly website. Once you have entered the necessary details on the home page of dhobiwaale.com, you will receive a call within 30 minutes and a pickup boy will be at your doorstep in 25 -30 minutes.”
Although the business has been running successfully for a year now, selling the idea to people was difficult initially. Reaching out to people and creating awareness about their services was a major challenge. However, the trio kept trying till they achieved their target.
They started with outdoor marketing, going door-to door and giving a demo, distributing leaflets and cards to endorse the products amongst people. They also did a lot of social media marketing. They say, “It was impossible for people to believe that the services can be delivered within 24 hours. It was also hard to convince people that we were not going to run away with their clothes! Looking back, we have indeed developed a loyal and satisfied customer base. We did our homework well by studying the market, conducting researches and blanket surveys to understand the costumer needs. The customers wanted to save time and money and we worked accordingly.’’ Currently, dhobiwaale.com is only one of its kind in Bhubaneswar. The group which receives bulk laundry orders from young professionals and students has employed 12 laundry men, six delivery boys and three operators to receive and make calls. The three are planning to hire more laundrymen, delivery boys and administration staff to keep pace with the increasing customer base.