{"id":10993,"date":"2022-10-10T20:25:51","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T01:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/?p=10993"},"modified":"2022-10-10T20:25:52","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T01:25:52","slug":"the-next-hot-side-hustle-dirty-clothes-meet-the-uber-of-laundry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/?p=10993","title":{"rendered":"The Next Hot Side Hustle? Dirty Clothes. Meet \u2018The Uber of Laundry\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019re looking for a mostly-at-home side hustle, washing strangers\u2019 clothes could be the thing that helps you bring in extra income and work toward your financial independence<\/a>goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLaundry was a personal pain point of mine,\u201d says Laurel Hess, the co-founder of hampr<\/a>, a company whose app pairs contractors with families who want to outsource laundry. \u201cI have two boys, had gotten back from a business trip, and came home to laundry everywhere. My kids had tee ball and three birthday parties the following day.\u201d Feeling stuck and overwhelmed, Hess made a phone call that would end up kickstarting a new side hustle opportunity for hundreds of Americans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the time, I had a stay-at-home mom friend who was always asking if she could do things for my marketing company to earn extra money,\u201d says Hess. \u201cShe couldn\u2019t shop for Instacart, she couldn\u2019t drive for Uber \u2014 she had five kids at home. I told her I didn\u2019t have any work, but offered my laundry as a way to earn extra money.\u201d Thus, the idea for hampr was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hess\u2019 laundry epiphany helped her understand two things about her market. The first was that there is an untapped workforce of stay-at-home parents and retirees, people who want to participate in the gig economy, but can\u2019t be away from home or their children for hours at a time. The second was that there were people like herself who have no free time and are willing to throw money at a problem to save them a few hours. hampr is similar to platforms like Lyft, DoorDash, and TaskRabbit in that users are paired with contractors ready to get the job done. The company, which launched in 2020, now has over 10,000 users on its platform, 500 of whom are \u201cwashrs,\u201d contractors who pick up and wash clothes for hampr clients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Companies like hampr can help you participate in the gig economy and\u00a0make more money<\/a>without needing to be away from home for hours at a time. Here\u2019s how it works.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She Got Expert Feedback on Her Idea First<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hess was the president of a digital marketing agency at the time, so she pitched the idea to one of the company partners, Spencer Hoyt, in 2018. She wanted to ensure someone else saw the value in the potential service. The partner wanted to validate the idea further and get confirmation it could work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Spencer] knew the person who started Waiter<\/a>, a company that was a food marketplace like DoorDash,\u201d says Hess. \u201cHe said \u2018Let\u2019s go to lunch with this guy and see if our idea has legs.\u2019 We did that, and [the Waiter founder] validated the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hess and Hoyt started working on creating what is now hampr, with Hess taking on the branding and marketing and Hoyt handling operations. The pair worked on sourcing the hampr bags, which are crucial to restricting load size and a vital part of the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They Launched the Business While Working Full-Time Jobs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The two co-founders built the business on the side in their first year, using their own money to fund their efforts. In May of 2019, the partners brought on a technical co-founder to help them create the hampr app and provide the necessary tech expertise. In January 2020, the app went live. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hess and Hoyt didn\u2019t take a salary, but their technical co-founder did, and they also wanted to hire in order to get things off the ground. The founders went to local investors they knew, pitched their idea and its current status, and raised $500,000 to get the apps built. In addition to the tech co-founder, they also had one developer who drew a salary and one developer who worked for equity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first customers were excited,\u201d says Hess. \u201cWe had a lot of comments saying, \u2018How is this not a thing already?\u2019 We had positive feedback in the first two months.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Pandemic Pivot<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Understandably, hampr\u2019s business model depends heavily on busy professionals not having enough time at home to do their laundry. It\u2019s a great idea \u2014 unless, of course, everyone is suddenly staying at home due to a pandemic. COVID-19 lockdowns began in March of 2020, less than 90 days after the app had gone live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cOur busy families that we were targeting \u2014 dual-income families with two or more kids \u2014 were now home with their kids,\u201d says Hess. \u201cThe needs changed and shifted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hampr team needed to make a pivot, so they started targeting first responders who were working around the clock and needed help with their household laundry. When children returned to school in August 2020, business picked up again because activities were resuming, and people needed to outsource. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, hampr joined the Techstars program<\/a> in Austin. Techstars is an investment accelerator that provides access to capital, mentorship, networking, and programming for early-stage startup founders. The program helped hampr figure out what metrics to focus on, and as a result the business went from getting 40 to 60 new members a month to over 300 new members a month. Hess says going through Techstars helped \u201cunlock the drivers to their business.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How hampr Works<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

hampr is an on-demand service where members can schedule wash-and-fold laundry services via the hampr mobile app. The member\u2019s laundry is picked up, washed, folded, and delivered by local \u201cwashrs.\u201d washrs are usually stay-at-home parents, retirees, or individuals interested in earning a side income<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To use the service:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n