Besides the most common career options like medicine, engineering, many off-beat career options are widely adopted in India from time to time. Prior to 1990, not many knew about making a career in the IT industry, but the IT industry boomed and many students rightly opted for the new career option. Then it was time for the Super Market segment. The very people who had never considered working in a ‘Kirana’ (grocery) store were happily working in super markets. Then came the coffee shop culture. Nobody from the educated class would have willed to work for a tea / coffee stall but many are proudly working in high profile coffee shops with plush ambience. And then the Salon culture. People started taking professional training in hair dressing and other salon activities. The very people who would not have wanted to be called a ‘hajaam’ (barber) or a tambi (tea server) are happily taking certification training on these segments. The reason for the change in career preference is, these segments were only treated as an enterprise and not as an industry. The as and when innovative entrepreneurs enter in the conventional business in a big way, grows up as an industry. Suddenly, the segment emerges as a novel career option and gains as much acclaim as to attract a larger assemblage of diverse groups of entrepreneurs, investors as well as career seekers. Laundry and dry clean segment, in India, has recently established itself in the industry ranking. Dry clean brands from the world over are eyeing India as a potential market. Professional dry cleaning brands from the all over the world are getting their entities in India.
The question is, why the established multi-national dry cleaners want to set up their facility in India?
India is full of dhobi outlets which constitute about 97% of the Indian laundry industry. Which means, only 3% of the Indian laundry and dry clean industry has been captured by the organized players, so far. Thus the temptation to grab on a major chunk of the market share of this industry is luring the dry cleaners from the world over to enter the Indian market. With the increase in the number of professional dry clean companies in India, there will be a substantial growth in employment sector in this industry.
Who will these established international players hire – the dhobi’s?
They would need managers who are experts of the professional dry clean industry. Incase, they fail to find the right person in India, they will hire foreigners for this job. A handful of European dry cleaners still have European managers working for their company in India. Because, in India, they don’t find people who are educated in the field of laundry and dry clean. But if you groom yourself as a professional dry clean expert, you have domination in this industry which is still unstructured in India. The time is now, to certify and groom yourself as a professional dry clean expert in order to climb the ladder of success in thisindustry.
Importance of laundry education
In India, laundry and dry clean segment, until the recent past, was considered a mere business – an unstructured business run by mostly the poorly educated class – the dhobi’s (washer man). But all over the world, it is more than a business, it is an established industry. India lacks the professional education of laundry and dry clean, hence when we discuss laundry, we Indians can only visualize a dhobi shop littered with clothes all over. But this perception is now changing. With a handful of professional dry clean brands entering into the Indian market, India is fast adopting the professional dry clean system over the redundant, age old dhobi system.
Prior to 1996, we never thought that a tea or a coffee stall can also be a happening place. It can also be a place where people would love to hang out, where business associates can meet and discuss on prospective projects, where college goers can chill out. For us a tea or a coffee shop was the general ‘cutting chai’ stall, where the air is filled with noisy gossips, talks, debates of customers of the over crowded stall. Café Coffee Day launched high profile internal standard coffee shops and changed the concept of tea / coffee shops in India. Today, people don’t mind paying exorbitantly high prices for a cup of coffee in exchange of a quaint ambience, excellent quality, highly hygienic facility and highly professional service. Today, graduates don’t find it embarrassing to work in such coffee shops and many have taken this as a full time career.
Would the same people who have taken coffee shop jobs as a career, would have willed to work in the ‘cutting chai’ shop?
No, absolutely not. The same is the case with the Indian dry clean business today. People who would not have worked in dhobi laundries are now grooming themselves as professional dry cleaners.
Many dry cleaners from across the world are launching their brand in India. India has always been a big market for international companies and dry clean is no exception. With more and more companies entering the Indian market, the Indian Laundry and Dry Clean Industry is going to be the most employment generating industry in the near future. Hundreds of brands from Europe, USA, Middle East and many Indian companies are entering this industry. Hundreds of skilled jobs will be available for professionals of the dry clean industry, for people who understand the industry, machines, chemicals’ usage, spotting processes, finishing and professional packing. In short, these jobs will be available to people who have taken a proper laundry and dry clean education. We can call them laundry
graduates.
Unfortunately, in India and in most parts of the world, there are no institutes which imparts training on the laundry and dry clean industry. Some institutes in Europe, Australia and some distant countries have short term courses on textile care or some other washing processes but no institute provides a curriculum on laundry and dry clean the way we learnt in our school starting from the very basics of ABCD and going further up and up till we graduate in the subject.
Fortunately, Laundry School provides an elaborated curriculum which imparts training on;
1. Laundry and dry clean industry
2. Study of machines
3. Study of solvents and chemicals and its application
4. Detailed study of spotting chemicals and process
5. Study on finishing technology
6. Packing and bagging processes
7. Store management
8. Staff management
9. Laundry accounting
10. Documentation
And many more subjects which helps you in gaining expertise in the industry.
The professional dry cleaner understands the need of a qualified manager. And at this time, when the industry is emerging in India, tons of vacancies in the laundry and dry clean industry will be available in the near future. Educating yourself in laundry and dry clean segment will not only help you in obtaining jobs faster but it will also enable you to establish a firm foothold in the industry as a dry clean professional.
The professional dry clean segment in India is rearing to go, are you ready?
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