When Dan Schneider was young he knew he wanted to own his own business. He studied business at the University of Notre Dame before becoming an Army officer and helicopter pilot for the 1st Cavalry Division. He was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas and flew the UH-1 Huey and the AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter in Desert Storm.
After a few intense years in the Army, including flight training, Airborne and Air Assault schools, and serving in Iraq with the Cavalry, he realized he did not want to make a career out of the military, so began looking for other opportunities. He spent a year in the corporate world of pharmaceutical sales before deciding to follow his dream of being an entrepreneur..
“I had gone from flying an attack helicopter to flying a desk, not to mention the lack of brotherhood, so I looked for something more exciting and challenging,” he said.
Not fixed to one location or industry Dan went searching and found a home and business in New Mexico. Surveyng businesses for sale, a run down dry cleaners caught his eye. Dan saught advice from local experts and small business consultants who advised him that a dry cleaning business was not likely to be suceessful. With the british SAS motto in mind – ‘Who Dares Wins’ – Dan followed his instincts and decided to purchase the Comet Cleaners and Laundry franchise. Being a part of a successful franchise system was a decision he never regretted.
In May, Comet Cleaners and Laundry will be celebrating their 30th anniversary, a success which Dan partially attributes to his military career. “The military was very formative for me and, in many ways, still influences how I run my business and life. Discipline, structure, systems building, standard operating procedures, teamwork, accountability, goals and objectives, faith – these all carry over into the entrepreneurial world. Recruiting and keeping talented people is an ongoing task if you want to stay ‘mission ready.’ This means developing leaders who see your vision and want to grow with you.”
With little knowledge of being a business owner or running a dry cleaners, Dan relied heavily on the advice and knowledge of the Franchisor, Jack Godfrey. Armed with the support, guidance and knowledge that Jack provided to him, Dan rebranded and expanded. “We started with one franchise plant and a drop store with a different name. I had a sense that branding was important so within a few months, we turned the drop store into a Comet Cleaners and Laundry and started processing there as well. By the end of the first year, that store’s sales quadrupled. We added a third plant six years later. As we start our 30th year of business, we have never had a single year (outside of Covid) that our sales have not increased over the previous year,” he says.
When asked about owning a franchise Dan recounts that, “throughout the process, the franchise was always looking to help us to succeed. Their corporate culture is a family culture, and that has always stuck with me. In building my own culture, I remembered that one year in corporate America. I never wanted to have a faceless, cold business that treated its people like a means to an end. We treat our staff like family, try to give them a place of belonging and a work environment that they’re proud to be a part of.”
Dan says that, “Over time, I was able to enjoy the freedom (and responsibility) of being an entrepreneur. Coming out of the military, I knew the importance of strategic planning and being prepared for any contingency. You can’t see everything that can happen, but you can be prepared and make adjustments. I find that it is easier today to manage 50 employees then it was to manage five at the very beginning.”
There was a steep learning curve, however, but with the support of the Franchise he was able to learn quickly on the job. The learning curve included everything from personnel management, to fixing boilers, quality control, to stain removal techniques. Even today he still meets up with Jack to discuss trends in the market, ways to adjust business models in a changing economy, and any modernizing of equipment that helps efficiency. He recalls the advice of his mentor, Joel Fink, from the franchise. “Your main competitor,” Joel told me, “is not the other cleaners up the street. Rather, it’s the washing machine sitting in every home. So, if they come to you, it’s because you provide a friendly service at an affordable price. Treat them like family and they’ll come back.”
Being a Comet Cleaners and Laundry franchise owner means being part of the largest family-owned dry cleaning chain in the USA. Be your own boss, feed that entrepreneurial spirit, do business that not only helps individuals but your community as a whole. With experiences like Dan’s, it is clear that Comet Cleaners and Landry is an easy and straightforward business model to follow. The Comet system is proven, so you have more time to focus on growing your business. When asked what Dan might say to prospective franchisees, he says: “It’s a great business model and run by good people. Comet Cleaners and Laundry is a known and trusted name in the industry.”