Inger and Ron Murdock took entrepreneurship classes, so they knew that running their own small business wouldn t be easy. But the couple didn t know how hard it would be until they opened an inner-city coin laundry five years ago.
We learned that running a small business is harder than it looks, but if you do it right, it s worth it, said Mr. Murdock. He said owning a laundry was a childhood dream, and he named Odella s Wash Land after his late mother, who raised 11 children.
We had to go out and get customers as a survival tactic, said Mrs. Murdock, president of Odella s, on Dorr Street at Collingwood Boulevard. We re hustling. This is a business of quarters, not hundreds or thousands of dollars. A big deal for us is $10. We need everybody s $10.
To attract customers from the neighborhood and beyond, the Murdocks have tried numerous innovations, including some that resulted from their prominently located suggestion box.
We really look at the suggestions, said Mrs. Murdock. From their customers came such ideas as an Ohio Lottery machine and a hot chocolate and capuccino maker.
They also offer coffee and tea, video games, a children s play area, TV sets, and a large collection of movies for customers to watch. We probably have 100 movies, said Mrs. Murdock. We have a lot of older, hard-to-find types.
Mr. Murdock noted that the air conditioning is popular. When it s 90 degrees, we get a nice crowd, he said.
The couple installed vending machines for sandwiches and microwavable food and a fax machine for customers. There s really no [other] place to send a fax around here, explained Mrs. Murdock. Ideas don t have to be rocket science.
Odella s offers silk-screening and embroidery services, delivery for commercial customers and some seniors, uniform rental, and dry cleaning (through a larger firm downtown).
Mr. Murdock gave up a job with Lucas County to work full-time at the laundry, but Mrs. Murdock continues to be a manager for Dana Corp. by day and a laundry worker nights and weekends.
We haven t made a dime yet, she lamented. We have not turned a profit yet. She added, I would be proud to hit $300,000 [annual revenue]. She acknowledged that may take a while, but she said the business is on track for $275,000 in revenue.
The Murdocks took entrepreneurship classes through the Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce before they started their business and later took a longer course through Assets Toledo, a nonprofit business-training group. They also joined the Northwest Ohio Black Chamber of Commerce for networking.
They took the financial plunge by borrowing $180,000 through a U.S. Small Business Administration loan program and $100,000 through a city of Toledo small-business loan fund.
It was slow going for them at first, said Olivia Holden, executive director of Assets Toledo, in downtown Toledo. They had to establish themselves in the neighborhood. But they re getting there.
Randy Sanner, hall operations manager for the University of Toledo, is one of the Murdocks commercial customers. They re a class act, he said. They do everything they say they will. I was just impressed from day one.
The Murdocks say they want the business to succeed, at least partly because of their four children. You have to have some assets to pass on to children, said Mrs. Murdock.
Yes, we beat the odds, she said. But we could not have done it without the support of the community and our business customers and consistent, without-fail, day-to-day good service.
Contact Homer Brickey at: homerbrickey@theblade.com or 419-724-6129.
Small Business Profile is a weekly feature on local companies. To be considered, send information about your company to Small Business Profiles, Business News, The Blade, P.O. Box 921, Toledo, Ohio 43697-0921.
First Published August 1, 2005, 1:57 p.m.
