(Image: T&A)
Two brothers have spoken of how they started a business as teens and now employ seven people.
Amaan Khaan, 20, and his brother Hamaad, 21, launched The Wash Laundry Service Ltd in Bradford, at the ages of just 17 and 18, after spotting a gap in the market for a mobile laundry business.
Their current site is based on Hockney Road Industrial Estate in Manningham, just off Thornton Road.
The idea came to Hamaad while travelling in Brazil, where he noticed the popularity of self-service laundrettes and realised the laundry industry hadn’t seen major innovation in years.
Would you consider the service? (Image: T&A)
'We wanted to take away the hassle'
Hamaad told the T&A: "There’s no more modern way of doing it, it’s time consuming, you either take it to a laundrette or do it at home.
"We wanted to take away the hassle."
The brothers set out to build a service that would collect laundry from customers’ homes and deliver it back clean - taking inspiration from the convenience of platforms like Uber Eats.
The pair say they began the business without financial backing, investing their own time and energy into spreading the word.
Early marketing efforts on social media failed to gain traction, so they turned to old-fashioned methods.
They say this included six months' hard graft canvassing to win their first customers.
Their very first client was their aunt.
Linen is now a major part of the business (Image: T&A)
Own factory opened last year
Without a facility of their own, they initially relied on a third-party laundrette to process laundry - and focussed on the collection and delivery side of things.
They decided to open their own factory in November 2025.
He said: "We got so busy that the laundrette could not cope with our work."
The brothers wanted to share their advice to other Bradford entrepreneurs.
Hamaad said: "The main thing I’ve learned about business is you’re going to trip up, lose contracts, have downfalls, fails.
"Don’t let that define you or your service.
"Those learning curves improve you three times over."
They've learned a lot along the way! (Image: T&A)
From Bradford to Manchester
Today, the business employs seven other people and has expanded beyond laundry collection to include linen hire for hotels, dry cleaning, and specialist cleaning for designer garments.
The bulk of their work now comes from linen hire.
Their home collection service covers the wider Bradford district and stretches as far as Manchester, with a postal service available for customers further afield.
Despite the challenges, Hamaad said the experience has been transformative.
He said: "Business has been very testing mentally and physically.
"It has changed our mindsets fully."
The brothers hope their story will inspire other young entrepreneurs.