Starting a Laundromat business is a good way to become a business owner. With the recession over, many people believe it’s a good time to start up a new business, buy a franchise, or buy an existing business. I made that choice a few years ago. I wasn’t a business owner and I never had [...]
Starting a Laundromat business is a good way to become a business owner. With the recession over, many people believe it’s a good time to start up a new business, buy a franchise, or buy an existing business. I made that choice a few years ago. I wasn’t a business owner and I never had the confidence to actually start a business. But an old friend of mine mentioned the possibility of buying a Laundromat for sale. It got me thinking. You could work it in the typical 9-5 hours, and the business was very hands off – no need dealing with people all day.
This is what I thought at first, but boy was I wrong. I spent a lot of time trying to find some sort of training program for laundromat owners, but there wasn’t much information about the topic. However, I did manage to find one program, called the Secrets of Buying and Owning Laundromats. The tricks and tips in the book really help get me ready create a successful laundromat business, and the book proved help before buying the laundromat and afterward too. The author, as a successful franchise owner in the Laundromat industry, gives you all the information needed to get started. I highly suggest you look into his training program before you spend any money on a Laundromat – while on paper Laundromats can look pretty good, there are quite a lot of “hidden” problems you can run into.
Click Here to Check out the Secrets of Buying and Owning Laundromats
Laundromat Myths and the Realities
I want to address a few myth’s I’ve learned – both from the Laundromat guide that I initially followed and from my personal experience.
Laundromats are Absentee Businesses
Coin-op Laundromats may appear to be hands-off businesses, but this is not the case in my experience. This is even more so if the Laundromat offers dry cleaning or drop-off laundry services. If you start a Laundromat business from the ground up, you can pick and choose what you want to offer in terms of services, but if you buy a Laundromat, you may be expected to offer the services that were in place by the previous owners.
So let me get this clear right now: there is no such thing as absentee ownership in the coin laundry business. I don’t care what people tell you or what you read on the web. It’s complete bullocks if anyone tells you that you can open your business in the morning, enjoy a day of free time, then close the doors at night. This goes for any sort of franchise business too.
It’s Cheap to Operate a Laundromat
I’ve read online articles where people claim that operating a Laundromat is cheap. Um, clearly these writers have never ever owned a Laundromat because this is not the case. Energy is expensive for one and with some of the current legislation being tossed around these days, we may see electricity costs double or triple. Trust me, for a business that eats up electricity each month, this can really sink your profits. Just about a decade ago, a new bill tripled electricity costs in the state of California and we saw over 50% of all laundromats close down. This means you need to invest in high efficiency washing and drying machines to cut down these costs. But these machines are not cheap.
You might think you can try and pass the increase costs to the customer, but if you try, you’ll lose them in droves. This actually happened to me personally. I raise costs by 10% and business tanked by 30%.
How to Go About Starting a Laundromat or Buying a Laundromat
If you still want to be your own Laundromat business owner, there are a few things you should think about.
Get a Laundromat Training Program
First, don’t walk into it empty handed. Learn how to buy and operate a laundromat first before you do. This can really save you thousands of dollars and may quite possibly mean the difference between a successful business and a failing one. Even if you pay a few bucks for one of these programs, it’s money well spent.
Location is Key
Any business will sink or die by its location – Laundromats even more so. Pick a location where there are colleges, low income housing, or other big facilities. You want lots of people nearby – preferably people who don’t own washing machines. This means lower income persons or college students. Your business should be in an easy to access place too. Putting your business in a corner somewhere out of the way might save you on rent costs, but you won’t get as many customers.
Scope out the Competition
Do a thorough look into the competition. If a potential location has quite a few Laundromats, this is a pretty indication that there are customers, but too much competition can make it difficult to eke out your own market share. Ideally, you want to find a good location with no other Laundromat business in the area or at least be confident that your location is easier to access than the competitions’.
Ask Questions if Buying a Laundromat
If you are buying a Laundromat, make sure you know why the person is selling. And pry with your questions too! You don’t want to buy a business that’s failing when there is no possible way you can save it because of bad location, too much competition, etc.
You should also thoroughly inspect the state of the equipment. You can easily drop 30-100 thousand dollars on new coin laundry equipment. If you buy a business on the cheap and find your equipment starts failing within the first year, you better be able to afford new equipment. So hire a professional to examine all washers and driers. Ideally, you want at least 3-5 years of life left in the machines before you need to replace them. Check to make sure the commercial washing machines are at least covered by a warranty so you are covered if the fail within a certain period of time.
As a final note, you can do very well with a successful Laundromat business. The key here is “successful.” It’s quite easy to fail. This should not stop you from pursuing your dream, but if you are looking around for Laundromats for sale or in the process of buying a Laundromat, get the training an knowledge you need to make it work.
The Secrets of Buying and Owning Laundromats really help with my own success; the advice has helped me turn my own laundromat business into a money making one. Don’t make the mistake a few of my friends made and just buy or start a laundromat business without learning what you need to know to make it successful.
