Out of curiosity. Anyone experienced in Laundromats?

[BellaPippin]

Has anyone managed/owned or ever tried to set up a laundromat? What are your opinions/experiences on them, and the start up capital needed to start one? I'm just curious. I have no idea why either, but if I got a chunk of money out of nowhere I'd probably try to start one, a very cool one. Maybe its the smell of the softener... lol

 

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[Charis]

Has anyone managed/owned or ever tried to set up a laundromat? What are your opinions/experiences on them, and the start up capital needed to start one? I'm just curious. I have no idea why either, but if I got a chunk of money out of nowhere I'd probably try to start one, a very cool one. Maybe its the smell of the softener... lol

I've considered opening some close to the local universities,themed to appeal to the young hip generation.Maybe combine it with an Internet cafe or something.

 

[madmoney]

Has anyone managed/owned or ever tried to set up a laundromat? What are your opinions/experiences on them, and the start up capital needed to start one? I'm just curious. I have no idea why either, but if I got a chunk of money out of nowhere I'd probably try to start one, a very cool one. Maybe its the smell of the softener... lol

I know quite a bit about laundromats and it is the SLOWLANE. I mean super slow but it is very consistent and recession proof. Unless, you have 10 or more.
make sure you dont have competition
you can also put a dry cleaners
watch for light, gas and water bill most expensive
machines are expensive (min 500k) and can you fix them it something happens.
call your local company and ask for a quote.

Hope that helps

 

[rc08234]

 

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[Lex DeVille]

I know quite a bit about laundromats and it is the SLOWLANE. I mean super slow but it is very consistent and recession proof. Unless, you have 10 or more.
make sure you dont have competition
you can also put a dry cleaners
watch for light, gas and water bill most expensive
machines are expensive (min 500k) and can you fix them it something happens.
call your local company and ask for a quote.

Hope that helps

The Slowlane is in the mindset only.

Laundromats can be Fastlane.

I'd love to read @BellaPippin s approach if she ventures into this.

No reason it has to cost a lot - that only applies to traditional laundromats.

But a Fastlane laundromat would operate a little differently I imagine.

 

[BellaPippin]

The Slowlane is in the mindset only.

Laundromats can be Fastlane.

I'd love to read @BellaPippin s approach if she ventures into this.

No reason it has to cost a lot - that only applies to traditional laundromats.

But a Fastlane laundromat would operate a little differently I imagine.

Hey Lex thanks for the good vibe! <3 Like I said this is totally off-topic because I don't have capital at all to start something like this, I was just curious, I've always wondered about the dynamic/financials but haven't found many things online except validation for @madmoney's claim that machines are actually much more expensive than they seem.
D:

I've seen many attempts at "Uber'ed" Laundry services where they connect people who need money and have a washing machine with people who don't have time/can't be bothered to do their own laundry so they pick it up and return it clean and folded. I don't know how those turned out but nothing became mainstream that I know, really.

 

[BellaPippin]

Lol who's that?

 

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[BellaPippin]

I know quite a bit about laundromats and it is the SLOWLANE. I mean super slow but it is very consistent and recession proof. Unless, you have 10 or more.
make sure you dont have competition
you can also put a dry cleaners
watch for light, gas and water bill most expensive
machines are expensive (min 500k) and can you fix them it something happens.
call your local company and ask for a quote.

Hope that helps

Mad, do you mean slowlane as in financially speaking or just the fact that laundromats are normally very boring places?

 

[David Young]

I think there is a seed of an idea in there somewhere. The internet laudramat idea sound good.
How about acting as the agent between the demand and unused capacity - could you sub work out from a local collage/uni dorm to local household and make a margin in the middle?

 

[BellaPippin]

I think there is a seed of an idea in there somewhere. The internet laudramat idea sound good.
How about acting as the agent between the demand and unused capacity - could you sub work out from a local collage/uni dorm to local household and make a margin in the middle?

Interesting. There's this app calle Wash.io or something like that, they do that I believe.

 

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[rc08234]

Lol who's that?

George Jefferson, he was the king of laundromats!!!

 

[CPisHere]

I recently talked to a banker that said laundromats/drycleaners have one of the highest default rates on loans. I was surprised by that because it's not a passion business so you would think people would run the numbers.

But it's a very high overhead business that requires a lot of volume to be profitable, and most new business owners don't know how to drive volume.

 

[madmoney]

Mad, do you mean slowlane as in financially speaking or just the fact that laundromats are normally very boring places?

I do not in any way or form mean to burst your bubble. Hey if this is your passion, you CAN find a way. No offense to my bro @ lex but that's why I stated 'unless you have 10 or more'. Like the candy stand example MJ give where one candy stand in a mall isn't gonna make you rich. You'd better find some more malls.

You could do a lot of things like Uber for laundry or go to hospitals and hotels and pick up their loads and wash dry fold return. But can you? I know this one guy who made it fully automated and has invested 1.5M and he doesn't need to go there no more, everything is monitor from his home. Most commercial investment require at least 10-20% down.

I meant MJ definition of the slowlane. Knowing what I know now give me 50k and I'll show you the fastlane.

 

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[Almantas]

This thread somewhat reminds me of a similar thread created by IceCreamKid about the carpet cleaning business he (I presume) still runs. IMO if there's enough market you can provide value to and you can set yourself apart of your competition, funding shouldn't be an issue. Also, this business could potentially become Fastlane venture if you scale it up and hire people to run the business for you (e.g. you could have 10 small laundromat places set up in different cities with 1 worker in each of them, then, you could hire a specialist who supervises your all laundromat businesses and takes care of all paperwork). Of course, there are many Cons and Pros, but, IMO, laundromat business could be automated alright.

P.S. I return to IceCreamKid's thread again. In his case, one of the elements that made him stand out of the rest of carpet cleaning businesses was his 'secret' carpet cleaning liquid formula. IMO, having 'secret' cleaning formula in laundromat business would make you stand out from the rest of the sheep, who just bandwagon what others are doing, most of the time.

 

[rc08234]

This thread somewhat reminds me of a similar thread created by IceCreamKid about the carpet cleaning business he (I presume) still runs. IMO if there's enough market you can provide value to and you can set yourself apart of your competition, funding shouldn't be an issue. Also, this business could potentially become Fastlane venture if you scale it up and hire people to run the business for you (e.g. you could have 10 small laundromat places set up in different cities with 1 worker in each of them, then, you could hire a specialist who supervises your all laundromat businesses and takes care of all paperwork). Of course, there are many Cons and Pros, but, IMO, laundromat business could be automated alright.

P.S. I return to IceCreamKid's thread again. In his case, one of the elements that made him stand out of the rest of carpet cleaning businesses was his 'secret' carpet cleaning liquid formula. IMO, having 'secret' cleaning formula in laundromat business would make you stand out from the rest of the sheep, who just bandwagon what others are doing, most of the time.

I was friends with a guy whose dad owned a carpet cleaning business. After the truck/equipment purchase he said the margins were extremely high.

 

[Almantas]

I was friends with a guy whose dad owned a carpet cleaning business. After the truck/equipment purchase he said the margins were extremely high.

So, he obviously did something right or was in a right place at a right time, as others might call it. Although it varies from location to location,the carpet cleaning business is usually saturated and entry barriers are low.

 

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[BellaPippin]

Very good insights guys! Thanks a lot.

 

[vinylawesome]

Meet Bob Schwartz.

Currently

"Schwartz, 52, owns 26 SuperSuds laundromats, a profitable chain that reaches from Richmond, Va., to Hyattsville, Md."


Starting Out in the Business

"While at Solomon from 1993 to 1996, he came across a business plan for consolidating the laundromat sector, historically a fragmented, inefficient mom-and-pop industry.

“I saw a pitch book and said to my wife, ‘This is a cool business.’ ”

When they relocated to the Washington area, where his wife worked for Coca-Cola, Schwartz started in on his laundry plan, looking up locations to buy in the Yellow Pages.

“I went around knocking on doors,” he said.


Experience and Preparation Meet Hard Work

"This entrepreneur used his experience in finance and commercial real estate to turn one of life’s mundane tasks into a business that grosses $7.5 million with an enviable profit margin of at least $2.5 million before paying down his bank loans.

Schwartz successfully consolidated one corner of the fragmented coin-operated laundromat sector, which has about 35,000 separate locations across the United States.


“My model was to build these superstores,” Schwartz said. “To acquire existing laundromats, retool, fix them up and bring in professional management.

“It’s basic systems, accounting, better banking relationships, better lease negotiations,” he said. “When you roll these things up, you have to have management structure, collectors, service guys. No one was doing this."



After nearly 20 years, Schwartz said he has honed his finance and real estate expertise to better maximize his cash. He also knows the laundry business."

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...79dc7e-1127-11e5-adec-e82f8395c032_story.html

 

[Longinus]

When people go do their laundry, they have to wait and read one of the old magazines laying there. This creates opportunities. In my country some guys started a laundry business with a bar. So basically you do your laundry while drinking a beer. It was an instant success and they sold their business.

www.wasbar.com

 

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