TH,
I have owned the laundromat since '69 when I
first realized that big companies have no soul and
you have to look out for yourself. Fortunately, I
was able to hire a faithful man-wife combo who
opened, closed and cleaned up until they retired
last year. If not for them, I probably would have
sold long before.
Other than good labor, location is everything. It is
best to locate in a blue-collar area with lots of old
apartments that don't have modern laundry rooms.
High visibility on a busy street and ample parking
are also critical. The downside of a good location
is that competition can be fierce. My location was
outstanding for several years but is now saturated
with competitors and it is difficult to raise prices.
Running the business is simple. The most important
thing is treating your customers fairly and keeping the
place clean and in good repair. I run an "unattended"
location but we check the place frequently. I
personally collect the money, service the bill changers
count the money, do the banking, pay bills and
do the books. This takes me about 10 hrs per week.
The business is somewhat confining in that it is hard
for me to take long vacations. Getting away for a
few days is easy, but you need somebody you really
trust to manage the money (collecting, counting,
banking and bill changers) to get away for more than
a few days.
You won't get rich running a laundry but it is a good
cash business. I made about 42% of gross before the
area bccame saturated in 1998. Up until the last
recession the business held up pretty well during
down times. I lost about 30% of my business this
last recession but things started picking up again
about 6 months ago.
My lease runs out at the end of this year and I need
to do some remodeling. Thus I am seriously considering
hanging it up. The selling price will depend almost
entirely on the gross revenues so I am hoping the
recent up-trend continues.
Regards,
Charliei
