Are You Suited to be a Laundromat Owner?
By: “Laundromat 123”
In my fifty years in the laundromat business, I’ve observed that at least 25% of the folks who buy a laundromat business within a year wish they had never bought one. This does not include those who feel they were provided inflated income or under reported expenses.
I believe the high dissatisfaction rate is brought about by individuals who fail to properly examine their own laundromat owner qualities. Reliance is often placed during the purchase process on sales people (consultants, attorneys, brokers, distributors and online gurus) who have very little motivation to assist in determining if the personalities of the buyers match the ownership duties required.
The reality is that to many folks the laundromat business is a repetitive business with a high degree of interaction with lower income customers and staff. Boring is an often found uttered by those who suffer from laundromat ownership dissatisfaction. No real challenge to your intellect to those who require brain stimulation in all the functions of their lives.
Once the basics of operation are understood, safeguards in place and procedures defined, this is a very simple business. At least for some people, others not so much. The money continues to roll in, but even that can become repetitive. Pickup the money, stack it in predetermined amounts, go to the bank, wait in line and deal with the same counter teller as you have for the past few years. Nothing new, nothing stimulating or complex, and so simple it can best be described as routine. Is this enough for you?
Trying to fit your “square peg” life into the “round hole” of Laundromat ownership is seldom discussed at the seminars and trade exhibits that are available routinely around the country. Most online influencers that promote their advice and knowledge avoid this subject, since clicks and fees are not generated by telling a certain segment of our potential ownership crowd that this might not be the right business for their personality.
Women’s professional basketball and professional tennis are two examples of extreme athletic skill and achievement, but not everyone’s cup of tea. Burly men in football uniforms banging each other around over an odd shaped ball and professional basketball players throwing a round ball through a hoop are two sports that fit the satisfaction and entertainment of a wider audience. You should at least entertain the idea that the game of laundromat is enjoyed by some of the audience and by others not so much.
If you like something and achieve comfort in the activity, then success is more likely to follow. That doesn’t mean that you can’t make money in a business for which you have no soul involved, merely becoming dissatisfied is more likely. I once had front row seats to the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team but found it hard, when I was busy, to give away my tickets to my customers when they realized it was the Clippers and not the Lakers that I had two tickets to offer.
Before investing major money into a laundromat maybe a visit to your therapist or a qualified and experienced laundromat consultant about your personality and fit for the business might be a wise step to take in your due diligence process.
As for me, I was a round peg and fit almost naturally into the various aspects of laundromat ownership and discovered in equipment distribution, building one hundred and thirty stores and owning/operating over fifty stores in a business that provided a health-related service to those less fortunate and therefore provided work, returned cash and provided unbelievable satisfaction. Are you the right fit for this business?