LAUNDROMAT IS A GOOD INVESTMENT?

Well I’d sure be taking a hard look at their water and electric bills, they could be pretty stiff in many markets. My wife used to be involved with one and she said that the maintenance and repairs can be quite bad, people don’t take care of what’s not their own. She got pretty good at some basic maintenance but beyond that it gets pricey to call the repairman, unless you learn all aspects.

Also remember that downtime is real expensive as far as lost revenue.

I’d find a trade journal and a regional/national trade show and subscribe/attend before I’d lay out the money. That’s where you’ll likely find more deals to be done and also the “inside” scoop and poop on the “real numbers”.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

It’s just like any other business, too, where you need to analyze the market for the specific area into which you are looking. If buying an existing business, take a look at their books.

No, she worked for a large manufacturer of laundry and (lots of) other products. The corp owned one and offered discount prices to users if they used the (test formulation) detergents and other things. She used to have to get up at all hours to go investigate clogged drains (socks) lint filters etc.

I’ve heard they’re very profitable but I would sure want a bit of an “insider’s” view like I described. Too many people buy into businesses thinking they “know” what’s going on only to find out later that (for example) the published price list is not what anyone (other than them) buys at. Everyone else is buying at 45% off that sheet.

Investigate like crazy.

Also worth checking in to your local environmental laws. Something new may have come up that is causing the owners to sell.

I know here in Florida, laundromats and dry cleaners pay a separate tax for environmental impact, on top of all the other taxes.

The guy I worked with built and owned one for several years.

He got out because he and his wife got sick of the hours they were putting into the place. It was not an absentee owner type of business for them. There was always some one there, either one of them or a girl whenever it was open. (They also offered drop-off laundry service and had a small drycleaner, so the need was there.) Otherwise, being a “cash” type operation had advantages too. But, make sure it will be something that doesn’t need a lot of babysitting if that’s what you’re planning. Machines break, customers are slobs and do stupid things (he caught people dyeing clothes in the washers!), and in some areas there is vandalism and worse.

There are several businesses along these lines, which are good to look at, but you have to realise some things about. First I’ll name a few.
Laundromats
Carwash
Tanning Salons

I’ve known and done work for owners of all three. If you have to finance it, and expect if to be your livelihood, forget it.

The owner of the tanning salon was late 40’s I’d say, and had moved here to the midwest from California, and was financially comfortable. He had the cash to invest, and said you could never do it on finance. He now owns several salons, but those tanning machines can run upwards of $40k each for the fancy ones. A nice return though, if you have the cash.

The carwash owner, was ready to sell, and disappointed that his son didn’t want to buy it. His son said there was no money in it. A carwash is more absentee, I was told about an hour a day, and 4-5 hours on the weekend for maintenance. What he told me was, if you can do it, it’s great to buy when you’re young. You can have a job, maintain it, and 15 years +/-, it’s paid for. When you retire, you work those same hours, and it’s all gravy then. Or if you have the cash to buy one, it’s immediate gravy, with minimal work.

I figure the laundromat is the same. And I agree, you better be able to do the bulk of your own maintenance, or find a mostly retired appliance repairman to put on the payroll. I think of you financed it, you better keep your day job. But it’s one of those things that can pay off later.

Remember, if they were easy, everybody would do it. Good luck.

hope it is use for you