Here is an (almost) one-year update on the laundromat business. For a quick recap, I bought a laundromat last April with no experience or knowledge in the field, and have been growing it successfully over the last year. I’ve learned so much in the space and have been looking for another for the last several months, but waiting patiently for the right deal to come.
I’m excited to share the updates on numbers, processes, and what we think is next, because this phase has felt very different than the first 6 months.
Numbers
The honeymoon phase of owning a business is officially over, and the realities of the first tax season in the business are quickly approaching. That alone has forced me to look at things differently. But as I have deep-dived into the numbers from the last year, I am really proud of where we have taken it. Not because it’s perfect, but because we understand it now in a way we didn’t before.
I am an open book about personal finance and business, and I want to compare the numbers that I shared with our 6-month update, and the metrics we are tracking now that we got new machines. The numbers mean more now because we actually know what to look for.
Monthly Revenue Trend
Our monthly revenue has grown since our 6-month update. We were at about $20,904 then, and I have added the graph below showing what it has grown to.
I will write an article breaking down our new machines and diving into how much of this new revenue comes from them, but we have also increased our marketing. We have held a customer appreciation free laundry day, run local marketing via FB and radio ads, been boots on the ground at local apartment complexes/businesses/government housing groups, sponsored a few local events, and improved our online presence through Google.
We didn’t do anything revolutionary, but we showed up consistently. And in a business like this, that matters more than I expected.
To be upfront, I also don’t take all of the credit for the increase in business. The town where we have the laundromat started construction on a new AI plant and imported 5,000+ workers in September and another 3,000 in January. This is a 3-year project that has blown up real estate and the local market in our town, which has undeniably brought increased revenue/business straight to us.
Net Profit
At our 6-month update, our expenses were around $12,500, and they haven’t changed much since then. We have seen a slight increase in utility usage with increased business, and our insurance premium has risen slightly as well. However, firing the cleaning company and hiring our own employee has actually saved us money each month and given us more control, which has been just as valuable as the savings. We have also decreased our repair fee since getting the new machines.
The big change will come in 3 months, when we will start making payments on our new machines, and with the other changes, our monthly expenses will be around $15,000.
This brings our net profit to around $8,000-10,000, and this is where things feel different now. We don’t just look at that number and celebrate it. We break it down, and we are very intentional about where it goes. It gets divided between savings, reinvesting, tax savings, and eventually owner distributions, because cash coming in is one thing, but knowing what to do with it is another.
Other metrics we measure
We purchased new machines in December to complete Phase 1 of the laundromat’s retool. We took out a row of our oldest machines, 16 in total, 12 of which did not work anymore, and replaced them with 16 brand new machines.
I can and will write a whole article on reviewing the ROI for this decision, what we expect to make from it, and what we had to put in to make it happen, but I wanted to quickly go through a few metrics we started tracking after purchasing new machines.
We now track revenue per machine per week, broken down by size, including 30, 40, and 60-pound machines, which allows us to calculate ROI and payback period. We don’t directly track turns per day, but we estimate it based on daily averages and revenue, and we also look at utility cost per machine group by dividing total utility by total turns. The main reason we track this metric is that the newer machines are supposed to use less water, so we wanted to track that for truth and future retool decision-making.
This has been a big shift for us. Before, we mainly looked at total revenue. Now we are looking at what each machine is actually producing and how long it takes to pay itself off.
Automation
We hired our first employee at the beginning of the year to replace the cleaning company we had previously used. We were consistently displeased with the cleaning companies that we had tried and decided that we wanted more control over what gets done and confirmation that it was actually done.
Notion is a workspace app we started to use to automate some SOPs. Using Notion, we created our cleaner’s schedule and automated her workflow. She adds pictures of her tasks to the app every night, and I can review them whenever I want. She also has a Google Form for reordering supplies, which is part of her weekly tasks. This has automated our supply list and shopping process, as she now handles the soap shopping, and all I have to do is place the Sam’s order for delivery to her house.
This has also helped with our vending machine refill, as she manages much of that, and we simply collect the money. This one hire simplified more than I expected.
With the new change machine we bought last year, we initially got nightly revenue reports, but they have since developed a live program that lets us see at any moment how much money is in the change machine. This has helped us see peak times, monitor for problems, and better understand the flow of the business.
We have trained two more people whom we trust to do collections, so that it does not always have to be us going. We developed SOPs in another Notion workspace, with videos that walk through every step of the process. This has allowed us to take more than two weeks away from the laundromat during extended trips, which was such a nice break and showed us that this business can run without us if we build the systems correctly.
We also implemented an AI phone service that filters about 90 percent of the calls we were getting. AI is so nice and pleasant on the phone, and I am not. Every few days, we still get a call that reaches us, usually with a real issue, and we created a process to handle refunds quickly by keeping cash onsite so customers can be taken care of in real time.
We also finished adding an app-based card option to all of the machines. When we first bought the laundromat, it was bringing in about $200 to $300 per week, with the option to use this payment system on about 25% of the machines. Now, since we completed the laundromat with the app option, it averages around $2,200-2500 weekly. That has been one of the biggest unexpected wins.
Problems
As we started making more money, we ran into new operational issues. We were no longer able to stretch our collection days to five or six days like before because the bill collectors in the change machine would get too full around day four, and the machine would go out of service. To fix this, we bought larger bill collectors that hold 1,000 bills instead of 500. We are still considering adding another change machine, but with the new bill collectors and an overflow process where our cleaner can dump quarters into the machine, we can usually stretch collections back to five or six days, which is enough for me right now.
We have also had an ongoing issue with our public restroom. The first issue is cleanliness, and our cleaner has had to deal with extremely messy conditions. The second issue is substance use at night, and on two different occasions, our cleaner has found dirty needles.
Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done at the moment. We have explored locking it completely, charging for entry, or installing a keypad system, but none of those options have felt like the right fit yet. I keep waiting for it to get better, but if we have another issue, I will need to make a decision and put a system in place.
Lessons
This past year has changed how I think about money and business more than I expected.
Cash flow looks great on paper, but it doesn’t always mean much if you don’t understand where it’s going. We’ve had months where revenue felt strong, but between repairs, utilities, and reinvesting, it didn’t feel like we were actually “making” that much. That was a big shift for me.
I also had this idea that this would be somewhat passive. And it can be, but not at the beginning. In the beginning, it’s very hands-on, a lot of problem-solving, and a lot of mental space. It’s not overwhelming, but it’s always there in the background, and on our calendar.
One thing I didn’t expect was that more business also means more problems. More customers means more complaints, more broken machines, and more things to manage. Growth is good, but it comes with trade-offs.
What has surprised me the most is that the small things matter more than anything else. Cleaning, fixing machines quickly, keeping things stocked, those things move the business forward more than any big idea we’ve had.
We’re still learning, still adjusting, and still figuring out what we would do differently next time.
What’s next?
We are working through the decision on whether to add wash-and-fold. We finally have the local systems in place to make it possible, and it would be a way to grow revenue, but it would also add another layer of management and overhead, so I am weighing the pros and cons carefully.
Over the next four months, we plan to focus on improving the current operation before taking distributions. This includes expanding vending with more soap options and a combo machine, improving internal lighting, renovating bulkheads, and potentially adding a second change machine.
At the same time, we are actively looking for another laundromat and have officially hired a cold caller to help us find opportunities. We are trying to balance improving this one while preparing for the next.
Life Impact
We have definitely felt a shift in our weekly schedule with the laundromat. Although we don’t go every week, most weeks it is on our calendar, and we are fitting it in around homeschool, travel, my clinic schedule, Xavier’s closings, and the kids’ activities.
It does not take over our life, but it definitely lives in it. The biggest impact has not been the time, but the mental load. There is always something to think about, and during this season, especially tax season, it feels like a lot. Outside of that, it is very manageable.
The flexibility is a huge upside. I love being involved in the kids’ activities, being able to include them in what we are building, and not having a boss. We can work it around our schedule and have contingencies in place if we cannot get there right away.
The business conversations it has created with my kids have been unmatched. It has made me grow. I think differently now, and I have had to become more patient, more aware, and take more ownership, which I am really proud of.
Conclusion
We have spent this year learning, growing, and becoming actual business owners. It has been a fun ride, but also one that has stretched us in ways we did not fully expect.
We want to continue growing and using this knowledge again to hopefully replicate what we have built with another laundromat. I am trying to stay patient and wait for the right deal that fits our life and schedule as it is now, which is not easy. We are in the middle phase now, where the excitement has worn off, and the real work has started. We will see what the next year brings.