Owned a Laundromat for a Year (Does it Make Any Money?) Pt. 1

Can you make money in the laundromat business? The answer is a confirmed yes—to prove it, we interviewed Justin Pike of Ferndale Laundry. Today, he’ll give you the inside scoop on owning a laundromat that he opened just before the pandemic.

Business partners Justin Pike and Mike Cox opened Ferndale last December. In retrospect, it seems like an inopportune or unlucky time to start a laundry business. But by focusing on their community instead of a quick payoff, their business is growing every day.

In part 1 of our interview, Justin will tell us how they’ve built their business during a pandemic and let us know how a business can team up with local agencies to help their growth and the community at the same time.

We’ll learn all about Justin and Mike’s background and about some of the ups and downs associated with a business partnership.

Justin will share his advice on choosing a location for a coin laundry business, how to research the market, and provide insights on financing a laundromat.

He’ll also explain what it means to retool a location in the automatic laundry industry—which generate around $5 billion in annual revenue nationwide.

If you’ve ever wanted to know how to grow a business during a down market and when things are out of your control, this is an interview you don’t want to miss.

Be sure to like, share and subscribe to our videos and watch Part 2 here ►

Resources:

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:39 Meeting Justine
2:35 Initial budget
3:43 Profit margins
4:40 Expenses
5:34 The washing machines
7:10 Advertising
8:06 Break-even
9:47 What’s behind the door
10:45 Position of the washers
12:08 Benefits and difficulties of partnership
13:25 Location
14:08 The App
15:55 Outro

#laundromat #laundromatbusiness #laundrybusiness

[UpFlip]

What would you do if you opened a business and were in Justin and Mike’s shoes? How would you deal with the situation? Leave a comment below!

[supermike]

Finally, someone who understands that better service can equal more business and happy customers, and that sometimes it's not about squeezing out every penny of profit!

[ammodude]

Best looking laundromat I ever seen! The ones by us are terrible.

[aaronjoseph]

This laundromat is in my home town. The other one was run down and closed down. There was a demand for one locally and this one filled the niche. I love the app, new well maintained facility and service

[jbmaximus]

The owner (Justin) explained his business with perfectly. He was was looking at the camera and explaining his business in a very engaging manner.

[RVTraveler]

I’ve traveled the USA, Mexico and Canada for six years in an RV. I’ve literally been in hundreds of laundromats. None were even close to being as nice.

[fluffyeggs]

Worked with a guy that bought laundromats as a side business. He said most of his profit didn't come from laundry but the crane games he put in. He made enough off those to quit our job and let the laundromats run themselves.

[Jeffotos]

It’s a top notch laundromat, I’d do my clothes there too..

[charlesisrael]

I own 2 laundromats and I can tell you this one is 🔥 on the inside. It’s beautiful and well maintained. I need to update some of my machines this year because it’s a great business to have no matter how bad the economy gets.

[tonywijaya]

This is really amazing and nice touch with app

[CombatTalkRadio]

The standout here: this owner was smart about it.

Rather than the "no more cash" rush of everyone else, he figured out a way to allow people to benefit AND still use cash if they want.

That's how it should be done.

[bandhuji]

the shou sugi ban wood is a nice touch!

[AlanHuiRealty]

Love the detailed breakdown of overhead and startup costs. I was always curious about laundromats. I feel the location is what can make and break your business.

[illbiskits]

The biggest deal breaker for me is cleanliness. I live in an apartment that has a dryer and top load washer now but when it comes to washing comforters I go to the laundromat. BUT, if the machines look and smell disgusting or have a ton of dog hair in and around it, I refuse to use it.

[krystlerobinson-nnef]

i love the motivation .. very helpful sir

[hammer-fngm]

I owned a small laundromat for 7 years. It was profitable. But due to space limitations I was not able to scale the business up to make it larger. I invested in new equipment on a regular basis, but a newer and much larger laundromat opened just blocks away. It still remained somewhat profitable, but the writing was on the wall. I sold it for a profit and the buyer operated it for the next ten years. It was time for me to move on to something else.

[calripplebear]

I don't know how laundermats do, but I remember being a kid going there with my dad and coming out with at least a few bucks for candy bars after scouring the underside of machines, looking under chairs, and other crevasses. I loved every trip to the laundermat. It was like free money for me as a kid.

[crosslink]

Nice to see a laundromat owner that's maintaining his business to attract customers. Most of the independent laundromats near me have closed down as the apartment owners in the area have added laundry rooms even when the buildings didn't originally have them; that's an indication there must be money in it. I now live in my own home but occasionally use a laundromat to do large items, and they're getting harder and harder to find in my area.

[clayclymer]

For anyone interested in this, if you live in a bigger city or even just a college town, try and look ok apt sites for places that don't include washer/dryers in the units or don't have washer dryer hookups. You can make a lot off college kids who don't want to deal with their dorms crappy laundry rooms

[fourfortyroadrunner]

Decades ago I worked part time doing maintenance/ repair on coin machines for a local family. The "old man" and two sons both had going laundries along with "side" stuff. They made money but a LOT of work. Not 8-5!!! I would be working late, 7-9PM doing machine repairs and one of them would pop in to do up change in the til and whatever else. And people can REALLY screw you, putting crap in dryers that melts and makes a mess of the drums, same deal with washers. Some dumb woman washed a giant stuffed bear in one of the big Milners, the thing burst and clogged up the machine. Took me hours to get things "undone."