Are you interested in opening a laundromat? Before you dive in and start checking out available properties, it’s important to understand the responsibilities of owning a laundry business. You might have heard that it’s easy and won’t require much of your time, but that doesn’t mean you can sit back, kick your feet up, and wait for the profits to start rolling in. Consider the average laundromat time commitment, and figure out how much time you want to devote to your new business.
Laundromat Time Commitment 101
Understanding the Complexity of Running a Business
If you think owning a self-service laundromat is just about collecting change at the end of the day, think again. Underestimating the complexity of running a self-service laundry is the #1 mistake new business owners make according to Brian Brunckhorst, a multi-store owner and member of the Coin Laundry Association. “As the business owner, you will be in charge of all aspects of the business,” he explains. This means you’re responsible for managing staff, overseeing maintenance of equipment and facilities, marketing, bookkeeping, security, and more.
To give yourself a good footing when you first start, Brunckhorst suggests crafting a solid business plan. The key is to establish realistic targets, a revenue model, and actionable steps focused on growing the business. In addition, remember that if you’re starting a brand-new store, your laundromat time commitment will be much greater than someone who takes over an existing shop. In this scenario, your safest move is to have enough cash available to cover a year’s worth of expenses.
Estimating Your Time Commitment
To estimate your laundromat time commitment, you can examine a few factors in your business plan.
First, if you plan on offering multiple in-house services like dry cleaning or wash-and-fold, more of your time will be eaten up managing the operations side of those amenities. It’s a trade-off, of course, because these services can also make your business more competitive and help increase your revenue. To save time, you can hire more staff members for these services as well as in-house management. Be sure to hire reliable, knowledgeable, and trustworthy staff members so that you don’t need to spend your time correcting their mistakes.
When a laundromat is up and running, most owners report spending an average of 12 hours a week or less on management. Much of that time is dedicated to maintenance and customer service. Your laundromat time commitment will vary based on location and the services offered, but if you hire the right team and create a stable business plan with actionable goals, your store shouldn’t be a huge drain on your time.
For additional insight, check out the blog Laundromats 101. This is a really helpful resource for those looking to open or remodel a store. In one blog post, the store owners took inventory of the hours spent managing their two laundromats. After one month, they found that they had spent an average of eight hours a week between the two stores. Not bad! And most of that time was spent on collections and maintenance.
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Opening your own laundromat is an exciting venture, so if you still have questions, contact Laundry Solutions Company, formerly known as KeeWes Equipment. We’ve been around since 1976, and we are now the Midwest’s premier full-service provider of premium vended, on-premises, and multi-housing commercial laundry equipment. With four offices across Missouri and Oklahoma, Laundry Solutions Company is able to provide exceptional pre- and post-sales support, laundry design services, equipment leasing options, and commercial laundry equipment and all ancillary items for both vended and on-premises laundries. Contact Laundry Solutions Company today to learn how we can provide your laundry business with the most advanced technology and energy-efficient equipment available.