Are Starter Coin Laundries a Good Investment?

What does the term ‘starter’ coin laundry mean when you see an advertisement of a coin laundry business for sale?  The sellers and brokers who advertise those businesses for sale want it to sound like a small, safe, simple, easy to run investment that involves less invested money put at risk.  However, the truth is that smaller coin laundry businesses don’t have the economy of scale to outsource work.  Meaning, you will have to be the one fixing the machines when they break down.  You will have to be the one to sweep and mop the floors every night.  You will have to be the one spending time at the store to do all of the work, to answer customer questions and more.  While it sounds like you will get a 20% or so return on your investment, it will be FAR from a passive investment, you will have to spend at least 15-20 hours per week, often times a lot more.  Plus, when machines break, or overflow and flooding occurs, you’ll have to interrupt your schedule to go pick up parts from a vendor and do the repairs yourself.  Want to hire a repair company?  Good luck with that not eating up your profit for that week or month.  Plus, you’ll have to empty the change pockets frequently, so practice good lifting techniques, as hundreds of dollars of quarters weigh a LOT.  If you are looking for a smaller, less expensive, coin laundry to invest in, because you think it will be less risky and simple, think again, you may end up regretting it.  ‘Starter laundry’ is a misleading term, so tread carefully when aiming to buy one those businesses.

Okay, want to have a successful coin laundry investment, think about investing in a laundry business that has some scale to it.  You will want to hire attendants to keep the store tidy and operational and to attract higher quality customers.  Can’t hire attendants unless the revenues are high enough.  Want to have weekly technician service that also is available on call, have to have solid revenue to afford it.  Don’t want to break your back lugging around heavy bags of coins?  Have you considered card operated laundries?

Curious about the type of coin laundries that may be a fit for your investment goals, contact our Client Care Manager Sonia Chhabra at  (888) 926-9193 or email cs@justelementary.com.