Hello all,

I have been a small business owner for the last 5.5 years. I was a commercial banker for many years and now I am a consultant/loan broker helping small business owners find financing and help with credit card processing.

I am looking at buying a small laundromat in town that is currently very mismanaged. The owner is an 87 year old woman who’s family has been asking her to slow down because of her age. She has a large following being she’s been in business 35 years and has a reputation as the “go to” for many military enrolled hero’s. The laundromat currently has 26 washers (24 small top load washers and 2 larger washers) and 12 very old dryers from the 1970s/1980s where only 3 are working. The water heater needs to replaced and I’ve received quotes for $8,000. The Laundromat doesn’t have any vending machines at all. I’ve spent the last couple of days around it and have heard from many prior loyal locals that they have been using another laundromat a couple of blocks away because this one has had inconsistent hours and no vending machines etc. The woman’s daughter has said that the current rent is $2,500/month, utilities are $800/month, insurance is $200/month.

I would estimate it’s currently making $100/day as it’s only open 6 days a week vs 7 days a week and only open 11 hours/day vs maybe 13-14 hours/day.

It seems like an expensive project but I would certainly not mind spending $10,000 to learn a new industry to potentially scale in the future and acquire other laundromats. My thought is buying new equipment, some paint, some floors, some vending machines, and running a nice marketing campaign targeted at the neighborhood which most has moved on to the other laundromat as a new owner campaign.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thank you all!