Ok, as I've said, it's not a game. You can have an expresso bar with a few washers and dryers, where your business is selling coffee, or you can have a laundromat with an expresso bar where your main business is providing laundry service, with coffee as a side business.
First thing to do is find out why there isn't a laundromat if none exsists where you are thinking of opening one. What would be your costs, barriers to entry? Can you buy a building or would you have to rent space? What about water and sewer costs, the two big expenses for all laundries.
So you think you can provide a service to a certian demographic, do you know they are looking for such a service? Do they have wives and or laundry appliances elsewhere they would prefer to use? Again, contact Experian or any of the other major database services to get a report. You'll have to put together a demographic profile of your customer first. The Coin Laundry Association also has great reference materials and such as well.
Another source of information would be any commercial laundry suppliers (machines, chemicals) that serve the area.
What about labour costs? Who is going to do all this laundry you are proposing workers drop off? While there is a greater trend towards drop off service, versus self serve laundromats, there has to be someone there to wash, dry, fold and bag the laundry. Not the sort of job people are lining up for these days. What do you plan on paying? Where will that money come from until you get the business established?
You will also need to look up what your local laws say about owning and operating a laundromat. Most require you to get a license, and probably have the premises inspected regarding saftey, water,sewer and other ultility connections.
Building a laundromat from scratch where one has not exsisted before is VERY expensive. Most pros try to purchase an exsisting mat, and redo things to bring in business. Many, many people put their hard earned money, blood, sweat and tears into building a brand new mat,only to loose everything when the business fails. Take a look on eBay, where do you think all those laundromat appliances are coming from?
Personally I'd look around to see if a mat near you is going for sale, again Coin Laundry Association has listings, or check your local paper. It is much easier to take an exsisting business, and do things up, than to start from scratch. For one thing until the business opens you will have debt and cash going out, with nothing coming in.
If you request a demographic report, find out how many homes in your area already have a washer and dryer. Outside of urban areas with large populations of poor or lower middle-class persons whom cannot or do not own their own washing machines, your biggest competition will be home laundry appliances. Especially with washing machines being sold for rather low prices these days, and or easy credit. Most mats around here make most of their money doing drop off service.
Instead of opening a laundromat, why not consider simply skipping the self serve part, and opening a small laundry route? Pick-up and delivery laundry service is one of the fastest growing services in the United States. You'd be surprised how many people are "taking in washing" and making damn good money. The Internet and credit cards make everything very simple,and folks love not having to drag their laundry down to the mat, nor carry it back. Best thing is you can skip the major costs of owning a laundromat. No store to watch over, and you can close down for say vacations without having to worry who is going to mind the business.
L.
