!This budget covers under 15% of the typical cost to start ($182k). Almost nobody starts a laundromat this way. The few who did bought an existing one with seller financing, or leased the equipment.
Estimate · Based on similar laundromats in Australia, including ones that closed.
Estimate
!Your budget is about $182k short.
Bills run about $7,390 a month (fuel, insurance, rent, phone). Most owners make a profit after about 9 months. Keep this much aside to pay bills until then.
If the shop was not a laundromat before, you may need development approval from your council.
Trade waste agreement with your water authority.
A licensed gas fitter and electrician sign off the dryers and wiring.
Get a free ABN from the Australian Business Register. Register a business name with ASIC (about A$45 a year) if you trade under one.
Free to about A$10 a month. Keeps business money apart from yours.
Estimate · Before costs. Steady, slight winter peak.
| Slow | Typical | Strong | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $1.8k | $3k | $5k |
| Year 3 | $4.8k | $7.2k | $10.7k |
| Year 5 | $6k | $9.3k | $14.4k |
Slow: 1 in 4 make less than this. Typical: half make more, half make less. Strong: 1 in 4 make more than this.
Estimate
Suds & Co runs 22 card-only machines on a long lease with capped rent reviews, and has added wash-and-fold accounts for steady volume. It has stayed profitable through years of rising utility costs.
“Card-only machines cut my cash handling to zero.”
Fresh Fold had happy customers and lost money on almost every order. Each $32 order cost $12 in courier fees, each new customer cost about $50 in ads, and the average customer ordered 2.1 times before stopping. Growth made the losses bigger, and growth was the plan.
Sets up your books and files your first tax return.
Estimate
$207k
about $183k
Buying costs about $23.7k less than starting. You also get customers from the first month.