If you’re planning to enter the lucrative world of coin-operated laundromats, it’s essential to invest in the right equipment. Coin-operated laundry equipment can make or break your business, with factors like reliability, size, and cost all playing critical roles. This guide is going to walk you through everything you need to know when purchasing coin operated laundry equipment.
Understanding Your Market
Before diving into the world of coin-operated laundry, it’s crucial to understand the two main market segments: Multi-Family and Vended Laundry. These two sectors, each with its unique requirements and trends, will largely influence your choice of equipment and strategy.
Multi-Family Laundry
Let’s start with the simpler segment – multi-family laundry. The ideal machines for multi-family settings are reliable and user-friendly. In this sector, reliability trumps all else. Your tenants expect machines that work well every time, making brands like Speed Queen and Maytag ideal choices.
These brands have consistently provided equipment that is both reliable and easy to use. Moreover, some multi-family settings require ADA capable machines, and options for these are readily available. It’s all about ensuring that your residents have access to convenient, efficient laundry solutions.
Vended Laundry
On the other hand, the vended laundry industry, or laundromats, has been seeing some significant changes in recent years. One trend that’s been taking the market by storm is the shift towards larger, even shockingly large machines.
The industry has seen machines that can handle an astonishing 80 or even 130 pounds of laundry at a time. Despite their intimidating size, these machines are surprisingly popular. After building hundreds of laundromats and speaking to countless customers, it’s become apparent that there’s a preference for larger machines over smaller ones.
Why Large Machines?
The primary reason behind this trend is that these larger machines offer the highest profit margins. They command a higher vend price, and due to their capacity, they’re used frequently throughout the day, resulting in significant revenue. On top of this, large machines also keep your utility costs low, further increasing your profit margin.
Thus, by investing in a few large machines instead of numerous smaller ones, you can optimize your laundromat for profitability. This trend towards large machines and smaller laundromats is a strategic response to the increasing cost of running space.
Balancing Cost and Profit
Just like in any other business, the key to a successful vended laundry lies in balancing costs and profits. Building out a laundromat can be expensive, so it’s crucial to maximize revenue per square foot while keeping utility costs as a percentage of sales low.
Properly sizing your equipment is a vital part of this balancing act. We’ve seen successful laundromats that have effectively managed this by putting in fewer but larger machines. This not only provides a high margin but also keeps the business profitable despite the rising cost of space.
Conclusion
What you’re trying to accomplish, your business goals, your site selection, and your demographic all factor into the type of coin-operated laundry equipment you should invest in. It’s essential to do your revenue projections and consider the business side of things. This is where we come in.
RJ Kool offers expert consultation, helping you make the right decisions and achieve success in your laundry venture. We’ve helped many clients build successful laundries, and we can help you too. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.
