There are more than 35,000 laundromats in the US alone, making up an industry that nears $5 billion in revenue annually. For each laundry store, sales range from $35,000 to $1 million a year depending on a number of factors, like location, rent and the cost of equipment. But as any business owner knows, it’s always wise to look for ways to increase your bottom line and make more money at your laundromat.
Bring In Additional Revenue and Increase Profits at Your Laundromat
The easiest way to increase your laundromat earnings is by adding additional revenue sources. Additional revenue sources will provide more value to your customers and give them more reasons to choose your store. By adding other ways of bringing in profit, not only will you make more money from your current customers, but you will also draw in new customers who come to you because of the additional services you offer.
Food and Drink Vending
This is the quickest way of bringing additional revenue to your laundromat. Profit from vending machines vary based on volume and whether or not you stock and manage your own machines, but can add valuable revenue to your store.
Sell Upgrades on Your Machines
Traditional laundromats are coin operated, and customers receive a standard wash in exchange for a standard fee. However, cycle upgrades (extra rinse/wash) and variable priced cycle options (more for hot, less for cold) are unique capabilities that make a positive impact on a store’s bottom line. You can use a laundry payment system like FasCard or LaundryCard to facilitate this and charge more than your standard price for these upgrades, boosting profits.
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Vending That Offers Detergent, Dryer Sheets, Fabric Softener and Other Laundry Items
In addition to offering food and drink vending machines, provide machines that sell small sizes of laundry necessities, like laundry detergent, boxes of dryer sheets and bottles of fabric softener. While a laundry vending machine is another way to make money, it also makes doing laundry at your store easier and more convenient for the customer, which increases profit as well.
Laundry Drop-off Service
Commonly called wash and fold, adding a laundry drop-off service to your laundromat expands your customer base. Clients that are too busy to spend time at your laundry store will love the idea of being able to drop off their clothes and pick them up clean and dry at their convenience, and your profit will grow.
Pickup and Delivery Service
Though it might not make sense for every store, high volume stores and busy locations might find it valuable to give their customers the option of scheduling laundry pickup and home delivery. Like with offering a drop-off service, pickup and delivery will allow your store to reach more people who might not typically use a laundromat.
Arcade Games
Another popular way to diversify revenue at your laundry store is by adding arcade games. An upfront investment is required, but over time these machines will pay for themselves and encourage your customers to stay at your store for longer periods of time.
Car Vacuums
You can also make more money at your laundromat by adding one or two car vacuums outside your store. Many customers will see this as a convenient tool and vacuum their car while their laundry is going inside, netting you extra dollars per month.
Free Wifi
While not technically an additional revenue source, giving your customers access to free wifi will encourage people to hang around your store while they wait for their laundry to finish, increasing the likelihood that they’ll spend their cash at your vending machines or vacuums.
Distinguish Yourself from Competitors
When you diversify the revenue sources in your laundry room, you provide new ways for your clients to receive value from your store, which differentiates you from your competitors and increases your profitability. With only small tweaks to your current operation, you can increase your margins and serve more customers. Services like FasCard and LaundryCard simplify this process and make it easy for you to sell upgrades and adjust your vend price based on demand.
See how much more money you could make with a system like LaundryCard by using our profit calculator.
