Having the Right Mindset
So you’ve started looking for a laundromat to scoop up and make your own! It’s an exciting time because it is filled with potential and can feel like an adventure. But buying a laundromat can also be polluted with anxiety because you don’t know what you don’t know, and you know it. And with laundromats, what you don’t know that you don’t know can make or break your experience.
That’s why we write articles to walk you through the things you should look for, the questions you should ask, and the ways you should be viewing a potential laundromat purchase. It all begins with having the right mindset.
If you prefer to skip the mindset pep talk and jump straight to the bullet points feel free to download the Laundromat Pre-analysis Scorecard. It will help you walk through all the steps you need to be sure you’re getting the right deal at the right price. However, having the correct mindset is crucial to succeeding in this, or any, business.
That’s why we’re starting with perhaps the most important part of the analysis process: our mindset going into the process. As I explained in the article answering the question, Are Laundromats Good Investments?, I strongly advise you to approach laundromat ownership as a business, and not as an investment. The exception is if you are partnering with a trusted, experienced owner who will run the business for you. If you plan on taking the investment route by partnering with an experienced owner, read this series. It will help you determine whether a potential investment is a prudent one or not.
Laundromat Business Mindset
Your mindset will determine your actions. Your actions will determine your level of success. It is critical that you enter the laundromat business with the correct mindset in order to succeed. Here are a few ways that approaching your potential purchase as a business acquisition it gives you a few distinct advantages from the start.
Calibrates Expectations
First and foremost, it gives you a more realistic sense of what you’re getting yourself into. Owning a laundromat can be a great side business if that’s the direction you want to take it, but it is still a business and will thus require both an initial and ongoing investment of capital, time, and effort.
One of the greatest barriers to entry into the laundromat industry is the initial capital investment required to acquire a store and get it up to speed. And it will take time, especially initially, to get things running like a well-oiled machine. The time commitment will diminish once things are running, but you will still need to invest time each week in your business. The law of entropy applies: when left alone, even a well-established store will decline gradually.
Calibrates Focus
The second advantage of approaching a purchase with a laundromat business mindset is that it shifts your focus onto the right subject. Investments are about money. Businesses are about people. Of course, you want your business to make money, but the way you make money in business is to provide something for people that they perceive is valuable to them. By looking at potential laundromats through the lens of where you can provide value for customers with a particular store, when you do find the right laundromat deal for you, you will have already been thinking about how to improve the business. Thus, you will see a better return on your capital, time and energy investments.
Calibrates Emotions
A third advantage of having a laundromat business mindset is that it will keep you from getting emotionally attached to stores that aren’t the right deal for you. It can also keep you from overlooking “ugly” stores that might be just what you’re looking for underneath the grime and 40 year old machines. When you’re looking to buy a laundromat, especially if it is your first one, it can be an emotionally charged event. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, that’s what makes it exciting! But, it can often be the case that strong emotions, good or bad, lead us to make poor decisions.
I bet you’ve heard of this happening if it hasn’t happened to you: Someone buys a house that they fell in love with only to find out after moving in and living in it for a while that it’s not all they thought it was. They got emotionally attached and made an unwise purchase.
Or, on the flip side, have you ever seen those shows on HGTV where people make a great living by taking old beat up houses, remodeling them, and making a hefty profit on them? They are able to do what so many other people aren’t. They are able to look past their initial emotions to see where the true value is. That is easier said than done. But that is exactly what this series will help you to be able to do.
Think Big
There are many ways that having a laundromat business mindset will serve you well. We’ve only briefly mentioned three of them, but many more reasons will come out over the next few articles. Share below in the comments section if more reasons come to mind that you think would be worth sharing. When we learn from each other we all grow stronger.
This article outlined a few of the major reasons having a laundromat business mindset is beneficial. The following articles will show you how to approach laundromat ownership with a business mindset.
But, before you jump to the next article, I wanted to say one more thing about your mindset. When entering the laundromat business don’t be afraid to think big. If you’re thinking about buying a store to help supplement your income, don’t be afraid to ask if it would be possible to buy 5 over time to replace your income and give you the freedom of choice of whether to work outside of your laundromat businesses or not. Don’t be afraid to wonder if you could partner with investors to accelerate your success. Don’t be afraid to dream of owning a laundromat out of your area. Maybe, dream of a destination you would like to be able to travel to frequently. (My dream is to own a laundromat in Hawaii so I can take business trips there and write it off!)
Think big. Think bold. The possibilities in this business are truly endless. Begin with the laundromat business mindset. I will provide you with information, connections, and tools you need to achieve your big dreams. I want you to earn the freedom to choose how you want to live your life, on your terms. That’s my big dream and my big goal.
Download the free Laundromat Pre-analysis Scorecard to help you achieve the freedom that buying a laundromat can provide. It is the first step in moving you toward achieving your big, bold dreams!
