Jordan Berry [00:00:00]:
Hey, what’s up? It’s Jordan with the Laundromat resource podcast. I actually don’t know what show this is, but I’m pumped you’re here today because today we have a CDF long on the show and this is an incredible episode. You’re going to learn about somebody who just started doing this thing and is taking something that was a broken business and is in process right now of turning her business around. Yeah, founder, actually. We connected on social media, saw her accounts over there and I am psyched for you to meet her. She is great. And you’re going to get a lot out of what she’s learning about jumping in the deep end right from the beginning. I know that’s a lot of your guys’s fear is getting into this business and hitting problems right away.

Jordan Berry [00:00:44]:
And she. That’s what she’s doing. So you’re going to learn a lot out of this. One big takeaway here. So make sure you check it out, man, because you’re going to love her. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for coming on. How you doing?

Aceadia Huang [00:00:59]:
I’m good.

Jordan Berry [00:01:01]:
I am excited. I gotta, I gotta just tell. Tell you this because the reason we found you is we found your, I think your YouTube channel maybe, or maybe Instagram, I forget. But one of them actually my admin saw it and was like, you gotta see this girl. And I was like, oh, that’s cool. She’s like, I’m gonna reach out to see if she’ll come on the podcast. I like, oh, that’d be awesome. And she did.

Jordan Berry [00:01:22]:
And you were like on top of it. And here you are right now. I’m super excited. Yeah, Real quick. Just because we’re right on the front here. And can you just tell people what your, what your channels are called or how to find them?

Aceadia Huang [00:01:40]:
Yeah, my YouTube is just clean and Comfy Laundry. And then we’re on TikTok and Instagram. Clean and Comfy Laundry or the Clean and Comfy Laundry.

Jordan Berry [00:01:48]:
Yeah, and I’ll. We’ll have links to all those in the show notes or if you’re on YouTube, it’ll be in the description down below. Go make sure you go over there and subscribe and support CD over there, which I think you’re just gonna want to after you kind of get to know her a little bit because really, really cool. Okay, but we gotta get to who are you and how did you get into our weird little business that we’re in here?

Aceadia Huang [00:02:17]:
So I started off working at real estate. I’ve been Doing it for a few years. It’s been successful, and things have been going really well. I had. I always had a desire to make things better and better and better. And I was horrible at office politics. And I think a lot of people get into business because of that. So I just thought, if I own my own business, things will get better.

Aceadia Huang [00:02:37]:
I didn’t really have everything that I needed up front, so I just got really resourceful. I sold all my Bitcoin. Like, I did everything that I could to just get my first laundromat. I was told that it was a super easy business. You just collect coins. It’s passive. And it was supposed to be like a 90% success rate, but I think that it was an absolutely hot mess when I first started, because when I did real estate, it was from the moment I wake up to when I sleep, it’s always working. So I needed the laundromat to be passive.

Aceadia Huang [00:03:06]:
It ended up needing so much more time commitment that I had the capacity for. And then on top of that, people said it was like a safe business. Your money’s parked here. You’re good. But I was losing money like crazy. We have rent right now. We’re sitting at 7k a month because our store is in Brooklyn, so it’s a good area. But then we also have team members because if it’s slightly even passive, there’s always has to be people.

Aceadia Huang [00:03:33]:
We’re open seven days a week, 12 hours a day. So we’re sitting at 7,500amonth for just payroll. And then utilities are usually around. I highball it, but I would say like 3K. So I think everyone talks about good investment, and there’s so many good investments out there, but I feel like people maybe could have shared that. Every asset could become a liability pretty quickly.

Jordan Berry [00:03:55]:
Yeah, well, listen, I mean, unfortunately, I. I’ve got solidarity with you here. You know, for those who know, my story is pretty similar where I bought a laundromat, lost a ton of money, and took a long time for me to figure it out. And I had a little bit of a, like, a complex going on because I was like, dude, I mean, kind of like what you’re saying. Like, there’s supposed to be a 95% success rate here. How am I the doofus who can’t figure it out? This easy business, Right? And, you know, for one, I think just for your peace of mind and my peace of mind and anybody out there listening, I think that stat’s misleading. I mean, I know for a fact that that stat is misleading. But I mean, there is a high success rate in this industry.

Jordan Berry [00:04:39]:
It is a good industry. But it’s like you’re saying it’s not all sunshine and rainbows and super easy either and super passive. Always either. Okay, so let me, let me rewind us a little bit and just ask you a couple questions about, you know, number one, where did the idea of buying a laundromat come from for you?

Aceadia Huang [00:05:05]:
I just wanted to make more money. Like two years ago, I was so ready to keep growing. I think anybody watching this channel, we just want to make more money and do better. And I felt like I was capped in sales because it was active income, so I needed to keep getting assets. I thought this was going to be a better return on investment because we’re supposed to get maybe 60, 67 ROI. So I was so ready to just dump all my money in and go. I like the laundromat business a lot because I feel like it’s a necessity and it’s a lot of repeat customers. So it’s nice to be able to build relationships and know people for years, but I didn’t know it’d be a little bit more difficult than I thought.

Jordan Berry [00:05:42]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And especially when. Yeah, especially when you’re kind of first getting into the business and not really sure what you’re walking into because you’ve been sold something. It can feel like a. Like a punch in the gut when you get in and you’re like, wait a second, this is not as passive as I thought. It’s not. The ROI is not what I thought it was going to be. Yeah, that can definitely feel like a punch in the gut.

Jordan Berry [00:06:13]:
Did you look at other business types or did you focus in on laundromats from. From the get go?

Aceadia Huang [00:06:20]:
At first I just went to buybizsell.com I saw a cafe and then I thought I didn’t have enough to sustain a manager for a cafe, so I quit that. And then I found a deli. The deli owner just completely ignored me. And then I found a laundromat. The laundromat owner and broker both ignored me. And then I found another laundromat. And then finally I got accepted.

Jordan Berry [00:06:39]:
Oh, nice. Nice. Well, maybe. Nice. Well, too soon to tell at the moment. Too soon to tell. Yeah. Okay, so you found.

Jordan Berry [00:06:48]:
You just found it online on just like biz by sell or whatever. That’s where it came from. Okay, but you were looking at a bunch of other businesses as well. Yeah. Okay. And then so you bought this in 2024, when you bought the business, was it like, was it when you know, based on what the seller was telling you or the broker, whoever was telling you, when you took over, was it performing the way that you anticipated?

Aceadia Huang [00:07:20]:
I don’t know. I don’t actually count the money or the numbers. I think that it was definitely very busy. They had a lot more customers, honestly, when they started, but I failed completely over time.

Jordan Berry [00:07:37]:
Well, okay, can we talk about that a little bit? What do you mean by you failed over, like, what? Why. What makes you feel like you failed? And, like, what do you think you did that was failing?

Aceadia Huang [00:07:50]:
I just. It was always missing the little details. I didn’t take care of something fast enough or something wasn’t covered. I was focused on all the wrong things. Like, I. There were conflicts that were going on in shop that I focus on more than being proactive, thinking about, like, how can we make sure that consistently when people are here, like, everything is going smooth for them and I let fear take over instead of just remembering to focus on the people and make sure that everything is covered and there’s problems that I still didn’t solve.

Jordan Berry [00:08:23]:
Yeah, yeah. I mean, do you still have. I’m assuming, like, you know, when. When you have problems that you’ve kind of neglect a little bit, they kind of can pile up on you. I mean, you still working on some of those things now, you feel like you have, like, okay, you’ve identified some of these areas that you feel like, hey, these need improvement. This is what I need to do to improve. Are you still trying to figure out even, you know, what to do there?

Aceadia Huang [00:08:51]:
Yes, we have certain things that I’ve focused on making better. We. Whenever there’s an issue, I’m more urgent about getting it pressed. And a lot of times, a lot of thing that pops up in the laundromat, I feel like things break down really quickly. And sometimes I would take too long. If it’s something like ac. Last year I waited too long. This year I was chasing people, calling, like, I called at least 25 people to ask to help fix AC.

Aceadia Huang [00:09:16]:
But it’s weird because, like, I didn’t know going into this business I would have to chase people to pay them to help fix things, which I’m happy for them. They’re making good money.

Jordan Berry [00:09:27]:
Yeah, that’s real, though. I mean, that. That’s the same with, like, service technicians. And like, I’m like, gosh, man, don’t you want to, like, make, like, pay you really good money? Come fix my machines, like, do you not want that or, like, just call me back? Just let me know? Like, yeah, that’s a definitely unexpected, I guess, side effect of being in this industry is that it’s. You’re dealing with a lot of people that’s like. That’s kind of similar, I think, with the construction industry, where there’s a lot of people that don’t do things on time, they don’t communicate well. You know, they don’t pick up the phone, which I guess is a lesson for us. Pick up the phone, huh?

Aceadia Huang [00:10:06]:
But I don’t even mind, like, if they don’t pick up. I feel like nobody owes me anything. I’m just thankful for the one person that does. Answer.

Jordan Berry [00:10:13]:
Yeah, I like that mindset. I like that mindset. So you’ve owned this thing for. For a couple years now. I. I think it was, like, right before we start Hit Record, actually. But you’re saying, hey, as of the last few months, I’m. I’m really trying to step up my game here and, you know, put more effort in and make something out of this business.

Jordan Berry [00:10:34]:
Did. Did. What was the turning point for you of, okay, I need to, like, put in more effort here. I’m going to really make a honest effort at this business.

Aceadia Huang [00:10:45]:
I was gonna sell it. Like, it was. I had a deal come through. They were gonna pay me a lot of money, and I was. I was trying urgently to get it done before my birthday because I felt like there’s no other better way to celebrate my life than to have a ton of money. So I was chasing them every single day. And the lawyers, I was like, hey, can we get the contract? Like, what’s going on? Can we move forward? And people were like, oh, we just have to wait. We just have to wait.

Aceadia Huang [00:11:08]:
Like, it was weeks of this. I was literally, like, literally, I felt like I was begging to get this contract to get it done. And then I got ignored and ignored. Finally they signed. It’s my birthday. And then one hour after they sign, I’m just vomiting out of nowhere. And it’s like, I’ve never vomited in years. And then I told them, hey, I think something’s wrong.

Aceadia Huang [00:11:27]:
I feel like my body’s trying to tell me something. I think I’m gonna pull out. And then they’re like, okay. But they kept coming back saying like, hey, we still want to shop. I’m like, okay. And then I said, hey, actually, I’ll give it to you guys. Like, nothing’s working. It’s cool.

Aceadia Huang [00:11:39]:
And then all of a sudden, my Stomach went through, like, extreme pain. I never had it before. And finally, like, I couldn’t even go to work. I had to just go home. And I was like, hey, I’m not going to sell. It’ll be fine. And when I said, I’m not going to sell, then my body just felt fine again. So I don’t know if it’s like, I don’t know, maybe I’m crazy, but I just felt like if I really signed, I didn’t know what was going to happen, and I was scared to sell.

Aceadia Huang [00:12:02]:
So I said, at this point, you don’t have much more to lose. I feel like I should just put myself out there because it can’t get worse than this.

Jordan Berry [00:12:11]:
Yeah. Yeah. Wow. That’s crazy. That’s crazy. But I. I mean, that’s, you know, kudos to you for listening to your body and listen to, you know, you know, what you think the right path is to go, because that’s not easy either. But that’s.

Jordan Berry [00:12:29]:
That’s pretty wild that your. Your body’s literally saying, hey, this might not be the. Might not be the right move for you. Maybe there’s something more to learn, more to gain here for you. Which is crazy. So. So that’s kind of what prompted you to be like, okay, well, if I’m going to keep it, then I’m going to make a real honest effort here. Is that.

Jordan Berry [00:12:51]:
Yeah, yeah. And then what about the content stuff? Did you decide to do that? Kind of. At the same time, you’re like, well, if I’m going to make an honest effort, I’m just going to document it. It’s like, is that.

Aceadia Huang [00:13:01]:
Yes, I said, if I’m gonna make an honest effort, I’m just gonna document it. It’s been like, it’s been failing since I got it. I’ve been a failing business owner, and, like, that’s fine. But every business that I ever did, I always lost money in the beginning. And it’s like everything I ever did in my life, I sucked at real estate. It was like three months of not closing a deal, and then finally it worked out. So I was okay with failing. I was okay with looking bad, because I feel like everything that we start kind of ends up like that, even though it’s been prolonged.

Aceadia Huang [00:13:30]:
Everyone I met, I mean, everyone I’m close to, I think all of them have told me that maybe it’s better that I cave in and just sell it. And, like, I respect that because they’re looking out for me and they want to help me, but Everyone that’s watching this, like everyone in your life, has one misunderstanding about you. There’s so many things people think they know about you, but they don’t. So I couldn’t listen because I respect where they’re coming and they want to help, but I have to be stubborn because there is every reason to quit. We’re losing, like, thousands of dollars every single month, and we have been for, like, God knows how long. But I keep going because if I keep changing and if I keep trying something different, something good can come out of it. The workload I’m gonna have to put in is insane. I don’t wanna do it.

Aceadia Huang [00:14:11]:
I do wanna quit sometimes, but it’s like who I was one year ago. I was worried about problems that don’t matter, and now I’m focused on, like, doing changes, actually making marketing, and it’s like nothing’s working, but I’m not caving in. So I just wanna keep focusing and keep trying to thing and just keep pushing forward. Because until it happens, then I’m just going to be stuck here. And that’s fine, I think.

Jordan Berry [00:14:34]:
Yeah. Dang, man. I’m like, I love all of that because that’s exactly what I was feeling, right? Like, people were telling me the same thing, like, you gotta just get out of it. And there were definitely many moments where I was like, yeah, I definitely need to get out of it, man. If I was smart, I would stop right now. And I don’t know about. For you, but for me, part of. There’s like a couple things going on internally.

Jordan Berry [00:15:00]:
For me, it was like. Part of me was like, well, I’m not gonna quit being in the 5% that failed in this business. So I, you know, just a stubborn, prideful part of me, I guess, was like, no. And then the other part of me was like, I want to make this happen. Like, I want to, you know, build something for myself and I want to do something good for the community I’m serving. And. And so there’s kind of both of those things going on for me that kept me driving even when I was losing thousands of dollars a month, too. And definitely not easy.

Jordan Berry [00:15:40]:
Definitely would prefer to not go through that again if I don’t have to. But also definitely has completely shaped my life. Just that experience of going through all that and persevering through it and figuring it out, it has completely changed my life. And now, you know, I. I have so much. I mean, it sounds like you already have this, which I. I was. I didn’t have at least in the middle of when I was going through.

Jordan Berry [00:16:08]:
But I. I have so much confidence now that I can make a mistake and. And it’s not gonna ruin me, right? Like, I think I had this fear, like, man, I’m gonna make a mistake. I’m gonna be a failure. And, you know, and it’s just gonna ruin my life. And now I’m like, whoa, I might fail at something, but I’m not a failure. And, you know, I have confidence that no matter what hole I dig myself into now, I can dig myself out because I dug myself out of that one. Right.

Jordan Berry [00:16:43]:
So, I don’t know. I’m just sharing, like, stream of consciousness, like, some of the. The internal stuff going on within me when I was going through the exact same type of scenario. That sounds like you’re going through right now.

Aceadia Huang [00:16:54]:
Yeah.

Jordan Berry [00:16:55]:
I don’t know any of that resonate or how are you thinking about it?

Aceadia Huang [00:17:00]:
I want people to try. Like, it’s like, it. This is hell. I hate it. I want to get out. But, like, it’s just, we have to try. Because whether I’m doing this or whether I’m not trying this, things are hell. I feel like even if I don’t have a business to work on, like, if there’s nothing going on in my life, then I always invent problems.

Aceadia Huang [00:17:16]:
And it’s like, I’d rather have real world problems and maybe a 2% chance of getting better than to just not try and just feel like, oh, what if? Like, yeah, I did what if, and it. It’s going very, very, very bad. But at least I saw the outcome, and at least I put the effort in. And I don’t want, like, I feel like it’s easy to just stay back and do what’s comfortable and safe, but I feel like it’s. It’s also nice to try and skip in full effort, even maybe it doesn’t go well.

Jordan Berry [00:17:45]:
Yeah. Question for you. Well, number one, I just want to say this because I think I wanted somebody to say this to me, but your story’s not done yet, so, you know, this, I think, is probably still gonna. It’s gonna turn around. I. I’m confident about that. And you’re gonna be fine in the. In the business, I think, will probably be fine too.

Jordan Berry [00:18:07]:
But question for you, like, looking back now and if you could go back right now to you two years ago, what would you do different? Would you. What would you tell yourself to do differently than you did last time around, maybe, besides not buying that laundromat? Or maybe it’s not buying that specific one. But what would you do differently?

Aceadia Huang [00:18:29]:
I feel like I would have. I would have pushed myself to focus on different things. It’s. It’s hard because I don’t just. It’s not just the laundromat for me. I do real estate full time, so it’s like seven days a week. I have a second job on the side, and then I’m exhausted. I’m tired.

Aceadia Huang [00:18:48]:
Sometimes I’m up to like 2am, 3am trying to focus on finishing up work for the laundromat, too. I would have told myself to focus just on, I think, making sure that everyone has a good experience. And then after, I would have focused on trying to scale, possibly get more clients for pickup and delivery. Every other problem, I feel like that could have been resolved. But instead of. Instead of just trying to be in the business, I would have tried to grow and focus on the work. On the business instead of in the business.

Jordan Berry [00:19:17]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. When I feel like, I mean, it sounds like you were kind of set up in a way that a lot of us were. I mean, I feel like I was too, in the sense of, you know, being sold as a passive business and. And then coming into it with that mindset. I see people going wrong all the time because they just are sold that it’s a passive business. And so they come in and are very passive with it, and things degrade quickly if you don’t, like, pay attention to those details you were talking about. Is that. Is that kind of how you came into with that mindset or how were you thinking about it when you got in?

Aceadia Huang [00:20:04]:
I was very passive. Very, very passive. Because I was like, oh, I’ll just make enough money in real estate and then I’ll use that to cover the laundromat expenses.

Jordan Berry [00:20:14]:
Yeah, yeah. That’s a dangerous one too. Right? It’s like I. I would, like, ask myself, like, why am I working to pay for a business? That stuff like, the business supposed to be making money for me. Why am I working to pay for that out of my own paycheck? But part of it’s a process, you know, It’s a process, definitely. Okay, so you’re, you know, as the business was struggling over the last couple years, what. How are you, like, were you just not paying too much attention or you, like you said you were just okay with it. You’re like, I’ll just pay for it through my real estate sales or whatever.

Aceadia Huang [00:21:01]:
I. I have been. I’ve been working really hard for the past year to Just lose money. And all the money, like the expenses for the laundromat, in total, I think it’s around like 15, 17k because it’s $7,000 a month for the rent, and then we have $7,500 for payroll, $3,000 for utilities, and then if something breaks, maybe an extra 1k if it’s AC2k. So month to month, like, everything changes. It’s been terrifying thinking that, like, every month I have to make $17,000 to break even on a $40 a pound. It’s. I think logically it’s just been.

Aceadia Huang [00:22:02]:
I felt like there wasn’t a way out, and then when I found a way out, it seemed like an even worse way out. So then I jumped back in, and now the only way out is to make it successful. Otherwise, I’m just like, this for your ears.

Jordan Berry [00:22:17]:
Yeah, yeah. And that. The thought of that. It’s a good motivator, I would say. Thought of things just kind of staying the same. It’s like the whole, you know, man, now I forget this. I always butcher these sayings, but it’s like, you know, if you want something different, you got to do something different kind of thing. Right.

Jordan Berry [00:22:38]:
If you want the same results, do the same things, you’re going to get the same results kind of thing. And, you know, it sounds like you’re on the front end of kind of that mindset shift of like, okay, I need to turn this into something. Otherwise it’s going to stay the same. Lose. Like working to pay for a business, working to pay for other people’s laundry really is what you’re doing, which is not the goal of buying this business.

Aceadia Huang [00:23:07]:
But they’re so nice.

Jordan Berry [00:23:11]:
Yes, I. I mean, I get that. I get that. Maybe. Maybe better to just sell the laundromat and pay for people’s laundry. Yeah. So, okay, over the last couple months, what have you. What’s that look like this.

Jordan Berry [00:23:27]:
This change. Like, what have you started doing differently?

Aceadia Huang [00:23:31]:
The other months, I was just. I was just doing what I had to do. What’s it called when guys are the bare minimum for girls? I was the bare minimum for this business.

Jordan Berry [00:23:43]:
Just keep. Keep her around. Keep her around. Do. Do the most I have to or least I have to do to keep her around.

Aceadia Huang [00:23:48]:
Yeah, I like it, but I basically, it was just standard. Like, I was acting as a manager. I wasn’t acting as, like a business owner. And I think these past two months, I’ve been more proactive. I’ve been trying to see, like, hey, how do we get the word out. We’ve been doing Instagram Reels, like TikTok Reels, as much content as I could. And then we’ve been pushing out flyers. We’ve been trying little changes.

Aceadia Huang [00:24:09]:
I got like a billboard, anything that I could to keep pushing the word out and keep trying changes. I wanted to do it. Um, it was just in the past, it was just, what kind of bullshit do I have to take care of so this place doesn’t fall apart and burn down? But now it’s like, oh, how can we actually make things better? Like, what can I do today to work on it? And it’s been more exciting. It’s a bit tough because it’s. I feel like any business owner, like, it was never. We just came in here cause we thought it was going to be better and there was more freedom. But I feel like there’s no freedom for a short time. And I’m willing to accept that.

Aceadia Huang [00:24:43]:
And even if I have to sleep last for like, maybe a few months, I’m okay with that too. But what was the question? Because I feel like I kind of fell off.

Jordan Berry [00:24:52]:
No, I just. No, I was just talking about. Or asking you about, like, what. What have you started doing differently over the last couple months? I mean, you’re talking about kind of your. Your frame of mind, your mindset being different, acting more like a business owner as opposed to the do the bare minimum kind of person. Yeah, yeah. But I mean, I think that that’s. I mean, you said something in there.

Jordan Berry [00:25:21]:
I just want to highlight this because I think it’s so key, and I think it’s the exact opposite of the mindset you and I both kind of came into this business with. And a lot of people coming into this business with you said, I might have to work really hard for a little while. I might have to go with no sleep. I might have to, you know, be exhausted for a while. But it’s for a reason, right? It’s for a purpose.

Aceadia Huang [00:25:47]:
How many hours did you get to sleep when you were starting?

Jordan Berry [00:25:52]:
It was. Well, I also had like a baby at the same time. So I. But I mean, I. Not many. Like, I. I was working a lot. Like, the whole goal for me, this is.

Jordan Berry [00:26:03]:
This is the irony, right? And this is probably for you, too. The whole goal for me was like, I found out about Laundromats through a family friend. He bought one Laundromat, replaced his tech income, and went from working 60 to 70 hours a week to working 5 or 10 hours a week. And I was like, yeah, that sounds great. I’ll do that. And so the whole goal was money coming in with very little time commitment, and it ended up being the exact opposite. I was losing money and I was spending a ton of time on the business. So it was.

Jordan Berry [00:26:34]:
It was rough. It was like one of the roughest times of my life, honestly, because I was losing money and I was. Couldn’t figure out what to do, and I felt like a failure and was embarrassed. And then I had people telling me, I told you so, and yada, yada, yada. But yeah, to answer your question, though, not much sleep, for sure, because even when I was at home and in bed, I’d like to lay awake trying to figure out how to get out of my situation, like, no matter how. Or I’d wake up in the middle of the night, and then I couldn’t go back to sleep because I’m like, what am I gonna do? Like, you know, I can’t. I can’t turn this thing around. It took.

Jordan Berry [00:27:16]:
It took a little while, took a couple years. It won’t take you that long. But starting now, yeah, it won’t. It won’t take you that long. I. I guarantee you. I mean, you have a different mindset, right? You have that, okay, I’m gonna have to double down. And I think that that’s like a big difference for a lot of people.

Jordan Berry [00:27:34]:
A lot of people want the passive income, but in. Passive income is a thing. But you never just get. Maybe not in this business so much, at least for a while, but you never get passive income until there’s a mountain of work put behind that passive income. Right? Always takes a mountain of work to get passive income. And there’s not, at least to my knowledge, there’s not really a whole lot of ways to shortcut this. So, you know, but that’s. That’s what you’re saying.

Jordan Berry [00:28:10]:
You’re like, hey, I’m gonna put in a mountain of work here if it needs it, you know, to get to that point where I don’t have to put in the mountain of work every day. But. But it, you know, it’s going to be some work. It’s going to be some work. Yeah. Do you have a sense of. Do you have a sense of what is missing or what is wrong that needs to be fixed to or. Or added or replaced to grow this business? This your particular one?

Aceadia Huang [00:28:53]:
I think I’m the number one problem because I. Even though, oh, I’m really trying, like, to be honest, I feel like I could have been trying harder even Though. Oh, I have this. I have that. Like, everything’s an excuse. Nobody. Nobody wants to hear bullshit. I just haven’t done enough.

Aceadia Huang [00:29:08]:
And I feel like anything is possible with the right amount of effort, and if I’m doing the correct things, then of course it’s going to work out. I think that the number one thing, the only way that I’m going to be able to fix this is pickup and delivery, because for 25 cents for seven minutes, I don’t know how I’m going to reach $17,000 a month in expenses. But I, you know, honestly, I’m lost. I have no idea what to do. So I’m just going, yeah, yeah.

Jordan Berry [00:29:39]:
No, and listen, I. I mean, we talked about this before hitting record. I mean, I think we should just jump on a call and. And go through everything kind of systematically and. And develop a plan, because mostly for selfish reasons, so that, you know, you can come back on later and be like, my business is doing great now. This is awesome. I love it. Right? That’s my selfish.

Jordan Berry [00:29:58]:
For another podcast episode. No, but I mean, I. I think that’s tough. Right? And. And again, I don’t want to, like, totally parallel my story with your story, but there’s just so many parallels here where, you know, when you’re in the middle of this situation, like, you’re losing money and, like, it’s so, so hard to see the path out. Like, you’re too in it, and it takes somebody kind of outside of the situation to look in and be like, okay, here’s, you know, here’s the path out of the forest. Like, you’re in a deep, dark forest right now. Here’s the path out.

Jordan Berry [00:30:35]:
You can’t see it because you’re in it, but here’s the path out. And, you know, and one thing I want to say, too, is I really appreciate about you that you are just kind of taking responsibility for it here, and you’re saying, hey, it’s on me. Like, I made some mistakes, and it’s on me, and it’s going to be up to me to dig my way out of this. I really appreciate that, and I think that that’s a great mindset to have. Um, my only one thing I want to say to you is, don’t be too hard on yourself, because taking responsibility is good, and taking responsibility for. For the mistakes and for the actions it’s going to take to fix the mistakes, good. But beating yourself up, not good and not helpful and productive because you’re not a. You’re not a failure.

Jordan Berry [00:31:27]:
At this laundromat because you still have it. And it hasn’t failed. Failed yet. It’s not performing, but it hasn’t failed yet. And also, you’ve succeeded in a lot of other areas in life, right? And you got to give yourself a little grace, that you’ve owned it for two years, but you haven’t really, I mean, according to you, like, you haven’t really put a whole lot of effort in. In for. For two years. You’ve only been doing that for a couple months here.

Jordan Berry [00:31:54]:
And so you’re kind of just new still at this, and there’s more to learn. And like you said, you’re just anybody when they start something new, you’re not really good at it, and it takes a little time to, to get good. So I just wanted to tell you that because I, I do really appreciate that you take responsibility and, you know, and have acknowledged, like, I’ve had excuses and things like that, but, you know, I’m gonna have to dig my way out of this, which I appreciate. But I don’t want you to beat yourself up and feel bad because that won’t help. Right? And it’s probably not true. It’s probably not all your fault, and there probably is things you can do better and differently. But she’s making faces like, well, maybe it’s. It’s my fault.

Jordan Berry [00:32:41]:
That’s funny. Okay, well, and I think that mindset is, Is why, like, I don’t have any worries for you. Like, I know, you know, you walk a mile in the forest, you might have to walk a mile out, but you’re gonna get out, you know, and maybe you’ll find somebody with a dirt bike coming by that can help speed you out. I don’t know, maybe. You know what I mean? That’s what I’m talking about. That’s what I’m talking about. Okay, so you’re still doing real estate full time? Is that your main gig?

Aceadia Huang [00:33:16]:
Real estate? We do full time. I, I pretty much. I think it’s more real estate than laundromat still. Just because I, I can’t stop real estate otherwise.

Jordan Berry [00:33:32]:
Stores cooked pay for the laundromat.

Aceadia Huang [00:33:38]:
But I, I love real estate so much. I love doing it with the laundromat. I just, just. It’s just been challenging to juggle things, and I’m learning as I go.

Jordan Berry [00:33:48]:
Yeah, well, I’ll tell you too, that owning a laundromat is a lot more fun when you make money owning the laundromat. So let’s get you making Money with the laundromat and the real estate for a little while there and it’ll be a lot more fun for you. How about that? Yeah. How much are you working on the Laundromat these days? Like, because when you’re working full time, I know you’re like pulling double duty and stuff, but, like, you have an idea of like, how many hours you’re putting into the Laundromat right now?

Aceadia Huang [00:34:19]:
Not exactly, because it gets really sporadic throughout the day. If anything happens, I try and resolve it, but usually from morning to like 5pm, 8pm it’s real estate and then laundromat stuff. It’ll either happen from 10pm to 1am or 11pm to 2am, 3am I think it is probably like, now that you’re saying it, I should be putting in more hours. So I appreciate you asking.

Jordan Berry [00:34:47]:
Well, okay, hold on here. I’m not saying to stay up later at night. I mean, you also need to sleep. You got to sleep a little bit at least. Some. Some. You’re human, right? You gotta sleep.

Aceadia Huang [00:35:02]:
But I wake up late, so I’ll wake up at like 10:00pm 10:00am okay.

Jordan Berry [00:35:06]:
I was like, 10:00pm, that’s late.

Aceadia Huang [00:35:08]:
Yeah.

Jordan Berry [00:35:09]:
Maybe you’re sleeping too much. I don’t know. No, I’m just kidding. Yeah. Okay. Well, as long as you’re getting some sleep still, I still want you to be able to sleep so well. Yeah, I just. I wasn’t asking that.

Jordan Berry [00:35:20]:
So you put more hours in? I was just curious, like, how many you’re putting in. What do you. What are you doing with those hours? Like when you’re, when you’re working? Are you. Yeah. What are you doing?

Aceadia Huang [00:35:30]:
The number one thing that’s gotten me the most reach has always been content. So even though if I make a video, if it just gets. If it. One video gets a thousand views on TikTok, and then one video gets 500 views on Instagram, 300 on YouTube. Together, that’s 1800 people that saw the story. And if I do that every single day, I could get 30,000 views. There’s no money that I have to pay for just the organic content. So I feel like that’s been the most helpful.

Aceadia Huang [00:35:57]:
And then besides that, we’ve been trying to get into online stuff. Everyone’s telling me SEO. So yesterday I set up Google Ads and then I’m trying to learn more and more for Google. My business. We did post up until June 18th. So anything online that I can set up, I’ve been trying to, but I feel like A lost dog and I don’t know what’s going on.

Jordan Berry [00:36:19]:
Yeah, well, a couple thoughts on that. Just, just from my perspective, number one, I mean I think all that’s great and I think the content stuff is really good. And you’re right that you know, you’re getting a lot of views just kind of organically, which is good. I found that doesn’t always translate at least immediately to customers coming in the door. I don’t know, have you seen more customers coming in because of that yet or not yet.

Aceadia Huang [00:36:45]:
I think we got maybe self service wise I saw it increase so I feel like it’s going well there. And then one girl was in the store, she was like, oh, your content’s working. I saw you on TikTok, but for pickup and delivery, I’m not sure. We did get one new person that I’m sure is from the content, but I haven’t been able to track enough. So I think definitely either I need to double down on content and triple it or I don’t know what to do.

Jordan Berry [00:37:17]:
Well, you’re, you’re just starting it, right? It takes, it’s like the whole like hockey stick effect, right? It’s like take some time for it to kind of ramp up, ramp up, ramp up and then you’ll get, you’ll take off and you will, your content’s really good. That’s why I was like, let’s, let’s snag her now. Get her on here now before she’s famous. Yeah, yeah, but so it’ll, it’ll keep growing for sure. And also SEO is really good and I would definitely keep working on the SEO stuff in the Google business. The Google business is probably the biggest thing, so stay on top of that. But SEO and content tend to be really good for the long game and Google business optimization and ads specifically for pickup and delivery tend to be good for adding customers in the short game. Now the benefit of social media and all that stuff is it’s free.

Jordan Berry [00:38:21]:
Like you’re saying it’s organic, it’s free. And the ads you have to pay, which is really. I’ll just speak from my experience. It was really hard for me to send any marketing dollars out when I was losing money because it just feels like more money going out. But with that said, that is the way to grow kind of the service side of the business, the drop off or pick up and delivery quicker in the short term. So it’s kind of a both and a short term and a longer term play there.

Aceadia Huang [00:38:52]:
Can I ask you when you were gonna quit? What. What made you decide to keep going? And then how are you different from the person that started in the beginning?

Jordan Berry [00:39:03]:
Yeah, good question.

Aceadia Huang [00:39:04]:
So

Jordan Berry [00:39:07]:
I’ll just. Vulnerable moment over here. You know, part of what made me not quit is not wanting to feel like a failure, you know, and then a little bit of that stubbornness. But the other side of it was I didn’t know how to get out. Like, I literally didn’t know how to get out. I’m like, well, I’m not making any money, like, who’s gonna buy my Laundromat? And, you know, I was like, underwater. I had, like, loans and stuff and, like, for equipment, and I just. I literally just didn’t know how to get out.

Jordan Berry [00:39:44]:
And I couldn’t find anybody to help me. And I was scared to. I was scared to reach out to a broker because the broker was the one who got me into the situation in the first place, you know, and so I didn’t. I just didn’t know how to get out. Part of me was like, no, I’m going to make it work. And part of me was like, no, I want out, but I just don’t know how to get out. So there’s that. And then how I’m different.

Jordan Berry [00:40:09]:
I mean, you said something that really resonated with me, or you’re like, you know, I was just dealing with problems that felt like a big deal at the time. Now those problems don’t feel nearly as big. Like, I’m able to handle bigger problems. I have been thoroughly convinced that I’m. I’ve. I tend to be like a lone wolf kind of guy, like, do things on my own. I’m very. Now especially, you know, I’m like, very confident in my competence.

Jordan Berry [00:40:45]:
But that. That makes my tendency to be. To depend only on myself and want to do everything on my own. However, I am now thoroughly convinced I have to do this consciously. So this is not like a reflex for me, but I’m thoroughly convinced that involving other people is so much better. I mean, problems get solved faster. I get perspectives I couldn’t get on my own. You know, if I’m ever going to do something new, like buy a new business or a new investment or something like that.

Jordan Berry [00:41:21]:
You know, I heard somebody, I can’t remember who said this, but, you know, they said, when you’re doing something new like that, borrow Somebody else’s 10,000 hours. Right. And that resonates with me so much after my experience. Right. And. And the thing too, like, right, if we. If you and I had had a conversation before you bought this laundromat. We might have been able to, you know, save you some heartache and some money here with that.

Jordan Berry [00:41:49]:
Right.

Aceadia Huang [00:41:51]:
I’m so.

Jordan Berry [00:41:51]:
But, you know, I was here. I was waiting for you to call. I was waiting for you.

Aceadia Huang [00:41:56]:
Sounds good.

Jordan Berry [00:41:57]:
Yeah. Well, and. And maybe we can. Maybe we can do something now and. And help you dig out faster. Right. But I. That’s a big difference in me because, you know, I don’t know why I have that tendency.

Jordan Berry [00:42:11]:
There’s probably some, like, childhood trauma or something behind it or something. I don’t know. But I have a hard time asking for help, and I have a hard time, like, acknowledging when, you know, I need help. And that’s why, like, it took me a lot longer to dig myself out of that laundromat, that first laundromat hole, than it should have, because I was trying to do it on my own. So that’s a big, big shift, you know, for me. But also, again, because I stuck through it. It. It gave me a lot of confidence to be able to overcome problems and just, you know, I think there’s levels to all this, too, you know, and I think there’s probably a lot more of that for me to learn at bigger and bigger stages, bigger and bigger levels, but problems that used to feel like a really big deal, like, don’t phase me anymore.

Jordan Berry [00:43:05]:
So, yeah, that’s a little bit of my baggage.

Aceadia Huang [00:43:13]:
Sounds good.

Jordan Berry [00:43:14]:
My. My experience. Okay. So do you. You might not. You might not even know the answer to this question, but do you, like, what’s the goal right now? I mean, obviously, the. The immediate goal is to try to get this thing profitable as quickly as possible. Are you trying to get it profitable so you can keep it profitable so you can sell it? I don’t know.

Jordan Berry [00:43:41]:
Do you have an idea? You’re not sure yet?

Aceadia Huang [00:43:46]:
I just need a happy ending because I. I feel like before we had the businesses. I feel like everyone, at some point, we have, like, winters in our lives where things are just horrible, and it’s like, things are unfair. It’s one break after another being hit at you, one cut, whatever. But it’s. I feel like if you can go through the pain of life just sucking because it sucks no matter what, then I feel like it’s training us for something better. And it’s like, my life sucked for no reason. Now I can make it suck because I have a business, but have a 2% chance of increasing it, being better and having it become a happy ending.

Aceadia Huang [00:44:23]:
And I like business because I feel like it gives you the opportunity to go through. Go through life. It still sucks, but it gets better. And I feel like there’s more rewards, but I’m not sure. I’m just hoping for the happy ending.

Jordan Berry [00:44:39]:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I like that. And I. I think that, you know, on a long enough horizon, like, happy ending is just what time frame you choose to. To make the ending. Right? Like, yeah, you know, even. You know, even in, like, with my laundromat, when it was failing and I was like five years into it and still struggling and stuff, it.

Jordan Berry [00:45:07]:
That was not a happy ending. But. But right now I’m sitting here talking to you, which is very cool. And I’m also just past the camera is the beach, because I’m in Hawaii right now. Right. And. But it’s also not my ending. You know, it’s still part of the journey.

Jordan Berry [00:45:24]:
Right. So. But I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the laundromat sucking so much.

Aceadia Huang [00:45:30]:
You’re honestly the goat. Like, I’ve. When I started my Laundromat, I was watching your videos, I was watching your interviews. So I like, the second I saw your name, any email you said, I was like, okay, I’ll be there.

Jordan Berry [00:45:41]:
That’s so cool. Well, I appreciate that. And. And honestly, I’m gonna. I’m gonna kind of reflect it back to you a little bit, because the real goats are people like you who are willing to come on and share your experience. And, you know, because I learn a lot, you know, from hearing your experience and. And other guests who come on the show. And so I.

Jordan Berry [00:46:01]:
And I know it’s like a sacrifice for you, and, you know, you’re. You should probably be sleeping now. It’s not 10pm yet for you, so. No, I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding. No, but I really do. I really do appreciate it. And.

Jordan Berry [00:46:15]:
And you know, nobody has to give up their time to come on here and share their story. And especially in, like, it’s really difficult to do while you’re in the middle of trying to figure it out. And so I really, like, admire that and appreciate that. And I think a lot of people will admire that also, but also get a lot out of it because this industry, not as much on this channel, but, you know, it can be painted in a very, you know, sunshine and rainbows light. Right? It’s, you know, passive, easy. Like all these things, 95 success rate make it sound easy. But here’s the reality is, like, sometimes it’s not easy. And you gotta figure it out.

Jordan Berry [00:47:01]:
But that’s part of being an entrepreneur, right? Is solving problems, figuring out, you know, difficult things and turning them around. Like, that’s what we do is we solve. I heard somebody say an entrepreneur is somebody who just solves problems for a profit. Right. You’re still in the middle of solving that problem and getting to the profit part, but you’re going to get there. Like, I. I don’t have any doubts you’re going to get there for sure. But it.

Jordan Berry [00:47:32]:
It’s just a matter of walking through what you got to walk through to get there, which, you know, probably won’t be fun for a little bit.

Aceadia Huang [00:47:40]:
Well, no, I appreciate you so much for, like, even inviting me to the show. I feel like you guys, you have so many people that you could interview. You’re in Hawaii. I would. I hope you enjoy your time. I didn’t. I don’t want to take up too much of your vacation.

Jordan Berry [00:47:52]:
No, it’s not my. Well, we bought a house here. I’m. This is like, I live in Hawaii and Orange County, California. We bounce back and forth. We’re. This is. What I’m saying is, like, I would not be doing that if my Laundromat didn’t suck and I didn’t lose a bunch of money.

Jordan Berry [00:48:09]:
And, you know, it just. It took me on this weird path where I was the world’s worst laundromat owner for a little while, and then, you know, figured a few things out and started sharing some lessons. And then that turned into a YouTube channel, and then that turned into a podcast, and then that turned into, hey, I’m gonna jump on calls with people and try to help them with their. Get their Laundromat or fix their Laundromat or whatever, or grow their Laundromat. And then that turned into, like, this weird online business that I’m doing, and I never planned it, and I could never have planned it, and it never would have happened if I didn’t go through the problems that I went through with that first laundromat and become the person that I’ve become up to this point, because I wouldn’t be the same guy without those problems. And that’s part of, like, that forging process that you are in the middle of right now, which is not pleasant. But I’m, like, 100 convinced that if you just persevere, whatever that looks like, you just don’t give up. It doesn’t.

Jordan Berry [00:49:17]:
That means maybe. Maybe not giving up looks like selling the laundromat and going all in into real estate even more, or pivoting to a different business or a different Laundromat or whatever. But whatever it is, you just don’t give up. You’re for sure going to be successful. Like, it’s going to happen because you have that mindset that you need and you have the drive that you need to get there. So I’m excited. I’m excited for you. I know that you’re in a rough spot right now, but I think that you’re in the beginning phases of digging your way out of that and having something special happen.

Jordan Berry [00:49:54]:
I do. Yeah.

Aceadia Huang [00:49:57]:
I. I feel like. I don’t know how to say it. Delusional, but I feel like that’s the kind of delusion I have to have in order to make it anywhere. And I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but it’s like, I think every business is working super hard, seeing no results and then keeping on going. And, like, I’m. I am a little bit nervous and scared, but I feel like the only way I get over that is by trying to do something about it. So I’m happy.

Jordan Berry [00:50:27]:
Yeah, I think that’s exactly right. And a delusion is probably the primary characteristic of anybody who’s had any success in business. Like, genuinely, like, that’s a great word for. That’s probably the number one characteristic of a successful business owner is delusion. Because you got to be able to see things that other people don’t see or think are crazy. Like, you got to be able to see that. So that’s why I’m saying, like, I’m not worried about you. You have the right kind of delusion and willing to put in the effort behind the dude.

Jordan Berry [00:51:03]:
That’s where it really comes down to you. You got to believe it, and then you got to be able to put the mountains of effort behind that delusion to be able to make it into something. And that’s where you’re at right now. You weren’t there, but that’s where you’re at right now. I’m excited. We’re gonna have to do another one of these and get an update when you’re crushing it or you sell it for a boatload of money and we hear you can tell us all how you did it. Exactly. That’d be great.

Jordan Berry [00:51:33]:
That’ll be great. Awesome. Anything else we need to cover or any other parts of your story or lessons or anything you feel like you learned before we wrap this thing up?

Aceadia Huang [00:51:46]:
I think. I think for Now, I think that’s it.

Jordan Berry [00:51:53]:
Okay. Okay, real quick, before we. Before we told. Actually, I have one more question, but before we wrap it up with one last question, I guess this is a question too, so maybe two last questions. But remind us once again, where can people find your content?

Aceadia Huang [00:52:09]:
I’m on Instagram, tik tok, and YouTube. Our handle is the Clean and Comfy laundry. Or Clean and Comfy laundry. To be honest, I forgot.

Jordan Berry [00:52:17]:
Yeah, you got it. Came back to you. You’re all good. Okay, last question I have for you, and I’m just curious. We kind of. We kind of covered this a little bit, but Last question I have for you. Is anybody who’s out there looking to buy their First Laundromat you2 years ago? What’s your number one piece of advice for them?

Aceadia Huang [00:52:45]:
I. I think the first thing is that to expect it to take 10 times more effort than you expect, and then to also factor in the numbers. It’s. There’s a lot of hype around, oh, you’ll just buy this business, you’ll make money, but every asset that you get can quickly turn into a liability. There’s a lot of opportunities to lose money. And then I would just ask them to look at every area where they could lose money. And the third thing is probably. I don’t know, I think that was it.

Aceadia Huang [00:53:17]:
Like, I feel like, for me, I feel like I’m the worst person to ask because people start asking me for advice on Instagram and I’m. I’m like, we’re not even profitable. I can’t tell you anything. But I. For now, the only thing that I can give advice on is just keep going. Because it’s like, this is hell, but we still show up every day. So it works.

Jordan Berry [00:53:38]:
Yeah. What’s the. There’s another quote that I’m probably going to butcher, but it’s like, when you find yourself in hell, like, walking through hell, just keep going or something like that, right? Just. Only way out of it is to go through it. So just go through it. But I love that. Go. Listen, go, go.

Jordan Berry [00:53:57]:
Subscribe to all the channels over there. Show her some love. Show her some support. I know a lot of us have gone through this, if not in this industry, you know, in some sort of investing or business or something like that. A lot of us have gone through something similar. And, you know, we know, like, you’ve just got to persevere through it and it’s gonna pay off for you in the long run, but in the short term, it’s not fun. It’s not fun. But thank you so much for coming on.

Jordan Berry [00:54:27]:
Really, really appreciate you taking the time and chatting and sharing your story, being vulnerable and upfront and open and honest. And like I said, we’re definitely gonna do another one of these because I am confident that you’re going to turn this thing around. And we want to hear all about that as well. So we’ll stay in touch. Yeah. Awesome.

Aceadia Huang [00:54:51]:
All right.

Jordan Berry [00:54:51]:
I hope you love that episode with the cds. So much good stuff in there. And listen, she is. She put it all, all out on the line for us and told us exactly how things are going. All the struggles, the good, the bad, the ugly. And kudos to her and huge shout out. Thank you for her for coming on and sharing that story. And listen, all of this will have been a waste of time for you if you don’t pick something and put it into action, even if it’s just, hey, take some action towards getting that first laundromat.

Jordan Berry [00:55:22]:
Now. Take the leap that you’ve been scared to take. Getting. Getting the game here. Get in the game, like I said. Yeah. And, you know, we’ll work it out along the way and we’ll get you that financial freedom that you’re looking for. Awesome.

Jordan Berry [00:55:34]:
We’ll see you in the next one. Peace.