27 Y.O (male)

@sarahtoo Specifically the growth of the field is important information to have. You will need these figures when applying for the loan, the expertise and knowledge goes a long way. Especially since the person issuing the loan very likely doesn’t run a laundromat business.

Like how many have opened/closed?

For instance when I applied for a whiskey bar loan it was imperative that I showed the industry as healthy and a good option for the bank. So I explained how whiskey bars have expanded during Covid and whiskey sales are up 14% over the last 2 years (at the time)

You will need to show that you can fit into the local culture and that there is enough following to support you. How many local laundromats are already in business? How will that affect you? How do you offer a unique service that isn’t currently used in your area?

Unfortunately it takes hard work to open any business. Restaurants are definitely the worst and retail toward the easier. Laundromat seems light, but you’ll need to have someone or a connection to fix broken machines on the cheap.
 
@christinalyn24 Right now I'm dipping my toe nail in a pool I've been wanting to swim in. I will drown. Nothing drawn up and the only planning is thinking about all the experience in the many fields I acquired it in. Never worked at a laundromat, never had a hard time at the laundry other than loosing a couple bucks on a broken machine.

Plenty of times has someone left $60 in change and then them coming back to unsuccessfully claim what's rightfully there's. There's problems there and with supply chain at times (merchandise delivery)

Right. So it's not wrong for people to assume what kind of person I am by the taste of my business.l, but it still isn't right to assume I'm a walking red flag because I have a goal.

I know hard work is required and research. I'm currently doing it. Have plenty of links. But need some concrete advice.

I'll work on my prospectus. Right now, I'm writing and recording crucial steps to moving forward more easily.
 
@sarahtoo It costs about $500k to open a laundromat. There are companies that you basically pay and they pick the location and set it all up for you. They're very profitable businesses.
 
@sarahtoo Find your local SBDC and/or SCORE office. They help folks like yourself start & grow their business.

While you wait for your appointment, search the area where you think needs a laundromat. Figure out how much capital you can invest. The SBDC can help you get a loan for the rest backed by the SBA, even though your credit is below average. There are a lot of steps from now until you open. The two offices I mentioned can help you build and execute those steps.

The more time you put into market research before you spend a penny on equipment and leases the more likely this concept is to be successful.
 
@sarahtoo On the building credit side work full-time and start paying off debts consistently.

Get an open sky Visa card, it's secured but it reports his unsecured.

Self lender is another that gives you a secured loan. You pay the tiny interst upfront. Then make a monthly payment for a year to the amount you chose. At the end of 12 months they refund all the payments back to you, minus the $15 or so interest payment you made first. Pay monthly, do not pay it off faster, you want the monthly payments on your report.

I went from a 400 score to a 748 just doing these two things. Once my credit was reestablished I used my cards for things in the first week of every month and waited until I got a statement and then paid them off in full. Now I've got very high credit limits in a little over an 800 score. My income has changed drastically since when I started though and that helped a lot because my business does pretty well.

That's all I got but that should help you some. Know that starting a business can take years before you even start because you have to lay the foundations, learn the skills, and build your value so you have it to bring it to the marketplace.

as far as laundromats go there's a town here south of Dallas called Venus Texas that doesn't have a laundromat in the area is booming. It would be a great opportunity. I thought about it but I don't want to have to run anything that takes my time like that.
 
@sarahtoo Laundromats are a tough racket and nothing is as easy as it seems,
Definitely go work in one even part time for a few months.

If you are starting from the ground up I wouldn’t even try it, there are better more profitable ways to apply capital

If you bought an existing business you would need to answer the #1 question, if it’s so passive and profitable why are they selling it ? and why would they actually sell it ?

The rest is just getting the credit and down payment together
 
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