IndustriesLaundromat
A laundromat business plan built on turns per machine per day
A laundromat is an equipment lease with a storefront. Labour is minimal, the margin is decided by utilities, and the entire revenue model is machines times turns per day times price. It is one of the most modellable small businesses there is — which is why a vague plan stands out badly.
Written for an SBA or bank loan, which is where most plans in this sector goNAICS 812310
Where the money goes
Typical shares of revenue in this sector. Shown as a starting point to argue with, never as a target to hit — your own figures replace all of these at intake.
- Utilities
- 24%
- Water, gas, electricity and sewer. The dominant cost and the one that moves.
- Occupancy
- 17%
- Long leases. The lease term should exceed the equipment finance term.
- Labour
- 12%
- Attendant hours only, unless a wash-dry-fold service is offered.
- Repairs
- 5%
- Rises with machine age. A used-equipment plan needs a much higher line here.
A worked model
One plausible laundromat, built out in full.
Not an illustration. These assumptions were run through the same engine the product uses, and the plan review was run over the result. It is here so you can see the shape of the answer before you start.
- Year 1 revenue
- $373.6K
- Year 3 revenue
- $485.5K
- Operating profit from
- Month 2
- Year 3 net margin
- 7.2%
- Coverage, first full year
- 1.49×EBITDA less tax, over debt service
Balance sheet ties in all 60 periodsNo blocking findings — this model would exportLowest cash $72.6K in month 1
The revenue build
Not a growth rate. These are the drivers a reader can argue with, which is the only kind worth putting in a plan.
Machine turns
Units × price
- Units in month one
- 6,800
- Price per unit
- $5
- Cost per unit
- $0
- Monthly growth
- 0.0%
Sixty months of it
Monthly revenue against monthly EBITDA. Both are flows, so they share an axis honestly — plotting a cumulative cash balance beside a monthly figure would flatten the one that matters. The cash trough is in the strip above.
- Monthly revenue
- Monthly EBITDA
Year by year
| Year | Revenue | EBITDA | Net income | Closing cash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $373.6K | $42.1K | -$34.7K | $85.8K |
| Year 2 | $449.1K | $87.3K | $12.8K | $115.5K |
| Year 3 | $485.5K | $110.2K | $34.9K | $164.4K |
| Year 4 | $515.5K | $128.3K | $47K | $222.4K |
| Year 5 | $540.4K | $142.6K | $60.9K | $291K |
Sources and uses: $350K debt, $120K owner capital, $390K of fit-out and equipment. 3 people on the payroll by month 36.
Against the laundromat band
Benchmarks warn; they never overwrite. An assumption outside the band is flagged with its source so you can justify it — substituting an industry median would destroy the specificity that makes a plan credible.
- Gross margin, before direct labour
- 76.0%in band
- 62.0%median 74.0%84.0%The published band is quoted on cost of goods alone, so this is the comparable figure. After direct labour the statements show 61.2%.
- Net margin
- 7.2%in band
- 6.0%median 15.0%28.0%
Source: Coin laundry operator surveys, 2026 · NAICS 812310 · secondary tier. Secondary-tier bands are usable as ranges, not as something a lender will read; where a figure has to survive scrutiny we substitute RMA Annual Statement Studies or IRS SOI data. Water, gas and electricity are the dominant variable cost and belong above the gross line. A plan that models them as overhead reports a margin no operator would recognise.
What they will ask first
A plan that answers these before they are asked reads as competent. One that does not gets sent back with them attached.
- How many turns per machine per day?
- Between two and four is the working range. Everything above five needs evidence, because it implies queueing.
- What is the utility cost per turn?
- Water and gas are the margin. A plan quoting a flat monthly utility bill has not modelled the business.
Where these plans get sent back
Utility rate increases
A municipal water rate rise goes straight to the bottom line and cannot be passed on quickly.
Lease term shorter than the equipment term
Financing machines over seven years on a five-year lease is a plan with a hole in year six.
Licences and filings to budget for
These belong in the use of funds, not in a footnote. A missing permit line is the cheapest possible reason to be sent back.
- Business licence and sales tax registration
- Backflow prevention and sewer discharge compliance
- Where cash-only, anti-money-laundering reporting thresholds still apply
Requirements vary by state, county and city, and they change. Treat this as the list to go and verify locally rather than as legal advice — the product tracks the dated ones as configuration with a source and an effective date, and prints which version it assumed.
Start from these defaults, then make them yours.
The intake pre-fills this sector’s drivers and tags each one as your figure or an industry default — and says which in the finished plan.