A young Aussie has shared how she is pulling in $120,000 a year through an unexpected side hustle. There’s a “massive appetite” for the once-humble laundromat, with new, more luxurious iterations popping up across the country.
Lyanne Nguyen opened up a laundromat business in Adelaide with partner Andy Chiem two years ago. The 26-year-old works full-time in medical research and told Yahoo Finance she was looking to build another income stream to give the couple “freedom” and more flexibility later on.
“We’re not trying to become the next millionaires or anything, but we’re trying to build multiple streams of income rather than solely relying on our 9 to 5,” Nguyen said.
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The couple settled on a laundromat business after finding it would “tick a lot of boxes”.
Laundry is a service people will require regardless of what is happening with the economy, Nguyen explained, plus the business itself is relatively passive so they can manage it around their full-time jobs and other priorities like family, travel and eventually kids.
After scanning various areas and contacting a supplier, the couple ended up choosing a location in a suburban area of Adelaide, about 30 minutes from the CBD.
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The upfront costs were just shy of $300,000 to start up the business, but they started turning a profit relatively quickly. · Source: Supplied
The total investment to start up the business was just shy of $300,000, with the couple “building it up from scratch”, including purchasing washers and dryers, fitting out the space and doing plumbing and electrical work.
While the business was initially a “slow burn”, Nguyen said she was surprised by how quickly things broke even.
“Within that first month, we were turning a profit. We were actually quite surprised,” Nguyen said.
“The flyers did go out a week or so before we officially opened, so we did get a good flow of customers.”
The couple work just four to six hours a week on the business. · Source: Supplied
How much can you earn with a laundromat business?
Nguyen has started sharing breakdowns online on how much her laundromat is earning each month.
In April, for example, the laundromat generated $10,932 in revenue, which included $9,742 in sales from self-serve washers and dryers, along with $1,190 from wash, dry, fold services for a commercial client.
Expenses were $4,609 for the month, which included $2,925 in fixed costs like rent, outgoings, insurance, internet and accounting software, $1,450 in operating costs like gas, electricity and transaction fees, and $235 in other expenses like cleaning and general expenses.
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In total, net profit for the month was $6,324.
The business isn’t fully passive. Nguyen and Chiem usually spend between four and six hours a week on the business, which includes cleaning the shop, reconciling transactions and general admin.
They have cleaners who come in during the week, but other than that, the business runs with no staff.
“Revenue varies depending on the season. So during the warmer months, we average around $2,000 a week, but in the cooler months, that could almost double because we have more people coming in and they rely more on the dryers as well,” Nguyen said.
Last year, the couple made $120,000 in revenue from the business. Running expenses are roughly 40 per cent of revenue, which took their profit down to roughly $72,000 for the year.
Huge appetite for laundromats
Nguyen isn’t the only Aussie jumping on the laundromat business.
Gold Coast man Adam Nelson quit his job in June last year to focus on his laundromat business. He opened his first laundromat in Tweed Heads in 2016, which he says is now generating $300,000 in revenue per year.
“It might not sound like a lot, but the amount that you keep is actually pretty impressive. The reason for that is obviously no employees, so you’ve got no salaries and also the [low] cost of goods,” he told Yahoo Finance.
Adam Nelson quit his 9 to 5 job to run a laundromat business. · Source: Supplied
Commercial real estate agent Shay Fairhurst said he had seen a recent surge in interest from Aussies looking to open laundromats.
“I’m not particularly 100 per cent sure what’s behind the drive for it, there just seems to be a massive appetite at the moment,” he said.
“I don’t know if there’s someone out there on Instagram or TikTok advising people to open laundromats, so everyone’s just jumping on the bandwagon. I don’t know.”
According to IBISWorld, there are more than 5,000 laundry and dry-cleaning businesses in Australia, with the number of new businesses increasing by 3.8 per cent.
Revenue from the industry is on track to grow an average of 2.3 per cent annually over five years through to 2028-29 to $2.6 billion.
Nguyen said the business had given the couple the flexibility to travel, with Nguyen and Chiem travelling for nearly two months last year while their laundromat business ticked away back at home.
She’s keen to open another laundromat if the opportunity arises in the future, now that the couple have more of a blueprint.
“Obviously, you have to build a bit of a foundation, but once you build that foundation, it’s pretty easy to manage,” she said.
“I feel like you get a bit of your time back as well.”
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