APARTMENT CONDOMINIUM

Professional Laundry Room Management versus Owning Your Own

The decision whether to operate your own laundry equipment or contract with a professional route operator can be difficult and confusing. An owner operator collects and retains all of the income (versus 50% for example). The question is how high will your operating expenses be and would you really save money in the long run?

It can take over 5 years to amortize your equipment investment and that is only a small portion of the total operating expense. You have to worry about equipment maintenance costs, coin collection costs, insurance, shortages, employee pilferage, refunds, clothing claims, burglary, and vandalism. You have to pay retail prices for service and parts.

Manufacturer’s warranties are limited in nature and do not include labor. During the parts warranty period, parts are not covered if there is any indication of abuse, consumer error, or vandalism. The parts have to be tagged and brought to a Parts Distributor for exchange. Per call labor rates are generally $80.00 on up plus parts and sales tax (if applicable). Service contracts, which contain the same coverage restrictions, run at least $8.00 - $10.00 per month per machine for most basic models. In the long run an owner operator will end up spending more time and money than it would with a professional route operator.

Financial experts tell us to buy things that appreciate in value and to rent things that depreciate. Laundry equipment is a perfect example.

A Stanford study on the subject concluded that: “Owning your own by no means guarantees an increase in laundry revenues. In most cases a reliable service operator is a better bet. Choice of a service operator should include attention to: (1) his commission structure, (2) his ability to provide same-day service, (3) his willingness to permit spot checks of collections to ensure honesty. Operators who offer gimmicks in place of these essentials should be avoided.”

A professional route operator will take over every aspect of your coin-operated laundry rooms for a percentage of the income. This provides a great financial incentive for the route operator to ensure your laundry rooms operate at their best.

Coin-O-Matic is totally dedicated to that end. Please call us for a no obligation consultation and proposal.