Buying a Commercial Laundry Business
The equipment is the visible asset and rarely the one that decides the deal. Contracts, lease and customer concentration usually matter more.
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Customer concentration is the first check
A laundry where one hotel is 40 percent of revenue is a different risk from one with thirty accounts at the same total. Ask for revenue by customer before anything else.
Contracts transfer, or they do not
Check whether service agreements survive a change of control. Many contain a clause that lets the customer exit on sale, which can remove the thing you are buying.
Equipment condition and remaining life
Cycle counts and bearing condition on the main washers. A plant needing full re-equipment within two years is priced very differently.
Buying a Commercial Laundry Business: current options
The Due Diligence Bible: How to Buy Better Businesses at Lower Prices (THE BUY-SCALE-SELL SERIES)
$19.99
The Due Diligence Handbook For Commercial Real Estate: A Proven System To Save Time, Money, Headaches And Create Value When Buying Commercial Real Estate
CREATESPACE · $19.95
A Practical Guide to Buying a Business - Second Edition: Locating a Business, Performing Due Diligence, Valuing the Enterprise, Raising Funds, and Closing the Deal
Majosta · $19.99
The Land Due Diligence Workbook: How to Evaluate Property Before You Buy: A Practical Guide for Students, New Investors, Builders, and Aspiring Real Estate Professionals
$14.99
Private Equity Operational Due Diligence, + Website: Tools to Evaluate Liquidity, Valuation, and Documentation (Wiley Finance)
Wiley · $50.33
Commercial Due Diligence
Routledge · $52.84
Real Estate Due Diligence: The Investor's Guide to Avoiding Costly Mistakes
Authority Publishing · $20.00
The Guide to Due Diligence: "any deal, any size, any location"
Majosta · $9.99
Frequently asked questions
What multiple do commercial laundry businesses sell for?
Multiples vary widely with contract quality, customer concentration and equipment age, so a headline figure would be misleading. Valuation normally works from adjusted earnings with an adjustment for those factors — take professional advice.
Is a commercial laundry business profitable?
Margins depend on utility cost, labour and route density. Route density is usually the determining factor, because the same truck serving more accounts in less distance changes the economics.