Raised a few prices yesterday.

[surfflite]

Raised my SQ 25# from $3.19 to $3.49
Raised my SQ 40# from $4.19 to $4.49

Left my SQ 60# @ $8
Left my Wasco 620cc's @ $2.19 (adds and additional .24 for Heavy Soil cycle and another .24 for an Extra Rinse cycle)
Left my SQ 30# stacks @ .50/10 minutes

[BMWHD3060]

Always a good thing when this business raises price, "Good For All" Did you raise prices after you read the national survey about prices & price increases?
My 30 lb washers are $4.75

[surfflite]

Originally Posted by BMWHD3060

Always a good thing when this business raises price, "Good For All" Did you raise prices after you read the national survey about prices & price increases?
My 30 lb washers are $4.75

No. I haven't read the survey. I just did it because it was overdue. My 60's are already $2 more per load than anyone in town so I left them alone. My new Wascomat 620's are .19 higher than anyone else. The 30's and 40's get the most use, so I bumped them up a bit.

I'm not sure I could ever raise them all to a vend price that actually paid all the bills year round though. I used to charge $5.25 for my 40's but people quit coming. That's my dilemma. Finding that "magic" vend price that doesn't loose all my customers, yet pays all the bills. I'm fairly convinced that MY location will never find that "magic" vend price.

The day this place sells will be a fine day in my life. I've tried every gimmic, taken all advice from here and no matter how I slice it, it never comes up a winner. The combo of location, improper installation of the equipment and the associated repair costs and the fact that I live 65 miles away, all add up to a negative laundromat owning experience for me. I got into this on Feb 4th 2008 with the expectation of supplementing my income, maybe buying 2 or 3 more and quitting my real job. BUT, in reality, all this mat has done is caused me to plan on working and extra 10 years at my real job in order to get back all the money I've lost owning this place. I'm trying to think of an upside to all this but keep drawing a blank.

[ldm]

Clearly you are holding down a good high paying job, and this particular L-Mat is not performing for you. Why not flush that investment and go on with life. Les

[chad]

[/quote]
The day this place sells will be a fine day in my life. I've tried every gimmic, taken all advice from here and no matter how I slice it, it never comes up a winner. The combo of location, improper installation of the equipment and the associated repair costs and the fact that I live 65 miles away, all add up to a negative laundromat owning experience for me. I got into this on Feb 4th 2008 with the expectation of supplementing my income, maybe buying 2 or 3 more and quitting my real job. BUT, in reality, all this mat has done is caused me to plan on working and extra 10 years at my real job in order to get back all the money I've lost owning this place. I'm trying to think of an upside to all this but keep drawing a blank.[/quote]

Seems like you did not do some good DD while buying the mat...Why would you buy a store that is 65 miles away?

Also not all mat's have your headaches, It's easy to do the proper DD on location etc....Seems like your issues are because you just bought a bad store with bad DD.

[surfflite]

Chad, if you search through the posts I've made you will find other reasons (like 2 "unknown" employees that weren't on the books, a manager that was on the books with a salary but also was being paid a couple hundred more per week cash, not on the books.) As for the 65 miles. It's not that bad when I can go down and collect the money and make money, in the winter I do fairly well and it is worth the drive. But the summer months eat up most of that profit and then some. This was my 1st mat purchase and I thought I had done a pretty good job with the DD. I really had no idea what an improper installation looked like. I mean, all the machines were mounted on the floor and operating. It looked nice, the books showed that I should have been able to clear $200-$300 a month in the summertime and closer to $2000/month in the winter months.


In reality I loss ~$2000-$3000/ month in the summer and clear $1100-$1700/month in the winter.

Lost ~$35K in 2010 and ~$19K in 2011

I'm not opposed to buying another mat, it's just this one isn't working out for me. I know a lot more now about what to look for than I did in '08. BTW, I probably looked and did DD on 20-25 mats before i bought this one. Out of those 20-25, only 1-2 had anything close to valid books. The previous owners of this place are commercial and residential developers who are multimillionaires. They built the plaza and the 3 Chevron stations in town. Then sold the plaza and Chevron that is next door 1 year before I bought the mat. They kept the mat and pretty much let the manager run the place. He told me he only seen the owner 1-2 time/year. He did all the deposits and everything. I asked them why they were selling and they told me they didn't like owning a business where they didn't own the building.

Les,

I'm not sure how I can "flush this investment" as you say. I would love to but not sure how. I owe about $70K on a loan. I would be willing to sell this place for around that price if i could. I paid $140K for it, financed 50% put down 50% cash. It's grosses about $150-$160K/year. In all reality selling it for what I owe on the loan ($70K), would be a pretty good deal for a buyer. As I see it, the place needs all the machines put on bases, something I cannot afford to do at this point. It's the cleanest, nicest clientele place in town and it sure seems like it has potential. But maybe from an owner that can spend more time and money to make it right.

[ldm]

Kerry: If your investment is in an LLC or Corporation, etc., you might be able to negotiate a reduction in your note, especially if it is with the seller, assuming he does not want this investment back. I recall you got a good discount on the lease rate, but maybe there is more to be had. How to flush the investment would depend on how you hold the asset, and if you are personally tied to the investment v. a strict stand alone entity. If all the creditors have to go after are the L-Mat assets, and it is showing a loss, then you might find the creditors more willing to deal. The whole process depends on many issues in addition to these, but considering the situation, you might spend a few bucks on your accountant and attorney in review to see what might be available in this particular instance.

I have only flushed one asset in my career...much younger and had my one and only partner outside the family in this deal. He went South with an addiction problem and in this case, the bank would not deal because they believed I would not let this default effect my good credit...I explained the issues and offered a decent cash settlement for a short sale...they said no. I had my Accountant and Attorney draft letters for me explaining the default and why they recommended the default. I used these letters to help obtain future credit until the default fell off the report. Saved me about $1,500 per month, and in retrospect, it was well worth the troubles it caused. It would have been much easier had this investment been in an LLC...but, again, I was much younger and had less experience. Les

[surfflite]

It was an asset only purchase and the note is with a local small community bank. It is an LLC. Maybe it's time to meet with my accountant and attorney to see what my options are. Thanks for your input.

[ldm]

Originally Posted by surfflite

It was an asset only purchase and the note is with a local small community bank. It is an LLC. Maybe it's time to meet with my accountant and attorney to see what my options are. Thanks for your input.

Having been there, I know it's a tough trigger to pull. I procrastinated for a good $20K in loss before I swung into action with the professional team. I got tired of throwing good investment money after bad investment money. You won't get out without some grief, but again, in my experience it was the right move. Also made the home life much easier. My mistake, my correction. Good luck. Les

[Sudds]

Yeup, I would say it is definitely time to cut your losses. No point in throwing good money after bad. The situation is not good for you financial and personal health. Good luck.