Current average life of an owner compared to the past.

[mjwalsh]

Both long term & short term laundromat owners,

In the below article the author makes some valid statements about the need to do upfront number crunching to evaluate buying new vs refurbished equipment.

http://www.americancoinop.com/articl...ndry-equipment

Within the article, he also states that the current average longevity of a person as a laundromat owner is 3 to 5 years. Do I dare repeat that as fairly accurate? Has anyone noticed if the CLA or the IRS or whoever has any statistics along that line to share with the rest of us?

At the recent service school a few weeks ago I tongue in cheeked to the operator next to me who had less than 6 months of ownership: "You'll need at least another 2-1/2 years before being able to retire"

mike

[dbrown2508]

Could be using statistics to prove your own point. In my case, my I've owned for 2 1/2 years. The owner before me owned it for 5 years.

My closest competitor has changed owners 3 times in 2 1/2 years. The next closest has owned his place for 15 years. The ones further away have changed hands every 2 to 3 years.

Suspect these numbers bear out what is being said. Think the average life is heavily influenced by the people who jump in, buy with little or no diligence, and dump it within a year.

That said, am I going to own for more than 5 years - who knows. People sell for different reasons. Overall I am pleased with my mat, and think I made a good purchase and continue to enjoy owning it. My personal employment situation is different than it was when I owned the mat. I suspect I could sell it for significantly more than I paid for it, and if someone walked through the door and made a top notch offer, I'd have to think about it. And there are always THOSE days where I think I've had enough.

Guess thats why business brokers make money.

[couvsuds]

Couldn't the same be said for a lot of small businesses? What is the lifespan of convenience store owner? A coffee shop? Restaurant? Those who do their research, come up with a plan, are driven to succeed and go into business properly capitalized probably end up as the long-timers.

From my perspective, everything is for sale. I like running a laundromat, but if someone were to walk in tomorrow and offer a more-than-fair price, I'd sell it and look for another opportunity.

[ldm]

I will likely own mine for as long as I own the building...about 8 years so far. They used to give minority businesses that invested in convenience stores a 5 year tax break, so every 5 years, the store would be "sold" to a relative for the next 5 years tax break. Les

[Adamski]

Originally Posted by ldm

.. They used to give minority businesses that invested in convenience stores a 5 year tax break, so every 5 years, the store would be "sold" to a relative for the next 5 years tax break. Les

Les,

Boy, that sucks! Then they wonder why those without any huge tax breaks don't feel like paying their taxes.

[ldm]

Originally Posted by Adamski

Les,

Boy, that sucks! Then they wonder why those without any huge tax breaks don't feel like paying their taxes.

CA does not much care about the tax payers with the exception of how to get them to pay more taxes to fund their social programs. One of the latest tricks, our fine Governor decided that commercial properties should never have been covered by the Prop 13 2% per anum max tax increase....so he is off to try to get the commercial properties kicked out of Prop 13 considerations so he can raise the property taxes. If he is successful, there are businesses that will not be able to cover the expense....which means more will move to Texas. Sad state of affairs. Les

[chad]

What we are also forgetting is more and more are just investing in this business to become just that.. Investors.. Buy a store and pay the note down then sell. Instead of the cash on cash return they make a return on the equity they built into the store.

[Howard]

Yes, when the right opportunity comes you take it. I did. My landlord made me a very good offer to buyout my lease. It was much better than what I would have ever have been able to sell the store for. He wanted to combine it with two stores on either side of me for a new venture. Worked well for me, and well for him - even though he over paid by a lot.