What does opening this laundromat cost?

Price a compatible conversion, not an empty-shell promise

The scope is a 2,000-square-foot existing leased unit in unincorporated Orange County, Florida, with practical on-site routes for 24 hardmount washers and eight gas stack dryers. There is no land, building purchase or acquired customer book. The case assumes utilities can serve the site with the inside-unit work listed below. Major external water/sewer mains, gas-network extension, transformer works, structural remediation and hazardous-material remediation are excluded and can invalidate the case.

The 20-lb, 40-lb, 60-lb and dryer sheets support reference capacities and utility design inputs. They provide no public delivered/installed fleet quotation. Confirm current equipment availability, compatible payment options, warranty commissioning requirements and supplier lead times before making the quote schedule binding.

The opening uses and the boundaries of each amount

The largest non-reserve uses are the washer fleet $222,000, site trades $111,000 and dryers $92,000. Each needs a complete specification and a quote, not a general construction benchmark. The modeled tax is an allowance and does not implement Florida per-item surtax rules. Loan fees are a planning budget; obtain the lender’s actual schedule. These limitations sit beside the amounts because they determine whether funding is enough.

Reserve comes from the monthly trough

The $60,000 reserve is cash remaining after opening expenses and capital purchases. Base minimum cash across opening and 60 months is $38,586; Year 1 net cash change after operating costs, tax, principal and timing is −$11,886. The reserve protects a modeled ramp, not unlimited cost overruns or an arbitrary number of profitable months.

Card receipts have a two-day month-end receivable assumption and utilities are paid one month in arrears. Wages, rent, routine maintenance, marketing and other operating costs are paid in their forecast month. The cash balance temporarily benefits from the utility payable; that bill still has to be paid. If a processor settles at ten rather than two days, Month 12 cash falls by $3,633 with no improvement or deterioration in EBITDA.

Downside installed CAPEX rises to 110.0% of base, opening is delayed two months and committed base funding stays fixed. Its initial target-reserve shortfall and later operating losses produce a 60-month additional funding need of $419,059. The first forecast month is already unfunded. Obtain revised funding or reject the scope; the model does not silently borrow to make the bank balance positive.

Request comparable bids and preserve exclusions

Give each bidder the same quantities, model/control/voltage options, floor plan and service point. Ask the distributor for equipment, readers, freight, offload, anchoring, startup, warranty conditions and payment milestones. Ask each trade to state inside versus outside work, demolition/slab reinstatement, pipe/duct routes, permit/design fees, utility connection/impact charges and landlord work. Assign connections once: the vendor’s setting/commissioning allowance is separate from the plumbing/electrical/gas contracts.

A primary pre-owned supplier listing shows a used Dexter T350 Express 20-lb washer at $3,250. It is a different extraction configuration, condition and delivery scope from the assumed new 20-lb budget of $6,500. Replacing twelve new-machine assumptions with a used asking price would need condition inspections, remaining life, matched mix, warranty and installation evidence, then a complete rerun. It is a procurement comparison, not a cost saving already achieved.

A scope register should show quote requested, received, technically checked, accepted and paid as separate dates. A contractor estimate cannot substitute for a utility’s external-capacity confirmation. The official permit process identifies an application route; the actual approved design, fees and inspection sequence remain address-specific.

Items that require a revised model

Obtain actual service tariffs, demand/fixed charges, water/sewer billing rules and connection fees. Orange County Utilities’ notice identifies rising commercial charges, with meter-dependent exceptions; it does not validate the case’s blended tariff. Add outside upgrades, required fire/accessibility work, longer preopening rent, disputed landlord contributions, sales-tax differences or financing-fee changes to their own lines before rerunning the model.

The reserve does not include personal living costs or owner tax payments. No salvage, deposit refund, terminal property value, dry cleaning, delivery vehicle, acquisition goodwill or revenue from services not in the case is assumed. Routine repairs are in operating expenses; capital improvements in months 25 and 49 are separate cash outlays. A future full-fleet replacement study needs a longer horizon and actual remaining-life evidence.

Validate the case inputs

Download the input and evidence register (CSV). This case export separates observed context from assumptions and leaves quotation fields blank for your project. It is an educational register, separate from the planned personalized model.