5 Numbers Every Laundromat Owner Should Track Monthly

1. Revenue per washer per day

Count washers only. Dryer revenue is included in gross revenue but dryers are excluded from the machine count — this matches how industry benchmarks report the metric and makes your numbers comparable across stores of different configurations.

This is the cleanest measure of store performance because it normalizes for size. A 20-washer store doing $6,000/month and a 60-washer store doing $18,000/month are performing identically — $10/washer/day each.

Below $8/washer/day: Something specific is broken. Either turns are low (a traffic and marketing problem), vend prices are too low for your market (a pricing problem), or you have too many machines for your demand (a configuration problem). These are three different problems with three different fixes — don't conflate them.

$10–$14/washer/day: Healthy. Focus on growing WDF and commercial revenue rather than chasing more self-service turns.

$15+/washer/day: Your store is performing well. If you're consistently hitting capacity during peak hours, a vend price increase is justified and overdue. Most operators who are at capacity are leaving money on the table by not raising prices.

2. Utility cost as percentage of gross

Newer, high-efficiency machines should put you closer to 15%. Older equipment running longer cycles and using more water will push you toward 20%. The CLA's industry survey puts the average across all stores at 21% — so if you're at 20% with older equipment, you're not in crisis. If you're at 25% with machines installed in the last five years, something is wrong.

This metric is your early warning system. When utility costs start climbing without a corresponding increase in revenue, something specific is wrong: a slow water leak on a commercial washer, a water heater thermostat running too hot, an HVAC system short-cycling, a machine running extended cycles due to a sensor issue. These aren't abstract efficiency problems — they're specific, fixable issues with real dollar amounts attached.

Track the trend, not just the number. A single bad month means nothing. Three consecutive months of increases means investigate immediately. By month four it's a $1,000+ annual problem you've been funding without knowing it.

3. WDF gross margin

WDF direct costs are labor, supplies (detergent, softener, bags), and the utilities attributable to those loads. Nothing else belongs in this calculation.

Most operators who run this number for the first time are surprised. They thought they were making 30%+ margins. The actual number is often 15–20%. The gap is almost always the same thing: underestimated labor.

Here's how it happens. An attendant processes WDF between self-service customer interactions. The owner doesn't count that time as a direct WDF cost because "she was already there." But if you price WDF without accounting for fully loaded labor hours — including the time spent sorting, tagging, folding, and bagging — you're pricing below cost and calling it profit.

If your WDF margin is below 25%, you have two levers: raise your price per pound, or improve pounds-per-hour throughput. Usually both. The WDF Pricing Calculator walks you through the exact math for your operation.

4. Commercial revenue as percentage of total

If this number is 0%, you are leaving the easiest revenue in the industry on the table.

Commercial accounts — Airbnb hosts, gyms, salons, veterinary clinics, dental offices — fill your machines during the hours self-service customers don't show up. They don't haggle over vend prices. They pay on invoice. And once you've established a reliable service relationship, they rarely leave. Most operators who have built a commercial route report losing fewer than one account in five per year once the relationship is established.

Here's what the opportunity actually looks like in dollar terms. A gym doing 60 lbs of towels per week at $2.25/lb is $7,020/year. A short-term rental host doing 40 lbs per turnaround, three turnarounds per week, at $2.25/lb is $14,040/year. Neither account requires more than one walk-in conversation to close, and both run during your slowest hours.

Getting to 5% commercial revenue requires landing two or three small accounts. Getting from 5% to 10% is about deepening volume with existing accounts and landing one larger one. Neither requires significant investment — just consistent outreach.

5. Net cash flow after debt service

This is the only number that tells you whether the business is actually working.

EBITDA looks good on paper but it doesn't pay your loan. Gross revenue is even more misleading. Net cash flow after debt service is what's left after you've paid every expense and every dollar you owe the bank. If it's positive, you have a business. If it's negative, you have an expense.

If this number is negative: Stop optimizing secondary metrics and fix this first. The problem is either revenue (not enough turns, underpriced vend, no WDF), expenses (a specific cost that's out of line for your revenue level), or debt load (your financing structure is too heavy for current revenue — which usually means you need to grow faster, not cut more).

If it's positive but shrinking over three or more months: Don't wait. A shrinking margin is easier to reverse early than late. Identify whether the trend is revenue-driven or expense-driven before you start guessing at solutions.