News
How long does a laundromat take to pay back?
Short answer
Published brand models typically claim around two to two and a half years, while independent sources and operators describe three to five years, longer under price competition. Almost the entire gap comes from two assumptions — daily utilisation and monthly operating cost — and both can be checked before you believe any projection.
How far apart are the published figures?
| Source | Stated payback |
|---|---|
| A franchise brand publishing its own model | About 2 years 3 months |
| A brand publishing a cautious range | 3–5 years |
| Business media investor warning (July 2026) | Assume 3–4 years, not 2 |
| An operator including loan interest | 7–8 years at 10% interest; about 4 years at 5% |
The distance between two years and five is not optimism versus pessimism. It is two different sets of assumptions, and those assumptions are checkable.
Where does the gap come from?
Models commonly found in category marketing assume roughly 200 uses per day at an average of about THB 20, giving about THB 4,000 per day, against monthly operating costs of around THB 10,000 — producing roughly THB 100,000 monthly profit and a two-year payback.
Set against the cost structure an operator actually published — THB 37,000–75,000 per month — the marketing figure understates operating cost by roughly four to seven times. On the revenue side the model needs about THB 6,000 per day, while 2026 market reporting describes many shops taking THB 1,000–3,000.
We publish this while selling franchises ourselves, because the only way to make our numbers credible is to show how to audit everyone's numbers, including ours.
How to audit a brand's projection
- Ask how many cycles per day and what price per cycle the revenue assumes, and from how many real branches over what period.
- Ask whether the operating cost includes water, electricity, gas, rent, cleaning and maintenance — and what percentage of revenue that total represents.
- Ask whether the model assumes full revenue from month one. If it does, ask for a version with a ramp-up period.
- Ask whether the projection deducts loan instalments. If not, work out net cash flow yourself before deciding.
- Ask for a base case and a downside case, not only an upside. A brand that can only produce the upside has told you something.
What about TOKIWASH's own numbers?
Our calculator exposes every assumption and shows cases that pay back more slowly than the loan term as readily as ones that pay back quickly. The instalment and net-cash-flow columns sit in the same table, because a payback figure without the monthly obligation beside it is not enough information to decide on.
What we have not yet published is the distribution of actual payback across operating branches, including the slower ones. We are compiling it and will publish it with the branch count and period — not only the flattering figures.
Frequently asked questions
- How many years does a laundromat take to pay back?
- There is no single figure. Brands typically publish 2–2.5 years; independent sources and operators describe 3–5 years, and longer under price competition or with loan interest. Calculate from the actual location and always deduct instalments.
- Why do brands quote such different payback periods?
- Because they use different assumptions, particularly cycles per day and monthly operating cost. Marketing models often set operating cost several times lower than operators report, so any comparison of payback figures has to start by comparing assumptions.
- Do payback projections include loan instalments?
- Usually not. Payback is normally calculated on profit before instalments, which means cash actually left over during the loan term is lower than the profit figure shown. Ask for both numbers.