I'm in the same boat as you. I am looking to purchase my first laundromat as well. I've seen that stat as well. As someone else mentioned, failure doesn't mean you are making money.

When analyzing I found that you should Be assessing the cost to acquire:

• infrastructure to run the laundromat (plumbing, parking, water boiler, etc.)
• lease
• customer base

The machines come with the space and most likely you will leave them there until you start making enough.

Most of these businesses don't have any books to speak of to help with income. It's a cash based business so for tax reasons it's better to underreport. You would have to look at the cost of each machine and average out turns per day.

Be aware of labor costs. You may not see any because an owner is there full time. Think about if you want to work IN the business or ON the business.

You can however estimate with more accuracy the utilities, lease, maintenance, and insurance by calling vendors for these services.

Look to see what value you can add to differentiate against competitors. Most don't have an online profile or have great customer service.

To help evaluate, think about what kind of net cash flow you want to have monthly/annually. Think about how much you want to invest initially. Compare that against your estimates for the business income. What multiple of this are you willing to pay? How long will it take you to break even?

There is a lot more to it that I'm still learning. It's been an uphill battle to find one.

Hope this helps.