Probably the most common thing that people would say to me when I told them I purchased a Laundromat right before this pandemic hit is, “well at least it’s an essential business, right?”… “you get to stay open!”
Let me talk about my small family of three. My two kids don’t go to school anymore. They used to wake up and put on their school uniform. After school, they were either changing into a sports uniform or practice clothes for such sport. Depending on how early they finished, they may even change into a third outfit for the day before putting on their pajamas. It really was nonstop laundry!
Like many parents, because I am now home with my children while they are in school and not going into work every day, I am not cycling through the typical two to three outfits (work, workout and pajamas) per day either. Now multiply that across the entire customer base of any laundromat and you can see how business very quickly and easily drops.
Multiple times a day, I thought about ways to get out of the laundromat… cut my losses and call it a done deal. As with any struggle, it’s hard to keep climbing when you seem to be going nowhere. I was extremely complacent and unmotivated by my business venture. My mom once told me, “you’re in the deepest, darkest part of the tunnel. Keep putting one foot in front of the other and eventually you will see the light at the end of the tunnel!” I have heard her voice at several points in the past couple of years and have done just that… one foot in front of the other.
With a lot of guidance from some of my good friends and fellow small-business owners Barry, Rod and George, I applied for the PPP loan. Unfortunately, since the previous laundromat owner did not maintain payroll records for me to demonstrate a reduction in employment hours, I was ineligible for the PPP loan. At the same time, I did apply for an SBA loan which I kept hearing was basically like “free money” since the payback terms were so favorable. Three months after that application process, I had almost forgotten all about the SBA loan until I received an email requesting follow-up documentation. I remember that day crystal clearly… I felt like I had won the lottery! It still wasn’t a done deal but at least there was hope for what seemed like a horrible money pit.
It’s amazing how one minor thing can give you such a mental and emotional boost. And as soon as I received this “reward” from the SBA, it perked me right back up and encouraged me to climb a little harder and faster.
Now what do I do with the money? Where does the business need the most help? That’s where my introduction to Michael Ambrose from Western State Design helped me turn a corner. He had big plans and a vision for me. I just needed to get past the fear in order to see it for myself!
