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A former nurse from Arizona is now the proud owner of a laundromat — and of a seriously improved work-life balance.
“This is my first time where I’m able to be home for all the holidays, have every weekend off,” she told CNBC (1). “I never have to go to a boss or a manager to be able to take off on a random trip home or anything like that. So my freedom of time has been completely changed.”
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The 38-year-old Cami employs six people at her laundromat and brought in $475,000 in revenue in 2024, which — when accounting for costs — led to nearly a $120,000 profit. This year, she’s on track to earn $451,000 in revenue.
She also gets almost $30,000 from subleasing the space next door to a hair salon, leveraging adjacent business opportunities as well to help cover her building rental costs.
And as she’s noted, it’s not just about the financial opportunities. It’s also about a lifestyle change. She estimates that she spends about five or six hours a week running the business, plus about 10 hours per week creating social media content about her business, which generates additional income through views and brand deals. She anticipates she will earn about $200,000 by the end of this year via this revenue stream alone.
Cami gives herself a $66,000 salary, sharing that money should be used to follow your passions outside of work, instead of trying to build a career on what you love. She focuses her free hours now on spending time with her loved ones.
Fancy yourself an entrepreneur? Here’s what you need to know about starting a small business and the financial risks necessary in order to do this, plus some tips on how you can protect your finances when you make the leap to working for yourself.
While Cami is now considering either retiring in a few years, or possibly taking on a second laundromat business, her success was hardly overnight — and she cautions that a lot of hours went into building the business up to where it is now, expanding the business model and reinvesting into renovations and upgrades.
“Now, I’m only working maybe five or six hours a week. But I also am hesitant in telling people that, because that’s not how it was five years ago — four or three years ago. I was working a lot more hours trying to grow this business.”
For example, she was working near full-time hours as a nurse and running the laundromat at the same time from October 2020 to April 2023, when she was able to profit enough from the laundromat to not only gradually decrease her nursing hours, but to leave her nursing career entirely.
She also sold her home in April 2020 and moved into a rental to finance the downpayment on her business, which cost her $300,000, using a significant chunk of her personal savings and taking out loans for things like new washing machines and other equipment.
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This is a considerable risk for an entrepreneur, as most small businesses are doomed to fail within five years. In fact, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics between 20 and 24% of new businesses fail within the first year. After 10 years, only 34.7% of businesses are still in operation (2).
The average cost of running a business is also steep. According to America’s Small Business Network, small business owners can expect to spend an average of $40,000 in their first year of operation on a retail business (3). These costs can skyrocket if you need a bricks-and-mortar location and if you need to hire employees. The U.S. Small Business Administration offers a calculator to help you estimate your start up costs (4).
In spite of these challenges, a large number of Americans have caught the entrepreneurial bug and it’s estimated that 27% have a side hustle (5).
Cami was lucky to take over an established business with a 20-year reputation. For other entrepreneurs, building a business from the ground up may not be as easy (or lucrative). For example, some of the top financial challenges include inconsistent cash flow, an inability to find funding or outside investment and over-leveraging the business by trying to grow too quickly (6).
“No parent wants to hear that their child isn’t beautiful and no entrepreneur wants to hear that the opportunity isn’t perfect,” said Danna Greenberg, professor of organizational behavior at Babson College, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal (6).
However, becoming a successful entrepreneur means testing and understanding the market, including doing a lot of research to understand whether your business is truly viable.
Cami spoke with a friend’s uncle who owned two laundromats himself and he agreed to go over the numbers with her. Something he said also stuck with her: “He said, ‘You know, if I could go back in time, I would never go to college, I would never get my masters degree.’ He’s like, ‘All I would do is buy laundromats because laundromats scream money.’”
Some of the questions you should consider include:
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Can you scale and diversify your business steadily to support growth without overextending yourself?
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Do you have multiple sources of cash flow to support the business in the case that one source of cash fails?
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Have you considered legal compliance, including federal, state and local government regulations?
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Do you have a plan for finding balance in your life? While passion may sustain you through 16-hour days in the first year, burnout is rampant among entrepreneurs. Find a way to prioritize your health and wellness first.
Also consider that you need to protect your own finances before you strike out on your own, particularly if you have financial commitments like dependents.
For entrepreneurs, in addition to understanding the legal and tax implications of your business, be sure to look into incorporating your business to separate the business’s assets from your own personal assets as a way to limit your liability and create an insurance plan as another means of protecting your assets in the event of a lawsuit, accident or unexpected losses (7).
Entrepreneurs should also focus their time on keeping their business future-proof. In Cami’s case, she says she listens to business podcasts, reads books and attends “at least one or two laundromat conferences a year.” And she was able to buy herself a new house in April 2023.
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We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
@CNBCMakeIt (1); Bureau of Labor Statistics (2); America’s Small Business Network (3); U.S. Small Business Administration (4); Bankrate (5); Wall Street Journal (6); RBC (7)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
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