Today we sit down with true legends in the laundromat industry for a Part 2! David and Donna Stark have been in the laundromat industry for 40+ years and have played just about every role in the industry there is to play. Not only incredibly knowledgeable about the industry, David and Donna are both genuine people. You’re going to love hearing their stories and you’re going to learn a ton that will help you find financial freedom in the laundromat industry!
David and Donna Stark are back for a part 2 on the Laundromat Resource Podcast! They bring 40+ years of laundromat experience to share and, of course, the chicken saga returns!
Make sure you listen to PART 1 with David and Donna first!
In today’s episode, we cover a lot of ground including the story of how they got to where they are today, what they see happening in the future of the laundromat industry, and whether they recommend working with partners or not.
With humor and humility, David and Donna share so much wisdom in this episode that you simply CAN’T miss it!
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Interview Starts: 10:02
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Links from the show
- Part 1 with David and Donna
- Laundromat Resource Forums- Help Ty with his question 🙂
- Laundromat Resource Blog
- Be a guest on the podcast!
- Buy a laundromat
- Sell your laundromat
- Laundromat Resource Podcast Show 2 with Dave Menz
- Laundromat Resource Marketing
Connect with David and Donna
Website: https://sparkleanlaundry.com/
Instagram: @sparkleanlaundryservices
Episode Transcript
all right without further ado let’s
bring in David and Donna stark 40-plus
years in the industry current laundromat
owners and all-around great people here
they are all right we are back here with
David and Donna thank you guys for being
back on it’s super good to have you how
you guys doing great absolutely
wonderful awesome Wow our our son got
married over the weekend so we’re
recovery hey congratulations your
family’s growing how is that with all
the you know coronavirus stuff going on
and well there was some you know twists
and turns like probably most people have
faced but it was great we ended up doing
it in our backyard and it was just
lovely and we love absolutely love our
daughter-in-law we I’ve been praying for
her since the day Craig stark was born
and my prayers were answered a thousand
times over she’s fabulous so it was all
great awesome well you sent me a couple
pictures and it looked looked amazing
looked very beautiful is a good day for
for a wedding too it was a good day it
was perfect and they actually jumped off
a little bridge that we live by in in
their wedding attire and Cory in her
dress and so that was the taking a
plunge literally into water into the
water fridge into water I just wanted to
clear about that and it was a great it
was a great way to and in the day I
don’t know that it was a little plunge I
mean it was probably a 20-foot jump man
down so it was pretty good different sat
down that’s a good boy it was Cory had
second thoughts when she got out there
that’s a good way to start off the
wedding
yeah but she did it so it was great
that’s awesome well speaking of a good
way to start off I I think you know this
is a part two of interviews with you
guys and you know if you haven’t
listened to part one there’s a link in
the bio so or down in the description so
go listen to part one you just you don’t
want to miss it these guys are awesome
and they have
wisdom they’re bringing and they’re just
genuine people so go listen that part
one but in part one we we talked some
about some chickens so I think maybe
just kicked this story back off and and
pick it up where we left off let’s start
with the chickens let’s do yeah yeah the
triggers have to do nothing with me so
let just start there so we understand
that but it does have to do with my twin
brother and we early on were partners in
laundromats and then he took his young
kids and his family and he moved up to
Washington and raised his family up
there and while he was up there he was
he had developed and ran a chicken ranch
and so if we kind of go back and look at
where we left off
he sold the ranch then he came back down
because at that time we were doing a
tremendous amount of building so we were
still at that point running the
development program with PWS and the
number of projects we were doing at that
point we were probably
building you know 40 to 50 a year so we
were turning them out about one a week
and so we really needed help so he came
back down and he was running the field
as far as the project’s go so that kind
of how he came back into the picture
that he was running a lot of the
projects in the field and so we did that
for a number of years there was probably
some days he wishes he was back at the
chickens at that point he clearly was a
huge piece of this puzzle but maybe he
was thinking the chickens might have
been a better idea than laundry’s at the
time but anywho he came back so anyway
so he developed a lot of laundries and
and that was all good then there was
really a transition point where I think
PWS was starting to get to the point
that they were getting nervous about
specking locations because so much of
the stuff that we were doing was based
on the fact that leases were being
negotiated and things were being Specht
and then they would put it on the market
and sell it and so I think they were
getting to a point that they wanted to
transition more into build a suits where
they would build a project out for a
specific buyer as opposed to specking
and building out
so there was a point where I felt that
it was time to transition out
so both Darrell and I
I decided that we would leave PWS and at
the time that we left we wanted to go
back and really do more of our own
development mm-hmm so at that point we
within a third partner we got together
and became a distributor for continental
Jubail and that started a whole new
company at that point taking on the
responsibility of a distributor ship now
reflecting back on that sugar that that
was really the best idea I mean we were
really builders I mean we were not
distributors it was not our background
and it’s not what we really had
expertise in we were better builders
then we were distributors so we you know
kind of limped along in the beginning
trying to get a handle on it and we did
that for a number of years and we really
in truth acted more like builders and
developers than we did distributors well
we branded under a different name at
this point out with one sparkling it was
it became and we started building
understanding sparkling laundry right
that was the distributor ship name that
we had we were sparkling laundry systems
and so we did a lot of development of
laundries through that period of time
and it was I mean it was a great
experience I mean we learned a lot we
did some ancillary things along the way
I know that the kids were probably I
don’t know they might have been 8 or 10
or 12 somewhere in that age group
and we decided we wanted to do a laundry
project that we could get them involved
in the building of it family lawns like
that yeah yes I wish Craig and Jenna
were here they can throw in their two
sides but we’ll do our best
let me get a behind the scene
with them one time on the podcast and
they can tell us the real truth about
it’s amazing that we weren’t called for
child labor laws or you know one of
those you know so we thought it would be
a great idea to gift a laundry you know
relatively we lived in Brea at the time
we thought if we could find a location
relatively close tome that we could
build that that would be you know a fun
project to do with the kids so I looked
around for a while and I went to you
know different shopping centers that
were in the area tried to require about
whether there was space available or
whether we could do something and wasn’t
really successful at finding once I
finally came to a property
that was in La Habra and it didn’t have
any vacancies but you know I said
candidate so this is a location that I
kind of like so I went in and talked to
one of the tenants and I said you know
can you put me in touch with the
Landlord Jim they gave me the
information so I called the landlord and
I said let I’d like to entertain the
idea of putting laundry in here and so
we set up a meeting and I went in and
talked to them and he goes well we do
have space that we could give you that
we had a tenant that’s going out and I
said great so we ended up negotiating a
lease and once we completed the
negotiation on the lease and then we
thought well what about buying the
sinner but wasn’t for sale wasn’t for
sale but everything’s for sale that is
the truth so what about buying Center so
talk to him and it happened to be
interestingly enough he owned a huge
amount of industrial property in Nevada
and they also him some buildings up in
the valley well this was one shopping
center that was kind of off and out of
his geographic area so he thought it was
intriguing yeah well maybe I can get him
sell it and that would be fine so that’s
what we ended up doing so we ended up
same time we’ll buy it so we bought the
shopping center it was a small Center
about 15,000 square feet and it had
seven or eight ten minutes in there a
Mexican restaurant which was just
delicious
that’s awesome yeah we’re not buying the
center which was great and so we bought
it then we went ahead and we built out
the laundry and we obviously got the
kids involved in all the processes so
like when we were designing it we’d sit
down with them and show him the design
we were doing and why we were doing it
the way we were doing it and then went
to the city in order to get the permits
and go through the process of submitting
plans and so forth so that they kind of
solvent that was then the fun part was
making him do some of the work yes the
trenches Craig will talk to you about
the trenches so it was a lot of fun
because we get a lot of the work
ourselves and when he means a lot it was
almost all no we did a lot of it
ourselves physically getting it
ourselves because I wanted him in with
the process like all the carpentry work
so we got him involved in that the
plumbing we got him involved in you know
we kind of did a whole ocean theme and
so there was a lot of tile that we put
in grout that had to go you know and you
know what tell your story that’ll
absolutely cracked you up about trying
to clean the grout off after you put it
in and the film keeps coming back so
meanwhile I’d be calling him at 9:30 and
I’d say David stark would say well
they’re not quite done yet
I’m like well okay how long my baby
there but you know that’s that’s the
best way I think for kids to learn
that’s how we were brought up and so why
not repeat it it seemed to work
so we repeated it yes literally so on we
go on so we did and we operated it for I
don’t know two or three years we ended
up selling that we ended up selling
shopping center at some point a very
good return so it worked out very well
but anyway
a fun thing to do for the kids and great
memories for them well yeah well better
now they can appreciate it maybe not
then yeah well well Craig Craig and
Jenna both workers so Craig was two
years old three years old wanting a
blower for Christmas and wanted to blow
the neighbor’s yard and asked you know
when he was five then could you make
some money by blowing they’re losing
their leaves away so you always had that
spirit I think from the get-go that’s
awesome and you guys fostered it which
is cool yeah yeah I don’t want you to
think either that we just had like four
laundry’s at the beginning and it kind
of Beckham I mean we owned a bunch of
different laundries through the years
that’s very important again you know
either in partnership with others that
we owned some of them we didn’t operate
but we were actually part owners in them
so that happened there were a number of
those that we did that we were in and
out of through the years well all this
other stuff going on yeah yeah pause for
a minute just to let you know how many
there were
isn’t true no no no so just so you know
how many either actually were what he
just mentioned yeah we got our tax
return over hold on I’m making per
second now our accountant said what is
this one like this location we don’t own
up we don’t own that laundry and our
accountant said no I think you do and so
I come to David stark with the old
excuse me
what is this laundry goes oh no no we
own it I’m like oh so there was a lot of
laundries that were were owned like he’s
saying through this time frame
probably a few I didn’t even know about
at the time I don’t know that I recall
it oh no oh no no kind of same as the
marriage what I asked him yes so yes so
there were a lot of laundries that we
owned through this through this time
period
good point yeah yes
who is operating the store like my name
is on it but I have no idea who’s
operating this store but it turns out I
did know who was operating it but you
know just little details David start
seems to not give me the little ins and
outs on until after the fact like the
extra while like buying an extra
racehorse I wasn’t sure about until
after the shoe bills start coming in you
have to shoot horses anyway so yeah same
thing with this laundry you want to talk
about chickens or horses
well no laundry’s the laundry products
chicken podcasts we’re doing tomorrow
and I just dying that first of all David
that you’re going off buying laundromats
and racehorses and stuff and Donna may
or may not know we don’t know if she
knew or not who’s the guy that shoes the
horses I don’t know anyway
the bill comes in and I’m like wait we
only own one why are we shoeing multiple
horses and then David would let me know
that oh yeah yes there’s a few more that
we’re purchased
anyway that’s usually how I find out
Jordan is the bills start to come in and
then I have better that way it’s the
whole ask for forgiveness rather than
providing yes I think I boring your life
would be if David didn’t go to rogue
every now and then oh yeah no he’s gone
rogue a time or two but that’s okay it
all works out I’ve gone rogue with
buying a dog that he didn’t know about
so I guess at all yes comes around know
about the animals at the end of the day
it is yeah okay so back to the laundry
the truth of it is is that we’ve always
been better builders and better
operators than we were distributors so
we did the distribution for
probably eight or nine years something
like that and we kind of got selected
you know 2008-2009 and really everything
pretty much shut down at that point so
yeah really there were really no real
opportunities to prospective laundries
at that point and that was really our
main business so that was a much bigger
part of our distribution company was the
build-out of stores and selling them was
eighty percent of what we did I mean we
sold some commercial equipment and so
forth
but it was it was really more that we
would be developers and so when that
time hit that was a point in time where
we decided that it was best to end a
relationship as a distributor and that
was the point where Darrow was ready to
retire he wanted to move out of state
mm-hmm tragically his son was killed in
a motorcycle accident so men and so at
that point in time they were ready to
move out of California which stay
infected so they ended up moving to
Nevada and stayed there for a couple of
years and then they moved up to Oregon
Coast where their daughter was and
that’s where they are to this day so
that was kind of a point where we wanted
to transition out of the distribution
side of the business and upgrade and so
that’s kind of where we got to the point
where we took on the group of laundries
that we had and so we bought out the
partners at that point and that’s how we
ended up with the group
stores that we now upgrade because that
was the same group that we had built out
for ourselves as a distributor well we
kept we kept some as we were building
them for others under the sparkling logo
so we were building for others under
sparkling and then we also kept a chain
of stores in-house
and this is the stores he’s referring to
right so that’s where we are today we’ve
been operating that group of stores well
there were three of them that we took
out of that group and then there was a
fourth one which is in Riverside which
is one that we had originally built and
it was one that we had originally
guaranteed the loan on when it was built
and subsequently they ran into financial
trouble during the housing it’s only
because of the laundry but other things
the whole housing market so anyway they
got into real trouble and so we ended up
having to step back in and take the
laundry back and part of that process
was we had to make up about $80,000 for
the back rent
ouch in ordered step back in and take
over the loan which we did and so we
still operate that store today so it’s a
good store uh-huh just a little far away
goes bad it’s just geographically a
little difficult because of the distance
yeah cuz I don’t think that if you
cannot parade
you know typically I think if you can
operate stores within you know a half an
hour of what your base is and I don’t
care whether that’s an office or your
home or whatever your base is if you can
upgrade within a half an hour I think
that’s ideal doesn’t mean you can’t
upgrade outside of that but just a
little more efficient if you if you can
geographically have it within a
reasonable distance of where you live
yeah well here in LA a half an hour it
could be like three miles so we
certainly learn how to maneuver around
rush hours and stuff we get pretty good
at knowing when to go where yeah cuz
that 91 freeway going out to Riverside
is no joke right but it’s been fun the
last couple of months in fairness you
know it’s been wide open so far the one
thing I will miss when it gets back to
high traffic again I missed the ability
just all over town with that another me
too I guess it down to LA no problem 25
minutes normally take me an hour and 15
it’s crazy so you guys are up one of the
stores that we had probably that Donna’s
talking about is we had a store in
Culver City that we operated for a
number of years with a a partner and it
was impossible to get over there it was
so hard to get over there I mean if
there was a problem in the store and it
was four hours ran by the Chinese go see
something you’re taking five minutes two
pairs and so we ended up selling that
one as well yeah but we did own it well
let me ask you this because you’ve
mentioned this a couple times and I’m
just kind of curious to know if you have
anything to say about it but you’ve
mentioned working with partners a few
times in various
aspects of the business and you know I
mentioned in the last episode that you
guys have pretty much if there’s a role
to play in the laundromat industry seems
like you guys have played it you know
and but but you’ve mentioned a couple
times working with partners how would
you recommend people people do that
well it can be good or it can be bad or
it can be okay so I think if you’re
going to go the money does a weird thing
to people so you know quite often I
would recommend that you don’t go into
business with a friend because many
friendships have been destroyed over
partnerships and it seems like in most
cases it all boils back to money hmm
sometimes it boils down to just you
learn too much about the other person
that you didn’t know yeah but for the
most part it all seems to go back to
money in many cases partnerships I think
under the best of conditions can be
difficult if you can do it on your own I
think you’re better off to do it on your
own now certainly my brother being a
partner is different yes you know
there’s a special thing that goes on
with twins and so obviously that’s on
the list of good partnerships yeah so
pressure they can go both ways
so we’ve had partners that have been
perfectly fine with laundries that we
boned that absolutely had worked out
without any issues and we’ve had others
that have been difficult so I if I was
recommend I’m kind of going away from it
as opposed to doing it mmm if you can
yeah if you’ve been afford to do it but
it the biggest thing is try to stay away
from friends yeah because that can be
difficult but our partnership seems to
have worked even though people said see
you in Division two on the wedding cards
we seem to have made it that’s right you
doing this partnership worked has worked
perfect so I’m hearing the advice to
take is to just marry somebody for a
partner right Jordan here’s here’s they
you know the secret sauce to this Oh
all am i jumping ahead I know it’s
probably no now tell me the secret sauce
so we had asked all the time and
specifically from our kids you know
Craig just got married and he has no
nothing different than seeing both of us
be partners
we’re cofounders of what we’ve done and
he it seems to be seamless and Craig
said I I just couldn’t do it I just
couldn’t do what you and dad have done
but the difference with us is that I had
a strength in one area and David had a
strength in the other area and because
of those two strengths back in the very
beginning it’s just worked fabulously to
this day he is so great in his area I’m
you know I’m I can do my area well and
we’ve always relied on that our entire
because we’re partners that’s what we
are
I mean we’re obviously husband wife but
we were business partners long before we
got married right right and that’s very
unusual because normally people butt
heads because they have that strict they
both have the same sprinting and they’re
both trying to pull back and forth and
so they butt heads in this case it
wasn’t the case he was great he’s so
great at what he still does and my area
was so different that it worked and I
think that that’s highly unusual
especially then getting married and
raising a family and doing all that
we’ve done so yeah I mean that’s yeah
that’s a lot a lot you guys had a lot
going on obviously not just with the
laundry but with the family too and
moving parts a lot of moving parts but I
think I think that’s so wise and I think
that is really good secret sauce and it
probably translates pretty well to other
types of partnerships too like a
business partnership I see a lot of
people go into business with people who
have the same strengths as them yep
which is great but then you have this
it’s not great you have this weak spot
over here that nobody’s good at it’s not
it’s not and we all do things that we
like to do we just do no we don’t do the
things we don’t like to do yeah
if you don’t like them mm-hmm and you’re
jumped right in when it’s something you
enjoy so yeah it is I think it
absolutely is so true that if you can
have that balance across the board of
knowledge as well as desire then your
chances of success is pretty darn good
yeah yeah yeah I I don’t think I’d
suggest partners personally yep so
laundry’s as a whole it’s a great
business as long as you’re willing to
put the time and effort into it mm-hmm
and it can be very rewarding and it’s
one of these types of businesses that
you can build as long as you develop
good people along the way because it’s a
combination that the basic operation of
laundry still is fairly simple so it
really then boils down to the people do
you have good attendance yep do you have
people that you can rely upon do you
have people that you can trust managers
that are not going to try and steal the
money from you or do things that are
disruptive or harmful to your business
are they there to support what you’re
doing or are they very take advantage of
it so your people are really important
when you’re trying to develop a business
as far as building up your clientele or
if you’re trying to expand and do
multiple stores then how do you really
write your event in such a way that you
can manage multiple stores because as
you add stores then you have to rely
upon others you can’t do it all yourself
so you have to start relying upon others
to help you and that’s where it becomes
critical that you put good people in
place
yeah well I have a I have an exception
to the partner they I just occurred to
me so our son we were partners in our
son with one of the laundries which he
now owns outright but that’s different
to I mean for us personally our sons
been you know such a huge asset to what
we’ve done with us I mean he’s been the
brains behind a lot of the residential
service that we’re now doing and left
him fold so that’s the one exception for
us for us having our son was was
wonderful yeah
plus he pretty much single-handedly
built that La Habra there they went back
to school because he’s kind of got a lot
of us in him but uh uh that’s good we’re
all we’re all so lucky though we’ve got
people that have been with us over ten
years longer longer so and you know you
just have to treat people right Jordan
you know that you treat them the way you
would want to be treated and that’s
really all it it’s not it’s not magic
you know you get people that are really
good at what they do and are loyal to
you and you just give them the same back
and yeah it’s not called people make it
complicated but it’s and of course then
you have your few that of course are not
a good fit but hmm we have got more than
a good fit then have not been well
you’re you’re making a lot of laundry
owners jealous right now because I know
you know one of the big issues for a lot
of laundromats is trying to find good
people to help them out and I’m sure
you’ve had your you know your struggle
is trying to do that – any tips for
finding good fits well
[Laughter]
see what sticks people that have an
Aquarius birthday seem to be great okay
okay um a lot of our attendants are it
just so happens Jenna’s an Aquarius and
they seem to be even kind of even keel
people but that’s just ad honest our
thought process behind it but we’ve
hired so many people through this
journey and I’m not always correct and a
lot of times I’m not necessarily
involved anymore in the process normally
my antennas will go up if I see
something that probably isn’t gonna work
and and that’s just it’s a gut it’s a
gut thing we’ve just done it a long time
and I you know I’m not always on the
mark but I couldn’t really I couldn’t
really pick up I’m trying to really
think about that question it’s just
important to share with others yeah it’s
hopefully now it was pretty difficult to
know how somebody’s going to work out
good the trick is that if they’re not
working out move them out quickly
now don’t leave them in there lingering
for months and months and months and
then it just becomes a bigger and bigger
problem if you see that it’s not working
try and move them out very quickly and
try and find them and it’s easy to leave
them in place okay well here’s one more
problem I have to deal with and one more
person we need to train and one more but
you’re better off if you go ahead and
move them out and because in the long
run the more stable you can make your
employees step the far better you’re
going to be a job right so I think that
it’s really important to try and
you know get rid of them quite frankly
if they’re not working out but work but
we really are I mean still is so lucky
we have got great managers in place in
every location I mean they’ve really a
lot of them have just kind of become
part of our family to be honest I mean
they’re very loyal and they’re very good
and we and we make sure they know it we
treat them so that they know it how much
we appreciate all that they do for us
and then when you get into the the whole
area of fluff and fold and the
residential pickup and delivery and the
commercial those are really quite
frankly today I think almost required
hmm if you’re going to run successful
businesses today in this environment
because you’ve got the labour constant
continue to go up if you’re gonna be
running a tended tight stores then you
need to have that ancillary income
coming in that will help cover some of
that payroll costs I say here in
California and so then it becomes
critical that you have good people
because that is work that you’re
performing on a daily basis where you
have a product that’s coming in and then
need to go back out the next day and you
need to have loyal employees people that
show up people that
come to work when they’re supposed to
come to work so you need reduce the work
now because you’ve got a commitment on
the other side in order to get that
product back out the next day well and
we had people in place that we could do
this there’s the key I would not
recommend hiring a whole you know crew
of new people to try to start off on
this just a fluff and fold we had people
in place for years and years before we
started doing fluff and fold and all of
those that team just became the whole
team so I would not recommend hiring
people and then starting the service
you’ve got to have your team in place
first and then step into that market if
you go the other way I’m not sure how
well it would work yeah but I mean
that’s that’s gold right there
you know in and of itself can I ask you
you may not know you may not have
anything to say about this and this is
totally fine but I’m just curious I mean
you’ve been in the industry so long and
you’ve seen so much where do you see the
industry going right now forward in the
future
well I think that I think that it’s
developing more and more towards the
large stores mm-hmm that can provide all
of the services because I think it’s
really difficult to make financial sense
out of the small stores it’s harder and
harder for them to make financial sense
you may be able to operate a small store
for some period of years and it’s
unattended and it kind of moves along
but you never accumulate enough money
that you can ever afford to go in Andrea
qyp it you can’t afford to remodel it
and so they just kind of limp along and
really at the end of the day they’re
just taking away from the strength of
the industry as a whole
mm-hmm because just bleeding off a
little bit of revenue here and there but
at the same time it’s not really
producing anything positive down to the
industry well in those stores really
seem to be more they buy them and they
they operate them their families only
work in that there’s no payroll there’s
no payroll taxes there’s no workers comp
goes on and on and it seems like those
more so they buy them and they’re their
entire families work in them versus
having a team of staff sort of speak
yeah and we see a lot of those around
here and in Southern California for sure
there’s more and more big stores popping
up right now and being built but there’s
still a lot of those small kind of
mom-and-pop stores like know why Jordan
because you build tomorrow is that why
yes and that’s why that’s what that’s
what you built back in the day it was a
model I don’t know what year we were
building 4,000 5,000 square-foot stores
I mean all of ours are very large
except for one and I don’t couldn’t
really even remember when we started
building the 5,000 write it if there’s
one area that I think when I think about
when I reflect back on what we have done
and what I might have done differently
would have been that I would have put
more focus on real estate ownership as
it relates to the laundry location now
so that’s an area that if people have
the ability to do it and I know that
most probably don’t but if they do have
the ability to acquire the property and
either build a location out or acquire
the property of a location that they can
purchase I suggest that’s a great idea
how about highly recommends highly
recommend that if you if you’re thinking
of this is a career you know they’re
thinking of doing this long term if you
can own the property I believe in the
long run as painful as it may be in the
beginning trying to come up with the
resources to do it
in the long run I think it’s a home run
for you know if at all possible
all right I cannot agree with you more
and I you know I I talk about this all
the time where I love the way that
laundromats and real estate kind of
interact really well together you know
and you get you can get such good cash
flow from you know from your laundromat
that you don’t have to worry as much
about maximizing your cash flow with
real estate but it can just build that
equity and so you’re getting kind of a
good equity play and a good cash flow
play kind of all at the same time in it
and both have you know potential for
incredible
tax benefits also and all of a sudden
you have the three main ingredients of
building wealth kind of all working
together and got that synergy going and
I I think you know I think that’s great
advice personally yeah thanks Jordan
yeah thanks yeah thanks for giving us
the thumbs up on that one yeah no
problem
a stamp of approval from me so you’re
gonna go continue to buy some real
estate if you’d like man well let me ask
you this do you have anything else that
you feel like either other owners would
benefit from or people getting into the
industry with benefit from I don’t want
to leave you know I want to I don’t want
to keep you too long but I also don’t
want to leave without giving you the
opportunity to share you know anything
that you want to share with people yeah
I mean probably if I could say anything
I just want people to get into it I want
them to put a hundred percent into what
they’re doing because if if they do then
they’re gonna get the rewards or they’re
much more likely to and enjoy the
process rather than thinking of it as a
job or a career think of it as something
that you get to do that you’re helping
other people yeah because you are
whether whether you understand it or not
or really think about it you’re helping
a lot of people when you provide a
quality service to a community clean and
so if you’re doing it will and you’ll
hear it from your customers and we get
it from the customers all the time that
will come in say thank you for providing
the service you provide or we were so
grateful your attendants are great we
just appreciate the fact that if we have
a problem you’re there to take care of
it for us or you’re there to fix it and
so that you aren’t giving a lot back to
the community maybe
not directly but indirectly you are
indeed providing a really necessary
service to the community that you’re in
so I think that it’s something that you
ought to be proud of and not just think
of it as you’re not greater of a
laundromat because it might not be
glamorous like we said earlier in the
first podcast restaurants are glamorous
but this has got its own glamour when
you walk into one of our stores that’s
you know the big stores and you see the
family sitting at the tables and our
attendants coming over helping the kids
do their homework you know it’s a
struggle with you know with English
perhaps that’s to me I mean what better
thing can you go down in your life
knowing that you have been able to help
others and we’ve always felt that way
the laundry industry has provided that
that we feel like we’ve left a footprint
to help and I think that David’s right
if you think about us if you think about
it in those terms you’ll be always proud
of what you do because it’s not
glamorous per se but we have always been
very I’m happy with this industry for a
lot of reasons yeah yeah I love love
love that and you know I think kind of
the the times right now that we’re in
you guys were recording this you know
there’s still a lot of lockdown
happening all over the world really
because of the kovat 19 and you know I
think the value of the laundromat
industry the laundry industry has been
shown during this time not just because
it was deemed in a central business but
also because it you know it really is
providing a service that you know is
keeping people clean and healthy and
safe and you know and that’s that’s what
we’re doing and so I love that
perspective because it’s easy to lose
that you know that perspective and just
think of it as I own laundromat or you
the returns are this or whatever you
know people are going after but the
reality of it is is you know it is
providing a great service for a
community and it is making a difference
even when it doesn’t feel like it
so I love I love that I think if you
have that mindset you’ll stay in it for
a long time if you’re just looking at
the bottom line in numbers and you’re
not feeling the connection you have with
others it’s probably not for you you
know probably need to look for something
else but if you have a somewhat of a
giving heart and you’ve got that side to
you as well as the business minded the
to work really well we think we’ve been
adopted the dog out of one of our
locations Christmas time home anyway
thrown out of a car and been picked up
brought it into the store and of course
the attendants are facetiming me and
David’s like oh my gosh we were going to
end up with another dog and they called
it sparkly you know and one of our
customers adopted it and so we have a
success story for an adoption and a dog
adoption because I want to own a doodle
recipe one day Jordan just in case you
were wondering I’m doing rescue a doodle
rescue we love doodles you know golden
doodles you know labradoodles double
doodles triple doodles so well I was
very happy to know we were able to do
that out of one of our locations and the
dog is look sparkly and is living its
best life I think we’re calling it
Tabasco now actually but anyway a dog
was already branded can’t just change it
when you start your doodle rescue you
have to let me know okay well because
they’re hypoallergenic right he’s right
here at my feet yeah and then jenny has
Walter who’s a double doodle and then we
have an Ozzy we have a nausea Mini
Aussie and yes Corey’s got free who’s a
Yorkie so we’re a big dog and if I would
have known this I would have invited you
on my dog podcast
right after we did the chicken yeah well
guys I man I again I could talk to you
guys all day long and thank you guys so
much for being on the podcast I would
love you know down the line to have you
guys back on again and you know hear
even more from you guys because I know
we just scratched the surface of you
know your your experience and your
wisdom and your generosity even and so
appreciate you guys coming on and man
yeah just you know you’re welcome here
anytime
well you might want to do the Craig and
Jenna La Habra yeah what’d it look like
to build a long laundry as a child you
know that might be yeah those kids at
home those parents are in the industry
and they can you know they can hear that
walking ten miles in the snow and the
ground break in the trenches yes time
you meet so they you let me know
yeah you know I’m gonna I’m gonna reach
out to Jenna and and do a
behind-the-scenes podcast with those
guys and now you know the next
generation coming through it’s now so
he’s interesting to see what the next
generation sees for the industry because
it will you know it’s gonna be a whole
you know they’ll have a whole new face
or a whole new thought process behind it
too which is what’s so great about it
yeah and I found the the industry as a
whole is pretty slow to evolve at least
from my perspective but I do see it
evolving so you know when these newer
owners do come in I think you know be
interesting to see absolutely exchange
yeah absolutely well thank you again
guys really appreciate it and we’ll talk
to you guys soon man I told you David
and Donna Stark are incredible they come
with so much wisdom and they just care
you know that you can tell they love
the laundromat industry and they just
care about people and they want to help
people wherever they can it was awesome
for me a huge privilege for me to be
able to spend time with them I hope that
you gather something that will help you
on your journey towards financial
freedom through laundromat ownership and
man again I say this all the time but
you can learn everything there is to
learn about laundromats in the industry
you can glean all the wisdom you can but
none of it is really gonna help you
until you start putting it into action
so whether you’re looking to get into
the industry you know start start
putting some of this wisdom that you’re
getting here on the podcast or on the
blog or on the YouTube channel start
putting it into action or if you already
have one or more laundromats you know
take take one thing that you learn from
donna and david and implement it in your
business you know whether that’s a
mindset shift or something very
practical take one thing and implement
it and i guarantee to you that if you do
that one time every episode pick one
thing every episode implement it into
your business or into your mindset and
you look back a year from now you’re
gonna be blown away by how far you’ve
come
both personally and in your business so
I hope you enjoyed that this is
laundromat resource podcast i’m jordan
berry this was show number six and we’ll
see you again next Tuesday for show
number seven with an awesome awesome
interview with Brandon under stall and
look forward to that he is a very cool
guy and you’re gonna learn a lot all
right we’ll see you next week
[Music]
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