Hi, I’m Ken Barrett.

How I got started

I didn’t come from money. I came from curiosity and a willingness to do the work others wouldn’t. My first laundromat taught me more in six months than any business book ever could — about cash flow, customer behavior, equipment breakdowns, and what it actually means to run a location-based business.

What I discovered was that most laundromat owners are flying blind. There’s almost no centralized, trustworthy source of information for this industry. So I started taking notes, testing ideas, and documenting what worked.

What this site is about

LaundromatHowTo.com covers the full lifecycle of owning and operating a laundromat — from finding and evaluating your first location, to marketing, daily operations, equipment repair, and eventually scaling or selling. Every piece of content here comes from real experience, not guesswork.

I write for the owner who’s already in it and wants to run a tighter, more profitable business — and for the aspiring owner who wants to go in with eyes open.

My approach

I believe in specifics. Not “improve your marketing” — but here’s a flyer that works, here’s the ad copy that converts, here’s the exact script for following up with a commercial account. The laundromat business rewards operators who pay attention to details, and this site reflects that.

I also believe in being honest about what doesn’t work. I’ve made expensive mistakes, and I’d rather you learn from mine than repeat them.

Get in touch

Have a question, a topic you’d like me to cover, or a story from your own operation? I’d genuinely like to hear from you. Use the contact page or reach out through the podcast — I read every message.