How Alyssa Mouton Bought a Laundromat With Seller Financing

Alyssa Mouton (00:00)
Don’t believe the word passive in business. Passive is my opinion, but passive doesn’t exist. If you want something to grow and you want something just to flourish, you have to be there putting in work. A lot of people in the laundromat industry, for example, say that, yeah, I just want a passive business.

No, you’re gonna be rolling up your sleeve, you’re gonna be handling dirty laundry, you’re gonna be cleaning bathrooms. It’s not passive. Nothing is passive, especially if you want it to grow. So if you see the word passive, veer away.

Issa Hanna (01:06)
Welcome back to another episode of the Real Estate Pros Show. I’m your host, Issa Hanna, and today we have Alyssa Mouton here to share our knowledge with us. Alyssa, welcome to the show.

Alyssa Mouton (01:13)
Thank you for having me. I’m so excited to be here.

Issa Hanna (01:16)
I’m so excited to have you. You’re not in our wheelhouse usually, right? This is a real estate investor show, but you are an entrepreneur and you’re a good one at that. So you’ve been able to build or acquire a laundromat that that’s doing killer business and you’ve been able to scale it from that one laundromat into so many different things. so with that for our viewers at home, can you kind of give them a rundown of a day-to-day analysis world?

Alyssa Mouton (01:39)
Yes, a day to day in Alyssa’s world is wake up bright and early, check emails, because I also r have a consultant business. So check emails and make sure that I’m on top of things, see what my meetings are for the day, and then it’s straight into Laundromat world. Laundromat world means right now we’re short on a driver, so I am doing our Laundromat pickup and delivery service until we attain a driver.

And that’s done for a few hours, deliver everything to the Laundromat, and then I come here and I have podcasts with wonderful people like you and I have my consulting meetings. We have a attendant that’s there that services the laundry. So that allows me to step away and take care of what I have to take care of at home.

Issa Hanna (02:26)
I love that. An owner operator. roll your sleeves up, deliver, pick up and deliveries. I’m loving it. that’s what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, especially in your first business, right? but I wanted to get into the way you acquired this Laundromat, right? Because you were able to do something that a lot of people, A, don’t think about.

So can you kind of tell my viewers a little bit about how you acquired this Laundromat and how it was so effective?

Alyssa Mouton (02:49)
Absolutely. There is something that’s very timeless about written letters or just letters in general going to people’s mailboxes. So I whenever I was first looking for laundromats, I was searched the area and found all the laundromats that I was interested in. And I went to each one and I sent a letter. And for each letter, it was just a hope and a dream, but there was a good out turn.

with that. And one of my top choices that’s literally ten minutes away from my home responded back saying, We weren’t really looking to sell, but I’m willing to have a conversation with you. And that’s really where it all started.

Issa Hanna (03:29)
Amazing, Yeah, and then you were able to actually not just buy it cash. He seller financed you for part of it, correct? Amazing,

Alyssa Mouton (03:36)
That’s correct.

Issa Hanna (03:37)
amazing.

Alyssa Mouton (03:38)
it was in the back of my mind seller financing, but I was fully ready, bank ready to get a commercial loan. And he said seller financing and I knew it was possible, but I just for some reason I didn’t expect it. So when he said it, I’m like, Okay, well let’s do this. And we did it the proper way with a personal guarantee with a down payment.

interest rates just like a regular loan would be. Did it the same way in a promissory note and it worked out well. The notes are shorter than commercial loans, but it’s look, you’re already in a cash business, so it it’s paying itself.

Issa Hanna (04:14)
Hundred percent. And amazing you were able to get him to do the financing himself. even though they are similar with the commercial loans, you do actually end up paying less in fees and probably even interest, I would think, for salary financing. So for your people at home. if somebody’s willing to give you the financing and do that, it’s definitely a better option than going to the bank a lot of times. so

I mean, kudos to you for having the knowledge and writing the letters. And that’s another thing I want to touch on. So as somebody who’s had over 250 first-time home buyers, when there was a hot property on the market, and this is where the business world and the real estate world overlap, right? so when there was a hot property on the market and my clients really wanted it, I would have them write a handwritten letter to attach to the offer.

It goes such a long way. It personalizes It gives somebody a look into who’s the one writing the letter as opposed to just cold calling or whatever it is. So I mean amazing, knowledge you’re already dropping on our viewers today, Alyssa. So thank you.

Alyssa Mouton (05:13)
wanted to add one thing. I know that we’re hearing a lot that, baby boomers are retiring and baby boomers love a good letter. They love a good letter in the mail. So that is like I would say one of the top ways to reach that generation.

Issa Hanna (05:28)
Definitely, hundred percent. they love a good letter. they come from a different gener. We’re the texting generation, they’re the letter generation. So write that letter, make sure your handwriting looks good and presentable and you’ll be surprised how far that letter can go with some people. I want to shift focus now because you mentioned you’ve been able to produce five to even seven different income streams from that one Laundromat business. So can you kind of tell us a little bit more about that?

Alyssa Mouton (05:54)
Absolutely. The first income stream is, very obvious. It’s the customer going in and self-service, doing their own laundry. That would be income stream number one. Income stream number two is adding drop off service. So like I said, I have an attendant over there that services the laundry. If you want to, you could just come and drop off your linens. Our third source would be pickup and delivery. So there was a

Big shift with COVID where a lot of pickup and delivery picked up groceries, gasoline, everything. Laundry is one of the things that also skyrocketed once with the pandemic. So we have our pickup and delivery service. And in that pickup and delivery service we service commercial clients as well as residential clients.

And then government contracts is also in the pickup and delivery realm, but it’s a whole nother that we hopefully we could touch on about getting registered so the government can be your customer. We have ATM and vending and that’s everything. And dry cleaning.

Issa Hanna (06:59)
Of course the dry cleaning. Amazing. I mean, all great entrepreneurs know how to vertically scale. And you’ve vertically scaled, like you said, to like seven different income streams. And I did want to touch on the government contracts because that’s a that’s a little intriguing to me, right? you said it was one of your strengths. So take the floor, explain to the viewers how government contracts can be super lucrative in your business.

Alyssa Mouton (07:58)
You would be surprised at the thing that the federal government buys. And they’re not buying from Lockheed Martin only. They’re buying from, small business owners like myself. I’ve seen wigs on Sam.gov, like different things that they’re searching for. There’s so many different things. But if you offer a service, it’s highly likely that the government will need your service.

And I came across government contracting before I got into the laundromat industry. And my initial focus was to do government contracting it with the middleman method, meaning that I would be Sam.gov registered and I would find the different people in the different areas who could service the contract. So if you’re looking for another income stream, that’s a possibility.

Just know your risks and know everything that’s involved with it. But at the same time I was learning government contracting, I was also learning about acquiring a laundromat. So I acquired the laundromat and then I was still looking at the government contracting. And that’s where the two collided. I found a linen contract that was nearby that my business could sustain.

And that was history. Bid it on it, won that bid. And when I tell you, everything with government contracting happens so fast that if you if you decide to go in that realm, just be ready and be prepared. And yeah, I learned how to get registered with Sam.gov. I know that, gets a lot of people stalled.

But just knowing how to get through Sam.gov, knowing how to read a solicitation and bid and win, and then how to invoice the government, that is my realm. Because yeah, it’s a lot of different moving parts and you it’s hard to learn from one YouTube video. So it’s something that you have to dive into.

Issa Hanna (09:47)
Definitely. just like the real estate industry, guys, you can’t learn through a book, right? You gotta actually first hand experience, go through that fire, learn the process and then you become a pro at it. So amazing, advice and amazing avenue for our business owners to go through, just like our real estate investors, Section A, government subsidized housing.

It’s guaranteed money, right? So it’s a it’s a good way to have a great income stream come in to your business that guarantees okay, at least this month, have this coming in. a and it’s dependable ’cause the government always pays and they always pay right away, first of the month usually.

Alyssa Mouton (10:23)
And they’re not gonna ghost you.

Issa Hanna (10:24)
Exactly. I wanna lean into your future now because you’re such a bright mind, such a bright entrepreneur that I know you’re bound for the takeoff. So if I look you up, Alyssa, in five years, how many laundromats? Where am I gonna see you at?

Alyssa Mouton (10:37)
gonna be conservative, but don’t take this number. Because we both know it’s gonna be higher. But the conservative number would be five laundromats doing the same rinse and repeat method that this first laundromat is doing.

Issa Hanna (10:49)
Amazing, five. I know you’re gonna smash that goal. being humble and conservative with the five, definitely. But I also wanted to ask you, because we do have a lot of real estate investors here. We’re always looking to invest our money in different avenues and different businesses. I personally have thought of laundromats myself because it’s a great way to not have to be there and keep the money turning. So can you give our viewers why investing in a laundromat can be so beneficial for you?

Alyssa Mouton (11:15)
Well, your return on investment, in my opinion, happens very quickly. A laundromat, especially with, your baby boomer generation retiring, a lot of only had self-service facilities. So if you find a facility like that, that’s something that you could jump into and skyrocket because you could add those five to seven income streams.

And that one site would be revolutionary because you have every all of this going on.

Issa Hanna (11:42)
Amazing. there’s a lot of crossover between your world and our world, right? to our investors watching this, just like when you buy a property under value, it could be a duplex or you can generate more revenue. it’s the value add method, right? So you buy one of these laundry mats that aren’t offering all these services and you’re adding this value.

By offering these different streams of service, you bought a laundromat for A, now So I mean unbelievable, advice we’re getting from you. And I know a lot of our real estate guys who’s never been involved in anything but real estate are probably ears perking up, this is making sense. I should get into this. So thank you so much for bringing this on the show. I

want to get your advice now, right? So I have a lot of people, a lot of professionals just starting out, whether they’re new entrepreneurs, new investors, whatever they are. Our most important thing when it comes to starting your own business or growing it is a network, is establishing relationships. So if you can give these young guys one piece of advice on where to get the ball rolling on growing their network, what piece of advice would that be?

Alyssa Mouton (13:22)
Start with your local chamber of commerce, attend the events, bring your business cards, and just get out there and talk to people. It’s imperative that you talk to people because people don’t know you exist. And if I could preach anything, I preach networking. Like what we’re doing today. I’m networking right now, at this moment. And it’s so important because

Once you start getting the business, let’s say you get the business from your network, your network is gonna have referrals that are gonna refer people directly to you. So it’s not just like a one to one ratio. It’s like a one it could be a one to twenty ratio. You don’t know who you’re gonna talk to who’s gonna just love you and trust you and get give you all the business. So it’s very important.

Issa Hanna (14:06)
You’ve all heard it. Your network is your net worth. as a real estate agent, never spent a dollar in advertising. Every single one of my clients came as a referral, because I wasn’t the wallflower in the seventh grade dance, just standing there. No, I got out there, I networked, I gave my business card out, I treated everybody with the utmost integrity and honesty.

and that’s how I built my business and that crosses over into every business, whether it’s real estate, whether it’s a laundromat, whether it’s a restaurant, integrity, honesty, and just showing up and being there, putting your face out there. That is exactly how you grow it. All great entrepreneurs give that same advice Alyssa gave you guys almost to a T. So amazing, advice we’re getting right now.

Alyssa Mouton (14:49)
It at one more thing. Don’t believe the word passive in business. Passive is my opinion, but passive doesn’t exist. If you want something to grow and you want something just to flourish, you have to be there putting in work. A lot of people in the laundromat industry, for example, say that, yeah, I just want a passive business.

No, you’re gonna be rolling up your sleeve, you’re gonna be handling dirty laundry, you’re gonna be cleaning bathrooms. It’s not passive. Nothing is passive, especially if you want it to grow. So if you see the word passive, veer away.

Issa Hanna (15:23)
Hundred percent. and you gotta put in the work and when you’re the owner, it’s your business, right? So yeah, I mean when need be, just like Alyssa delivers and picks up and cleans bathrooms, when need be, you gotta be the one in there to do it or nobody’s gonna do it. So amazing fair warning to the new entrepreneurs. you mentioned that you do some consulting.

so I wanted to lean into that and have you tell us more about that.

Alyssa Mouton (15:48)
Yes, I teach other entrepreneurs how if they want to get into the Laundromat business, how to acquire a Laundromat and how to grow it successfully. And I also teach Laundromat owners how to get into government contracting because that’s a very foreign realm for other Laundromat owners. And I also teach small businesses how to get into government contracting because there’s money on the table with

government contracts and LCL could scream it on the rooftop and hope that people hear me. There’s money on the table. Yeah, and the way you could find me is www.alyssamoutonbrand.com.

Issa Hanna (16:26)
www.alyssamoutonbrand.com. Make sure you guys check her out because she is a wealth of knowledge. I mean, just the government contracting alone. She knows the process. She knows how to get you in the door. That alone is worth its weight in gold, right there. Alyssa, thank you so much for coming on the show. It was a true honor to have you. and I wish you incredible success in the future. I know you’re gonna have probably

Fifteen twenty in the next five years.

Alyssa Mouton (16:53)
Thank you so much for having me and that’s what I’m gonna shoot for. I said five, we’re gonna get we’re gonna surpass five.

Issa Hanna (17:00)
One hundred percent. enjoyed our conversation so much. And to our viewers at home, if you enjoyed my conversation with the listen and want to see more, make sure to hit like and subscribe. I talk to people every day that can bring us different knowledge on every aspect of not just the real estate industry, but even the business world. Until next time, the Real Estae Pros are out.