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How much rent can a laundry shop afford? A simple way to decide
By the Labahan team · October 18, 2026 · 4 min read
A beautiful spot on the main road is tempting. But rent is paid every month, busy or quiet, for the whole lease. Before you fall in love with a space, turn the rent into the number of loads you must wash every day just to pay it.
A common guideline: rent as a share of sales
A guideline many small-business advisers use is to keep rent below about 10% of your gross sales; for example, this small-business article says that in most industries rent below 10% of gross income is needed. It is a rule of thumb, not a law, and not a guarantee. A shop with low staff and power costs can carry a bit more; a shop with high costs needs less.
Loads per day = sales you need ÷ 30 days ÷ your average price per load
Example: what each rent level asks of you
Example figures. Using the 10% guideline and an average of ₱180 per load (your own average will differ; see setting your price list):
| Monthly rent | Sales needed / month | Sales / day | Loads / day at ₱180 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₱10,000 | ₱100,000 | ₱3,333 | 19 |
| ₱15,000 | ₱150,000 | ₱5,000 | 28 |
| ₱20,000 | ₱200,000 | ₱6,667 | 38 |
| ₱30,000 | ₱300,000 | ₱10,000 | 56 |
Now compare those loads with what your machines can actually do. If you have four washers and each can run a limited number of cycles in a working day, a rent that needs 56 loads every day may be beyond your shop no matter how busy the street is. See washer and dryer capacity.
Read the lease, not just the rent
- Deposit and advance: how many months, and when the deposit comes back.
- Yearly increase: a fixed percentage per year adds up over a 3-year lease.
- Who pays for what: association dues, water and electric meters (separate or shared?), and repairs to the roof and pipes.
- Permission to renovate: plumbing, drains, a dryer exhaust and an LPG line, in writing.
- Electrical supply: can the building handle commercial machines? Ask before signing.
- Rent-free fit-out period: renovation and machine installation can take weeks. Ask if the first weeks can be rent-free while you build, since the shop earns nothing yet.
- Who was here before: ask why the last tenant left. If a laundry shop closed in the same spot, find out why before you repeat it.
- Lease length: long enough to get your money back. Read how long payback takes.
Location checks before you sign
- Can people see the sign from the road?
- Is it hidden by a post, tree or jeep stop?
- Is it lit and open-looking at night?
- Can a customer stop for 2 minutes?
- Is there a place to drop heavy bags?
- Is it easy for tricycles and riders?
- Count people passing in 15 minutes
- Who are they: workers, students, families?
- Are there apartments and boarding houses?
- How many laundry shops nearby?
- Their prices and opening hours
- What do their customers complain about?
- Motorcycle and car parking in front
- Rules on stopping or loading
- Space for your own delivery bike
The “on the way home” road
One simple idea helps a lot: people drop off and pick up laundry on trips they already make. Look for the road your target customers use going home from work, school or the terminal, and prefer the side of the road where they can stop without crossing traffic. A shop on the way home gets the evening pickups and the next-morning drop-offs. A shop on the way out of the area, or across a busy highway, asks customers to make a special trip, and fewer will.
Stand at the spot between 5 and 8 PM on a weekday. Watch which direction the crowd flows, where jeeps and tricycles drop people off, and where people already stop for sari-sari, bakery or carinderia. Those small stops are a good sign that people are willing to pause there.
When a cheaper spot is the better spot
A lower rent one street inside can win if you add pickup and delivery, a clear sign at the corner, and a loyal group of suki who tell their neighbours. Compare the two options by the loads per day each one needs, not by how they look. See service types and questions to ask before opening.
How Labahan helps
Labahan Manager can’t choose a location for you, but once you open, the Today screen shows each day’s sales, and on the Pro plan the monthly reports show sales by week and your busiest days, so you can check whether you are hitting the loads per day your rent needs. With Rent and payback turned on, the report also shows your rent as a share of sales each month. On the Pro plan, pickup and delivery with map pins and directions for your rider helps a shop off the main road reach customers further away.
