Susan Toft, the Queensland-based founder of The Laundry Lady, was a corporate professional with a toddler and a spare room buried under laundry when she landed on the idea that would eventually generate AU$12 million — roughly $8.6 million (£6.4 million) — in annual revenue. She would wash other people's clothes.
Thirteen years later, the Australian pickup-and-delivery laundry platform operates across three countries with roughly 490 independent contractors and not a single franchise agreement.
Toft, speaking on the Side Hustle Show podcast, laid out the financial mechanics of a business built on an 80/20 revenue split heavily in favour of its contractors. A margin so thin most service-industry operators would not touch it.
'I'm one of the least domestic people,' Toft said during the interview. The irony has not been lost on her.
The average customer pays about $72 (£54) per service, with most booking weekly or fortnightly pickups. Contractors, largely working mothers using their own homes and equipment, keep 80% of every job. Average weekly earnings sit between $1,074 and $1,432 (£804-£1,072). Those going full-time can reach $2,148 (£1,608).
'They can earn a lot more thandriving for Uber,' Toft told the podcast.
Toft rejected franchising outright. No exclusive territories. No six-figure buy-ins. No rigid structure that would shut out the very people she wanted to recruit.
'We really wanted to be able to give this opportunity to lots of different people,' she said. 'That might be mums who don't have a lot of money and just want to start earning some money.'
Contractors work under an Uber-style arrangement, choosing their own hours, coverage areas and volume. The company's 20% cut feeds directly back into digital marketing and platform development. No middle layer. No royalty.
The customer base splits roughly 60/40 between residential clients and small businesses — beauty salons, medical clinics, Airbnb hosts — in the low-to-mid volume range that larger commercial operators typically ignore.
Source: International Business Times UK
