19. The Laundry Lady
The Laundry Lady founder and CEO Susan Toft faced the work-life balance conundrum that confronted so many new mums. See their Smart50 rank.
Revenue: $6 million
Growth: 73%
Founders: Susan Toft
Head office: Baringa, QLD
Year founded: 2021
Employees: 7
Industry: Software & Internet
Website: laundrylady.com.au
How The Laundry Lady started
Returning to work after maternity leave, Laundry Lady founder and CEO Susan Toft faced the work-life balance conundrum that confronted so many new mums. Would she be able to manage a busy corporate career while being a present parent? The laundry piling up in her spare room sparked an idea for a wash-and-fold service that could handle this time-consuming chore. With the view of helping other parents struggling to balance it all, Toft took this further by creating a flexible work-from-home business model with low start-up costs and strong training and support.
Growth
Toft’s vision had The Laundry Lady scaling from a solo startup to rolling out national and international models. However, the business had been using several off-the-shelf systems to manage customer booking and contractor scheduling. These systems were unable to keep up with increasing demand for the service. Operating with a bootstrap budget, Toft collaborated with a developer to create TimeBoss – a digital program that manages every stage of a customer’s laundry service. The number of weekly bookings is now up 150%, and there’s been a three-year growth in revenue of a staggering 3000%.
Where to next
The Laundry Lady is projecting $12 million in Australian revenue in 2025 and a boost in contractor numbers of 750. The company is also evaluating opportunities in the United States, Canada and Japan, using its expansion into New Zealand as a template. In addition to this growth, the business is exploring the refinement of existing systems and the implementation of AI-enhanced tools to streamline customer support and optimise marketing strategies. And the education and upskilling of contractors via new training resources, integrated into The Laundry Lady’s online platform, is a priority.
