Podcast Summary: The Side Hustle Show Ep. 725

Title: How One Mom’s Laundry Side Hustle Turned into an $12M Business
Host: Nick Loper
Guest: Susan Toft, Founder of The Laundry Lady (laundrylady.com)
Date: February 26, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Nick Loper interviews Susan Toft, founder of The Laundry Lady, Australia’s leading mobile laundry service. Susan shares how a household chore transformed from a solo side hustle juggling motherhood and a corporate career into an eight-figure business with 12 million dollars in revenue, international expansion, and a record $1M investment on Shark Tank Australia. The conversation covers her entrepreneurial journey, growth strategies, business model innovation, and lessons learned scaling a flexible contractor-driven company that empowers women and parents with new income opportunities.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Finding the Business Idea in a Personal Pain Point

[00:46-01:51]

• The Laundry Lady started as Susan, a new mom with a corporate job, struggled to keep up with laundry, sparking the idea that many others could use a similar service.
• She highlights using “pain” as an innovation marker:

  “On the other side of pain, on the other side of irritation is often innovation.” — Nick Loper [01:51]

• Susan admits she was “one of the least domestic people,” but saw the business as a path for flexibility and income.

2. Early Stage & Getting First Customers

[02:27-03:40]

• Susan launched a basic website with a friend’s help and got her first customer quickly thanks to affordable early Google Ads (20¢/click).
• Initial fulfillment was solo:

  “Had my washer and dryer at home and my van, and I'd put my baby in the car and we'd go out and do the pickups...” — Susan Toft [03:14]

• Growth was limited by personal capacity.

3. Transitioning from Operator to Scalable Model (and Why)

[03:40-05:58]

• A divorce forced Susan back to full-time work, prompting her to hire contractors to meet customer demand she couldn’t handle alone.
• This marked the move from a side hustle to “2.0” — scaling with contractors.
• “If I take my foot off the gas, everything's going to come to a stop and it's really kind of a challenging place to be.” — Nick Loper [03:40]

4. Early Growth Bottlenecks: Tech & Talent, Not Customers

[06:42-10:49]

• Customers weren’t the bottleneck; tech and finding reliable contractors were.
• AdWords and word-of-mouth brought plenty of business.
• Building a booking platform was a challenge. Susan applied for government grants but had to settle for an “off-the-shelf” system due to budget constraints.

  “For $5,000 you are not going to get what you want. You need to go and find an off the shelf system.” — Susan Toft’s developer [07:41]

5. Recruiting the Right Contractors

[09:28-10:49]

• Recruiting was grassroots: Gumtree ads, friends of friends, local word-of-mouth.
• Sought “people who were like me”—mums or those needing flexible, supplemental income.

6. Market Trends & Customer Mix

[10:49-12:50]

• Outsourcing household chores is rising, especially among busy/affluent families.
• Laundry Lady’s customer base: 60% residential (families, elderly, disabled), 40% small businesses (beauty salons, medical clinics, Airbnbs).

  “Everyone has laundry in some way, shape or forms.” — Susan Toft [12:02]

7. Contractor Economics & Earning Potential

[13:13-14:11]

• Average customer spends $100/service, often on a recurring schedule.
• Contractors keep 80% of fees, with most earning $1,500–$2,000/week; some $3,000+/week.

  “Our contractors can be earning anywhere between 300 and $3,000 per week very consistently.” — Susan Toft [13:24]

• Flexibility and high earning potential compared to driving for Uber etc.

8. Non-Franchise, Uber-Style Scaling

[19:59-24:45]

• No exclusive territories; more like Uber: contractors choose area, schedule, and volume.
• Startup cost covers branded supplies and onboarding.
• Main income for Laundry Lady: 20% commission and initial contractor supplies (not a franchise fee).

9. Managing Supply & Demand in New Markets

[19:59-21:18]

• Expansion is a constant balance of “chicken and egg”—recruiting contractors and generating location-specific demand (via digital marketing) in tandem.
• Now boasts 450+ Australian and 30+ NZ contractors, with first 10+ in Canada.

10. Shark Tank Australia Experience & Results

[26:41-30:59]

• Susan went on Shark Tank unseasoned in pitching; landed $1M investment from Robert Herjavec.
• Main impact:
  “It just gave us so much marketing exposure. You know, it was just like marketing gold for us.” — Susan Toft [29:37]
• Recruitment spiked: >500 applications/week after the air date.

11. Tech Tools and Operations at Scale

[34:40-36:09]

• Outgrew generic platforms; developed a custom app for both customer and contractor experience.
• Embracing AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) for customer support, contractor training, and marketing.

12. CEO Life & Lessons Learned

[36:09-38:29]

• Susan’s role now: less front-line, more meetings, strategy, marketing, and supporting the team—while balancing motherhood.
• Kids do not find “mum”’s business cool, except for the free laundry service!
• Surprised by:
  “A lot of things take a long time...It's really good...to every year stop and reflect...how much you really have achieved.” — Susan Toft [38:41]

13. Future Plans

[40:24-42:13]

• Heavy investment in tech, optimizing marketing and scaling contractor/customer onboarding in Canada, UK, and then the US.
• Cautiously entering the States: “...the States is much bigger beast for us to kind of tackle. But we certainly will be looking at specifically some states...” — Susan Toft [41:51]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On recurring pain points:
  “If you want recurring revenue, solve a recurring problem. This laundry problem is never going away.” — Nick Loper [43:02]
• On the path to growth:
  “It's not this straight line from I'm going to go from here to here.” — Susan Toft [04:12]
• Reflecting on growth:
  “We're suddenly at 12 million in revenue...you still feel, you know, in the day to day grind...it's very slow.” — Susan Toft [39:38-39:48]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Origin Story & Epiphany Moment: [00:46–01:51]
• Getting First Customers & Early Pivot: [02:27–03:40]
• Moving to a Contractor Model: [03:40–05:58]
• Building Systems, Technology Challenges: [06:42–08:40]
• Recruiting First Contractors: [09:28–10:49]
• Earnings Potential for Contractors: [13:13–14:49]
• How Scaling Works (Non-Franchise Structure): [19:59–24:45]
• Shark Tank Experience: [26:41–30:59]
• CEO Role & Operations: [34:40–38:29]
• Reflections & Surprises: [38:29–40:12]
• Plans for International Growth: [40:24–42:13]
• #1 Side Hustle Tip: [42:30]

Final Takeaways & Practical Advice

• Find business ideas by paying attention to recurring personal pain points.
• Early growth may be slow and tech driven, but “good enough” systems can get you started—perfect can come later.
• Building recurring revenue means solving persistent problems.
• Use scalable contractor models for flexible service businesses.
• Consider joining accelerators or entrepreneur groups for accountability and speedier growth.
• Don’t underestimate the power of visible, public exposure (like Shark Tank) for recruitment and credibility.
• Regularly step back and review how far you’ve come, not just how far there is to go.

Guest & Resources

• Find Susan and her business at: laundrylady.com
• The Laundry Lady is expanding into Canada, UK, and soon the US.
• Susan's podcast: The Spin Out (for entrepreneurs & Laundry Lady contractors)

Listen to this episode if you’re interested in:

• Turning a life pain point into a scalable business
• Flexible, contractor-based income models
• Mompreneur journeys
• Building systems and balancing tech with operations
• The reality of “overnight” success stories

End of Summary.