Laundryheap has grown into a £27 million turnover on-demand laundry and dry cleaning service, with acquisitions playing a central role in its expansion. Over four years, the company has acquired seven major competitors and now operates across 60 cities in 17 countries.
Founder Deyan Dimitrov said some deals were obvious while others were abandoned. He outlined the factors that determined whether an acquisition was the right fit.
Established competitors reduce risk
Dimitrov said an acquisition fits when the target has already done the hard work of building a market position. He pointed to the 2024 acquisition of GetLavado, the largest on-demand laundry service in Peru, which brought seven years of customer relationships, local operational knowledge, tech stacks and a strong market presence.
Building that from scratch would have required years of operations, significant marketing spend and earning trust customer by customer, with no guarantee of outcompeting an established player. Acquiring the company removed that risk and allowed Laundryheap to focus on transitioning the service.
Customer loyalty and staff retention
Dimitrov said acquisitions involve buying customer loyalty, and a change of ownership can break habits. He advised reviewing data on customer relationships, including reviews, complaint patterns and repeat customer rates, before bidding. Comparing the target's customers with existing ones helps assess transition smoothness: high overlap means a higher chance of retention, while low overlap increases the risk of losing customers.
He also stressed the value of keeping the target's team, noting that relationships with key accounts, customer expectations and market knowledge often reside in employees' heads. He said a deal is worth pursuing if the staff share the acquirer's values and standards, but if the people are not needed, the payment should reflect that the purchase is of assets rather than a business.
