I Bought a Side Hustle and Tripled Revenue in 1 Year (Greatest Hits)

In this Greatest Hits episode of The Side Hustle Show, host Nick Loper revisits a powerful story from guest Jono Santamaria, who bought a profitable laundromat in Melbourne, Australia, and tripled its revenue within his first year while working a full-time job. Jono’s strategy centered on acquiring an existing, cash-flowing business that met his criteria: low maintenance, non-consolidated market, and room for technological improvement. He modernized the laundromat by adding cashless payments, building a strong local SEO presence, launching a website, and implementing customer support via smart cameras and QR codes. He also expanded revenue by targeting commercial clients like local businesses and adding a vending machine with high-margin products. Over time, Jono scaled further by shifting focus to a laundry route business—leasing new, PayPass-enabled machines to apartment buildings and hotels—allowing for passive income with lower operational overhead. The episode highlights the power of buying a business with low-hanging fruit, leveraging personal skills, and building systems to scale. A real-time check-in shows Jono now runs a fleet of 24 machines across 10 locations, reduced his weekly time commitment to under five hours, and is on track to achieve his goal of choosing how much of his time he sells by age 40. Key takeaways include: 1) Buying an existing business with cash flow is faster than starting from scratch; 2) Small, low-cost improvements—like cashless payments and SEO—can dramatically boost revenue; 3) Targeting commercial clients increases average customer spend and margins; 4) Technology and automation (e.g., remote monitoring, digital payments) reduce friction and improve customer experience; 5) The laundry route model offers scalable, passive income with lower operational burden than physical laundromats. Jono’s journey exemplifies how a disciplined, systems-driven approach can turn a modest side hustle into a high-leverage asset.