Dark Day

[Willy P]

Dan strikes me as smart enough to not bother with.06 jobs. I do a lot of apartments, but the lowest price I get is .28 a square. And yes, I do wait to get paid, but opening the mailbox some days is like winning the lottery. If you need speedy payment, knock 2 % off if the cheque can be picked up 5 days after completion. The commercial work is steady, pays well IF you get the right companies to deal with and is a whole lot less stress than having Mrs. P staring over your shoulder and asking why you didn't move the china cabinet or the waterbed. An easy way to get good numbers at the apartment gig is discount the common areas to a degree and make it up on the empties. And that's just one facet. This weekend I'm doing an $800 office job. The reason they choose me is because the doors are locked, I do a good job and do it in a green and sustainable way. And my sparkling personality, of course. OK the last part was bullshit, but you get my drift. Sorry, I know it's hard to believe , but I'm opinionated, hence the strongly worded above post.

 

[Desk Jockey]

And my sparkling personality, of course. OK the last part was bullshit, but you get my drift. Sorry, I know it's hard to believe , but I'm opinionated.

You Willy? Never......in fact you haven't cussed at me in a week. Do we need to start a discussion on portables?

 

[XTREME1]

I do not spend any money on advertising and we keep growing. Do not be ashamed of what you do. Be a shameless self promoter. Park your van near a busy highway inlet and stand there with a sign. People respect a man trying to get business. when you are done with rsh hour start hitting businesses asking if you could give them an estimate. Have 3 dollar posters made up at staples and ask to hang in nice gyms (not muscle head ones), gymnastics studios, karate studios and pottery places. So far that would be about $25 and I guarantee you will get some business. A lot of it is just hitting the bricks. Some people are ashamed of what they do or embarrassed to sell but if you are giving them good value you have nothing to feel bad about.

Then when you have some dough then start smartly advertising

 

[joey895]

You don't know WTF you're talking about John. 80% of my business is commercial. I don't chase residential because they don't pay worth shit True, I don't go chasing restaurants, but there's a lot of under served commercial jobs available. That's some of the shittiest advice I've seen in a while.

Not everyone lives in an area that has an abundance of "good" commercial work.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[Desk Jockey]

Greg can you send me that flyer and I can make one for Dan? If you don't have it electronic can you PM me the text?

 

[John Olson]

Willy I think you completely misunderstand my thought process. No way would I say to NOT have commercial but for someone struggling and in need of a fast influx of cash, residential is the better option as commercial is neither fast nor as profitable as residential. Those are facts would you not agree?

This isnt about you or your buisness pratices so dont get all butt hurt, it is about trying to find ideas that will bring in CASH and lots of it FAST for someone that is about to go under..and in the end they are just IDEAS and none of them are going to work if he doesnt go out and try something.

Which brings me to asking, What have you done in the last couple of days? What did you go out and do today? What were your results? Please share with us which ideas you have done each day and what results both good and bad you experianced so we can help you you tweak your approach.

 

[Willy P]

Since I'm working on the weekend ( office carpets on Saturday, pet store strip and wax Sunday), I'm taking today off (ha ha- invoicing right now). I'm at the stage where I don't have to chase work as my referral network is doing fine and I have a good supply of established customers. That took a few years to get there, but what I used to do when things were hurting is go out with business cards and door knock at offices and such. That market is still doing well as offices need carpet to deaden sound and laminates and woods won't likely take a foothold. Seniors residences are a good area to look at as they have miles of carpet partially due to slip and fall liabilities. I'm not gonna give away all of my secrets, but there's a few good hints.

 

[Mikey P]

If I saw Crowley flapping his arms by his van near a off ramp or busy intersection, I'd roll up the window run for my life

 

[juniorc82]

John Olson" data-source="post: 4214552" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

B2B is a slow death you need residential. Offer your church members and friends and family a spring special. Offer referral gift cards ($10 Walmart cards work) for each booked and completed job. Dres in a new uniform and walk the neighborhood and hand out fliers personally. Make sure you have your solicitors license if your city requires it. Offer a free room to anyone that books on the spot. If you can't book Several thousand doing that then you need to look at what it is that your doing to turn people away. Maybe hire an sharp dressed young returned LDS missionary to go door to door (don't laugh it is what they have been doing for the last two years) if this still doesn't work then maybe it is time for you to get a job.

Dont listen to this advice, the only short term advantage to residential is that you get paid upon completion. Having recurring maintenance accounts for commercial carpet, tile, and janitorial is what will give you the security of consistant cash flow and help you survive in the winter. The only drawback is it may take 30- 45 days to get paid. Go door to door and drop off a card along with a flyer if you have some. I make $25 gift cards and paperclip it to my information that way it has a better chance of not ending up in the trash the moment I walk out the door. You may want to entertain some janitorial work until you get on your feet. If you can find a decent sized trucking company in sprinfield sometimes they will pay to have the inside of the trucks cleaned out . That was one of my first janitorial accounts and it was good for sometimes a grand a month. Private message me and I can give you some tips. Im in jeff city so I am familiar with the business setting down there.

 

[Willy P]

Another aspect in car interior cleaning. Body shops, taxi fleets, bus companies to expand on Jon's list. Contact other cleaners and ask if they sub any work. Not all janitorial companies do carpet cleaning, that might be worth looking into.

 

[John Olson]

Dont listen to this advice, the only short term advantage to residential is that you get paid upon completion. Having recurring maintenance accounts for commercial carpet, tile, and janitorial is what will give you the security of consistant cash flow and help you survive in the winter. The only drawback is it may take 30- 45 days to get paid. Go door to door and drop off a card along with a flyer if you have some. I make $25 gift cards and paperclip it to my information that way it has a better chance of not ending up in the trash the moment I walk out the door. You may want to entertain some janitorial work until you get on your feet. If you can find a decent sized trucking company in sprinfield sometimes they will pay to have the inside of the trucks cleaned out . That was one of my first janitorial accounts and it was good for sometimes a grand a month. Private message me and I can give you some tips. Im in jeff city so I am familiar with the business setting down there.

sigh....the man is about to go out of buisness. He needs work and needs it NOW..Commerical is great to have if you can find ones that are wiling to pay and pay on time. Those accounts are hard to come by and even harder for someone that only has a porty and a 175 and a new company. I am not saying it is impossible just very very difficult nor pratical with his given circumstances. You can disagree but if you re-read what you wrote you will see you are making my point "it may take 30- 45 days to get paid" lets stop the bleeding then start the rehab later..

 

[John Olson]

Since I'm working on the weekend ( office carpets on Saturday, pet store strip and wax Sunday), I'm taking today off (ha ha- invoicing right now). I'm at the stage where I don't have to chase work as my referral network is doing fine and I have a good supply of established customers. That took a few years to get there, but what I used to do when things were hurting is go out with business cards and door knock at offices and such. That market is still doing well as offices need carpet to deaden sound and laminates and woods won't likely take a foothold. Seniors residences are a good area to look at as they have miles of carpet partially due to slip and fall liabilities. I'm not gonna give away all of my secrets, but there's a few good hints.

I was asking him what he has been doing not you willy We really dont want to know what you've been doing

 

[Ken Snow]

Maybe this thread could be restarted with only suggestions that would help this man in his situation vs chest thumping?

 

[Derek]

it comes down to the area you live in. i'm with Willy and Jon, commercial worked better for me. not that John is wrong because the opposite obviously worked better for him where he lives.

 

[John Olson]

Lets take what Ken said a step farther. What would you(anyone) do if they had to bring in 5k in the next 30 days. Not bill 5k but actually bank 5k. To make this interesting I am going to start a thread/contest. You guys make your suggestions then you cna volunteer to try the suggestions (3 of you) then you cna post your results daily and at the end of the month the person who does the best I will send them a mixed case of Prochem Products..You in?

 

[Desk Jockey]

HELL thats easy, I'd hit all potential WDR targets all month long and see if I don't get at least two losses.

 

[Soxpac]

Over the past few days I have went B2B as well as put out tons of brochures (Thanks @Charlie Lyman). I landed a $500 commercial job and a few resi's so far. The commercial job will be for a commercial property / office park owner that will result in more work. I have too many people to thank for their advise and ideas so I will just say thanks to all of you. Doc sent me some great new cards and flyers that helped with mass emails. I'm looking for a job as well so I can keep chipping away at this. Sorry if I haven't been reporting back to quick but I'm beating the streets over here.

 

[Vivers]

Hang in there, we have gone through the ups and downs of this bis. After 17 years we are doing amazing. It's all about keeping in touch with your clients. Reminder texts these days our clients love. We get tons of referral. Quality work speaks volumes when it ones to referrals. Setting a image with wearing a uniform, such as a nice polo shirt with khaki pants. You will have loyal long time clients forever. Giving up is not a option to being successful. Working 24 hours a day on your business is key to a long time successful business. Don't give up!

 

[Willy P]

John Olson" data-source="post: 4215261" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

Lets take what Ken said a step farther. What would you(anyone) do if they had to bring in 5k in the next 30 days. Not bill 5k but actually bank 5k. To make this interesting I am going to start a thread/contest. You guys make your suggestions then you cna volunteer to try the suggestions (3 of you) then you cna post your results daily and at the end of the month the person who does the best I will send them a mixed case of Prochem Products..You in?

Can I have something else if I win?

 

[Willy P]

John Olson" data-source="post: 4215255" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

I was asking him what he has been doing not you willy We really dont want to know what you've been doing

I was doing it nude at the computer. Typing that is.

 

[Dolly Llama]

John Olson" data-source="post: 4215242" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

Willy I think you completely misunderstand my thought process. No way would I say to NOT have commercial but for someone struggling and in need of a fast influx of cash, residential is the better option as commercial is neither fast nor as profitable as residential. Those are facts would you not agree?

.

I'll read the rest of the posts in a minute...first I need to help you out.
face to face knocking on residential doors may be fine to the Mormons and Jwitts, but lemmie clue you in, most of America DOES NOT want some stranger knocking on their door at 10 or 2 in the afternoon

However, all businesses are open to publicly walk and introduce yourself

FACE TO FACE is the most effective and least expensive why to generate money NOW ...what this kid needs .
Doctors offices, dentists, law offices, print shops, retail , you name it

I also question how much time study you done regarding com vs res for a single man crew
You can OFTEN make more profit on a 1200sf dentist office @ 15 cent-o-ft than you can in Mrs Phiff's condo @ 28-30 cents

So don't be butthEd and tell this guy com can't pull his azz out of the fire ...cause you're dead wrong.



..L.T.A.

 

[Steve Toburen]

Not all janitorial companies do carpet cleaning, that might be worth looking into.

This CAN be a good idea. Jeff Cutshall does much of his encapping work subbing for janitorial companies. They do all the selling, bidding and billing of the accounts. Jeff provides the people, machines and chemicals. He says it works great.

Steve

PS Jeff did up a worksheet for us on how to price encap jobs and draw up a contract. I think it is on pages 13 and 14 HERE.

 

[juniorc82]

John Olson" data-source="post: 4215254" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

sigh....the man is about to go out of buisness. He needs work and needs it NOW..Commerical is great to have if you can find ones that are wiling to pay and pay on time. Those accounts are hard to come by and even harder for someone that only has a porty and a 175 and a new company. I am not saying it is impossible just very very difficult nor pratical with his given circumstances. You can disagree but if you re-read what you wrote you will see you are making my point "it may take 30- 45 days to get paid" lets stop the bleeding then start the rehab later..

Well mayvbe you and I have a differant opinion on about to go out of business. If he is so broke that he cant keep gass in the tank and barely able to buy prespray for the job than yes the only option is to find jobs that pay now for cashflow purposes. But it sounded more to me that he still had a small amount of working capitol to keep the ball rolling for a short amount of time. Thus recommending that he try to find recurring commercial work so he has a monthly paycheck coming in rather than waiting till next year when the jones family needs their house done again. I think here pretty soon summer will pull him out of the ditch and buy him some time. Might not be a bad idea to find a part time job for peace of mind purposes.

 

[juniorc82]

John Olson" data-source="post: 4215261" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

Lets take what Ken said a step farther. What would you(anyone) do if they had to bring in 5k in the next 30 days. Not bill 5k but actually bank 5k. To make this interesting I am going to start a thread/contest. You guys make your suggestions then you cna volunteer to try the suggestions (3 of you) then you cna post your results daily and at the end of the month the person who does the best I will send them a mixed case of Prochem Products..You in?

Im down

 

[Desk Jockey]

Can I have something else if I win?

LOL

 

[floorguy]

for what its worth....

smallish Commercial, dentists, ma and pa type places...are quick paying....

and easy enough for a 1 man show to do

 

[TomKing]

John Olson" data-source="post: 4215223" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

umm ok. The guys is broke ready to go out of buisnes and you want him to go work for .06 a foot (with aportable) and wait 30 days to get paid or more...yep sounds like to me.....Or he can knock on a few doors book the job on the spot get paid and knock on some more doors book another job do the work and get paid and get1-2 refferals from each of those jobs..Yep chasing $80 commercial jobs sounds like a great way to keep from going out of buisness.

Where the heck are you selling commercial?

$80 jobs! We are not talking about cleaning Arby’s, Wendy’s or Pizza Huts.

I cimex for .06 when I am doing 80k jobs not 2k jobs.

I get beat by guys all the time who are cleaning for prices I would clean for but use a portable. Why because they have been doing a good job or they have established a relationship with the decision maker.

Is it easy no? Can it being done? Yes.

Soxpac you can do restaurants for $175-$475 every day all night long. I would think two or three of these a week would make a difference.

You do not sell commercial on sf. You sell it on production rates.
Sure you might give the customer a sf price but you don’t get to the estimate from that.

Commercial can be quick money and regular income that will keep you from struggling. It is also be what will allow you to go to a guy like John and buy a 70k set up from him.

You can walk into churches, small banks, small offices, dentist, doctors, libraries, day cares, funeral homes, retirement centers, restaurants all day long. All of these have the potential to become a monthly account. Every one of these you can sign 12 month contracts. Do about 3k monthly in these and you go to John and buy a 70k unit from him. Heck for 35k you can get a good used CDS4.8

A residential account at best might be quarterly. Most will be 1x per year; a few might clean every 6 months. We only have 2 customers that have us come to their home every month.
I have 37 business accounts that I go to every month.

You will get more people who are ok with you walking into a business selling work than coming to their front door of their home. I do not know if any body really likes it though. B2B is just more common and accepted.

If I had any service provider come and knock on my door I would think these guys must be desperate to have to do this. The good companies are too busy to have to do this and high end customers in the better homes probably do not even know their neighbors. Let someone who they don't know come to the door and you have in my opinion the potential for a negative experience. The only people that come to my door are political, JW's, kids selling stuff for leadership development that looks shady all of them are a irritation when I have to deal with them.

It will be what will give you the power to go to the next level. Sure some jobs take 30 days. I have people who pay the next week. If it is a one time job we tell them to have a check ready and cut when we arrive to do the job or we tell them we will pick up the next day. We do this all the time.

We use service monster and every month on the 27th we make the jobs for next month go to work orders. Do you know how much freedom we have knowing we have thousands of dollars worth of work already scheduled.

Sox go get yourself a part time job and start selling commercial you will not be sorry. Every commercia jobl is a potential referral for residential for every employee and they have already seen your work.

Sox my offer still stands contact me and I will help get you set up with some business cards and gift cards for free.

 

[SamIam]

A buddy of mine years ago said go to the elks club or any of those type of places that have good membership offer to clean the place for free and leave a stack of cards.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[John Olson]

Where the heck are you selling commercial?

$80 jobs! We are not talking about cleaning Arby’s, Wendy’s or Pizza Huts.

I cimex for .06 when I am doing 80k jobs not 2k jobs.

I get beat by guys all the time who are cleaning for prices I would clean for but use a portable. Why because they have been doing a good job or they have established a relationship with the decision maker.

Is it easy no? Can it being done? Yes.

Soxpac you can do restaurants for $175-$475 every day all night long. I would think two or three of these a week would make a difference.

You do not sell commercial on sf. You sell it on production rates.
Sure you might give the customer a sf price but you don’t get to the estimate from that.

Commercial can be quick money and regular income that will keep you from struggling. It is also be what will allow you to go to a guy like John and buy a 70k set up from him.

You can walk into churches, small banks, small offices, dentist, doctors, libraries, day cares, funeral homes, retirement centers, restaurants all day long. All of these have the potential to become a monthly account. Every one of these you can sign 12 month contracts. Do about 3k monthly in these and you go to John and buy a 70k unit from him. Heck for 35k you can get a good used CDS4.8

A residential account at best might be quarterly. Most will be 1x per year; a few might clean every 6 months. We only have 2 customers that have us come to their home every month.
I have 37 business accounts that I go to every month.

You will get more people who are ok with you walking into a business selling work than coming to their front door of their home. I do not know if any body really likes it though. B2B is just more common and accepted.

If I had any service provider come and knock on my door I would think these guys must be desperate to have to do this. The good companies are too busy to have to do this and high end customers in the better homes probably do not even know their neighbors. Let someone who they don't know come to the door and you have in my opinion the potential for a negative experience. The only people that come to my door are political, JW's, kids selling stuff for leadership development that looks shady all of them are a irritation when I have to deal with them.

It will be what will give you the power to go to the next level. Sure some jobs take 30 days. I have people who pay the next week. If it is a one time job we tell them to have a check ready and cut when we arrive to do the job or we tell them we will pick up the next day. We do this all the time.

We use service monster and every month on the 27th we make the jobs for next month go to work orders. Do you know how much freedom we have knowing we have thousands of dollars worth of work already scheduled.

Sox go get yourself a part time job and start selling commercial you will not be sorry. Every commercia jobl is a potential referral for residential for every employee and they have already seen your work.

Sox my offer still stands contact me and I will help get you set up with some business cards and gift cards for free.

Great advice Tom This is what his great about Mikeysboard lots of different ideas all freely shared! Colleagues not competitors.

 

[Goldenboy]

Never forget the time at Mikeyfest when Al Sims was showing me his scrapbook of his carpet cleaning book. He pointed out to one of his flyers and remember him saying to me that he was passing out these flyers door to door so his family could eat. That is sum Heavy Shit.

Golden Boy