Just topped 1 million dollars for the first time!

[BigMike]

Hello fellow cleaners! I just wanted to say that my company has surpassed the 1 million dollar mark as of 10/22/09 and there are still 2 more months left in the year! We are virtually booked solid through December now with only a few open slots left.We even have 11 appointments already booked for January! God has blessed us for sure. I'm very new to this board so please bear with me if I don't check back every day. Anyway... I was so excited I wanted to share this with someone! To my knowledge we are the ONLY cleaner in Indiana that is booked out almost 3 months in advance. And to think I started this business out of the back of my little pick up truck almost 8yrs ago!

 

[Mikey P]

Damn!!


Got a few questions for you.

-Did you need Joe Polish or Howie to get you where you are now?
-Are you a bait and switcher?
-What is your number one, two and three best sources for new customers?
-Do your techs know what a Glide is?
-Does your company do any charity work?
-Are you the guy from Pro Cleaners who talks sort of funny and runs portables only?
-Does Rob Allen make your skin crawl?
-Would you want to buy Marty's pos vortex if I could get you a bro deal?

 

[dealtimeman]

:mrgreen:

 

[joeynbgky]

thats great!!! Wish i was there. I have customers who want there carpet cleaned now... how do you get them to wait so long? wouldnt it be better to just add truckmounts and make more money? teach me how to make a million!

 

[royalkid]

bigmike, how about spending some of that money and get yourself a carpet groomer/rake?? And those before/after pics? Hmmmm? :roll:

 

[Greenie]

Big Mike, have you considered phoning up Jeremy Sweetland and gleaming some of his skills? He'd help you with those floor and carpet " before and afters ", and he's reasonable, the dude is the wax king.

 

[BigMike]

They are willing to wait for several reasons. We offer the BEST deal anywhere in the city. We guarantee them absolutely NO HIDDEN CHARGES OF ANY KIND, they know we are there to clean not high pressure sell them on product or service they probably don't need anyway. They have already heard from their friends and neighbors about us and how thrilled they are/were with their cleaning and the service they receive. They know our reputation for being an honest company.

We do have customers call us on a daily basis that want their carpets cleaned in the next few days. I refer them to another cleaner in the area who has the same business practices as we do. In fact I was speaking to him yesterday and he said that the majority of their jobs this week came from my referals. He's taking me out for an expensive night on the town at some point!

I don't add truckmounts for several reasons... of which I will get into at a later time perhaps. We do have one truckmount though which we generally use for large water extractions.

thats great!!! Wish i was there. I have customers who want there carpet cleaned now... how do you get them to wait so long? wouldnt it be better to just add truckmounts and make more money? teach me how to make a million!

 

[Mikey P]

Bigmike,

Are your techs sub contractors?


With your experience in portables I'd love to know what machine works best for your type of company?

 

[-JB-]

Welcome Mike!

 

[Ron Lippold]

do we really have room for another million dollar cleaner :shock: :shock:

 

[-JB-]

I don't mind do you Ron?

 

[Ron Lippold]

no JB i dont. but you know how these bdcc beat up theguy thats going out everyday and making it happen. 8 yrs to a million a year. Yes i want to know his secret. Good luck here big mike.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Congrats!

Time to add more crews, being booked solid is not a good thing, too many customers won't wait 3-months on a cleaner, no matter how good you are!

 

[hogjowl]

Glad to have you here man, and looking forward to hearing more from you.

 

[Ken Snow]

I have to say I agree with Richard, at the very least there is lots of money being left on the table being booked up that far in advance. For us 2-4 days is perfect and if we are consistantly booked out 5 days plus its time to add another crew.

 

[prestige cleaner]

how many houses do you have to clean to reach 1 million mark at 199. whole house special.

 

[rhyde]

You do much more than carpet cleaning so what % of that million is carpet?

 

[rick imby]

how many houses do you have to clean to reach 1 million mark at 199. whole house special.

I think if you divide $1,000,000 by 200 you get 5000 houses but I am sure they do smaller jobs and they sell their janitorial service.

Where does it say they only use portys?

Sounds like everyone has a stake in the company? We are an owner/operated staff, not hourly employees.

It is obvious your business model is working well.. Looking forward to hearning more.

 

[Walrus Gumboot]

sounds like all subs.

 

[Mikey P]

I listened to a ProCleaners show with Big Mike.


I have far more respect for how he runs his porty biz than how Cole does his.


No bait and switch at any level.

 

[Hoody]

I listened to him too. If I remember right he has a whole house pricing special niche that he does.

 

[tmdry]

Big Mike, Does not like JP, but he can tell you himself.

When i last spoke to him few months back he had hit the $500k mark, looks like it is working for him. We tried the resi approach in our area and we didn't do well for us.

 

[Steve Toburen]

Glad to have you here man, and looking forward to hearing more from you.

I gotta tell you, Mike, by the rough-and-tumble standards of this tough pub you are receiving an almost nauseatingly sweet welcome. I remember the savaging that Ken Snow took for awhile till everyone realized this was a person who had been there- done that. Maybe Ken just blazed the way for you ...

Anyway, if your skin is thick enough you will enjoy the drama. Just don't let it suck you away from growing your company.

Steve "Island Boy" Toburen
www.StrategiesForSuccess.com

PS I'm sure Mike will agree that his million mark was not achieved without a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Quite a few of our SFS members have (painfully) climbed over the $1,000,000.00 level. Other equally successful members have made a conscious decision that they don't want to be stabbed all over with the many pains that getting "big rich" entails. So they haven't. But what a great industry that lets each entrepreneur choose their "level of success". (Sure beats working for GM or Chrysler!)

 

[Willy P]

how many houses do you have to clean to reach 1 million mark at 199. whole house special.

5025.1256281407035175879396984925

Doesn't everyone know that? :roll:

Congrats Mike! Imagine! A successful POGolo.

 

[hogjowl]

Steve:

Back when Ken first started posting, I was gullible enough to let the things a few of my fellow board regulars said about him jade my opinion of him before I grew to know him personally. Since that time, I have realized that most folks are never as bad as some of these assholes say they are.

I also have learned that:

Using subs is not a sin

Whole house pricing is perfectly acceptable

Not vacuuming isn't going to send a cleaner to hell

And, the folks making real money are always going to be spit upon on the boards.


So ... I really am looking forward to what this dude can teach me.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Not vacuuming isn't going to send a cleaner to hell

Dude your ticket to hell is punched for that one! :mrgreen:

 

[-JB-]

Back when Ken first started posting, I was gullible enough to let the things a few of my fellow board regulars said about him jade my opinion of him before I grew to know him personally. Since that time, I have realized that most folks are never as bad as some of these assholes say they are.

I also have learned that:

Using subs is not a sin

Whole house pricing is perfectly acceptable

Not vacuuming isn't going to send a cleaner to hell

And, the folks making real money are always going to be spit upon on the boards.


So ... I really am looking forward to what this dude can teach me.

WHO POSTED THIS, AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE W/MARTY?

 

[XTREME1]

I hit my first Billion today. They say the first billion is the hardest. I hope so

 

[Mikey P]

marty's vortex sucked the balls right off of him form the looks of it..

 

[BigMike]

We do NOT run any subs at all. I did that one time when I first started and will never do that again.

We use only two types of portables. The Speedster and the Ninja. Both are excellent units.

Bigmike,

Are your techs sub contractors?


With your experience in portables I'd love to know what machine works best for your type of company?