"Rug Warriors" at Connections...

[LisaWagnerCRS]

I've been getting emails asking me what I'm doing at Connections with my Rug Warrior training program with Centrum Force (Greg D. and Tom M.) - and I just wanted to make it clear here, that I am doing NOTHING with them, or any other rug program at the event.

The "Rug Warrior" term was used in the Centrum Force description, which of course made students of my training programs perk up...but apparently, after speaking with Tom, this was a copy oversight, and too late to change the print promotional material. It was an unintended error, and they were NOT trying to imply my involvement, nor any endorsement of their products.

This does not mean they do not have good products...honestly, I don't have enough experience to make a call on it one way of the other. I don't like to speak to anything I have no direct experience with.

Though I have sent requests to my chemist friends on the "nano" conversations taken place on forums, and I do find the claims, so far, without any documented scientific backing - not that "nano-tech" does not have relevancy in the world, I've just seen nothing yet specific to cleaning performance on rugs or carpet, and when you begin cleaning rugs on a back driveway in the beginning like our family did - suddenly making it "complicated" and "super-science based" just seems a little overkill to me.

But...I've been wrong before, and I may be on this, so I will be taking a look, as I do on anything rug related.

On another note, I have used Rug Badger equipment, and have used it in my own rug cleaning clinics when I'm training "rug warriors."

That said, I do not own or use either Centrum Force or Rug Badger equipment in my own plant in San Diego. It just has not been needed.

And...in my training I try to educate as many cleaners as I can that they do not have to invest $100K+ in equipment and space to become a "rug pro" - I've seen several dig a hole like that and never get out of it, and go out of business before they even get a chance to take off.

My family began their cleaning "division" by washing rugs on a back sloped driveway to our antique rug gallery. About $150 in equipment - buckets, ivory soap, vinegar, hand brushes, squeegee, and a wet vac.

Low tech - but great results. The sloped driveway helped a lot in pulling the water out.

I'm like any other "tech" in this business - I think the big machinery is "cool" - and we do have a wringer that gets most of the water out of the rugs in about a minute running it through... which absolutely boosted productivity - but not everyone can plunk down the investment (approx $40K) and that space to install a big machine like this if they are only doing a dozen rugs a week. That makes no sense.

That's where some other tools you already have on your truck, especially if you do restoration, like Airpaths, water claws, wands, and the Rover (which has tested GREAT in extracting water from rugs, and at about $3300 is a good step up from the water claw+wand in extraction production, and not quite making you have to jump to the $40k point... so you can wait, save money, and then buy it outright instead of getting stuck in a lease).

I've laid out some different steps/ideas on setting up a shop at different budgets, and tackle some of the big myths in this business in my Rug Secrets report - it's a free report, just food for thought, nothing being sold in it. Sometimes people want to complicate a craft that really isn't that complex to begin with. So it's my attempt to remove some of the BS out of the rug cleaning craft, at least how I see it. It's on my blog at http://www.RugChick.com or http://www.RugSecrets.com

I will be at Connections, in the Piranha Marketing booth #705, and you can come and "chat" rugs with me there, or CRI stuff, or IICRC stuff, or building up your business stuff. Just like Sybil, I have many sides to me - LOL!

Just wanted to make that clear, that I am not part of ANY rug program at Connections this year, and though I share what I experience with ALL different tools - there is no one line of large equipment that I endorse, though I have used and liked Dusty and Clark's tools in our class and the Cimex and US Product's DriMaster and Dri-eaz's Rover was a big hit at our last workshop, and I have AIrpaths at my plant - no-brainer.

Hope that clears up the "Rug Warrior" confusion...

Thanks, see you in Vegas or in Phoenix (where I WILL be having rug training, and Jim P. and I will be tackling "techniques for the trickiest textiles" in our private training session there...I'm super excited!)

Lisa

 

[Mikey P]

Are Clark and Monohan going to be putting on virtually the same 'hands on" presentation?

 

[LisaWagnerCRS]

They are both washing rugs - one for half the price of the other (the Centrum equipment is super pricey - except their duster...) - and I expect they will both be washing, and growling at each other.

Why in the world anyone thinks there is enough big rug washing equipment buyers out there to need TWO suppliers in this game is beyond me. Especially when there are other ways to get it done without having to get stuck into a big lease for years...

You might be able to negotiate pit to pit and see who is desperate enough to take your lowest offer. I would have paid a bit more as a sponsor and insisted on an exclusive - because having Aaron/Ellen, Dusty/Clark, Tom/Greg/and their nano-babies... no one needs that much rug content, right? And bouncing back and forth to see who has the best deal - they have to all compete on lowest price, it's bad positioning.

When you can't build a super successful rug cleaning operation... and so you jump into trying to build a big expensive rug equipment business... it just does not make sense to me. Especially when you have to hit the road, ship lots of crap, and try to hope to get a couple machine sales to break even. Kinda like Howard bopping all over hoping to get a dozen into one of his events - by the time you have hotel, airfare, materials, food - you have to hard sell a coaching program to make it worth your time. And how much can you get out of a dozen cleaners? Especially highly skeptical ones expecting to be "pitched"?

Nothing robotic about that.

If these guys got REALLY good at marketing, they could sell through campaigns and not manual hard one-on-one selling. They have all got to be super tired... I get tired just watching them bop from city to city.

Lisa

 

[FB7777]

Kinda like Howard bopping all over hoping to get a dozen into one of his events - by the time you have hotel, airfare, materials, food - you have to hard sell a coaching program to make it worth your time. And how much can you get out of a dozen cleaners? Especially highly skeptical ones expecting to be "pitched"?

Nothing robotic about that.

If these guys got REALLY good at marketing, they could sell through campaigns and not manual hard one-on-one selling. They have all got to be super tired... I get tired just watching them bop from city to city.

Lisa

I just watched a few of those video testimonials from Seattle on ICS for Howard's traveling circus

everyone of these gomers parrots what they were sold

not one ounce of content from any of them

if they are incapable of articulating even one concept less than 60 seconds after the seminar is over, how on earth are they going to implement anything when they get back to the trailer park?

 

[rhyde]

will there be cotton candy and pony rides at the circus :?:

 

[Mikey P]

I'm loving this new Mikeyified Lisa..





How about you and I walk the show and count who gets more death stares?

 

[Jim Bethel]

How about you and I walk the show and count who gets more death stares?

Could be you if you get around and share the infamous Darren Lumpkin name badge again

Wonder if he has already registered this year. Same goes for Richard Crawford lol

 

[LisaWagnerCRS]

I'm just saying... with the right marketing plan, ALL of them could be doing this with a much higher bang for their buck.

I am asked ALL OF THE TIME for business building advice, and when we did a little deeper, we see there are LOTS of leaks in their money tub. It's almost like they are afraid to hold onto the cash, they spend it on so many areas thinking that the next BIG thing with be THE big thing. When it's a culmination of a few consistent things that builds the momentum of a booming company.

Everyone is making this so complicated, because... well, I don't think THEY know how to do it right... so how can you teach what you don't know?

Making rug cleaning complex... making "coaching" complex... it's simplicity that's needed, and clarity.

I made a Money Map post on "1 thing done = money, 5 things undone = no money"

http://piranhamoneymap.wordpress.com/20 ... one-money/

That's what it basically comes down to - not what are you DOING, but what the heck are you getting DONE.

These guys are traveling and DOING lots... but keeping yourself busy is not necessarily the road to a phenomenal business.

There are lots of robotic ways to build a business today, and leverage your time better...so you can pop on a forum and type crap. =)

Lisa

 

[DavidVB]

As Clark's equipment is half the price of Centrum Force I wonder how long there will be two such suppliers.

I wonder how many carpet cleaners there are out there who have built a decent business and yet are working out of their house. Maybe they don't even ask their customers for their rug cleaning since they want to do it properly and don't have anywhere to do it or anything to do it with. Yet at the same time they consistently see more and more customers going to hard floors and rugs.

Suppose they can pick up the 12 rugs a week to clean, as Lisa mentions, with an average rug size of 60 sq.ft. If they can generate 3.50 / sq.ft by cleaning, deodorizing, selling pad etc. (pretty reasonable?) that would bring in around 130,000.00 a year in gross income. Now they can at least afford a shop and add a nice income stream. Some may choose to do that with a pit and a water claw and poles stretched between ladders. Others may feel it is worth an investment of 45,000.00 especially if they see the potential for growth in their rug cleaning. It doesn't seem crazy to me. I bet there are a lot of cleaners with 45,000.00 and more, in their truckmounts that aren't grossing 130,000.00.

To each his own. Time will tell what size the market is for this equipment.

 

[LisaWagnerCRS]

As Clark's equipment is half the price of Centrum Force I wonder how long there will be two such suppliers.

I wonder how many carpet cleaners there are out there who have built a decent business and yet are working out of their house. Maybe they don't even ask their customers for their rug cleaning since they want to do it properly and don't have anywhere to do it or anything to do it with. Yet at the same time they consistently see more and more customers going to hard floors and rugs.

Suppose they can pick up the 12 rugs a week to clean, as Lisa mentions, with an average rug size of 60 sq.ft. If they can generate 3.50 / sq.ft by cleaning, deodorizing, selling pad etc. (pretty reasonable?) that would bring in around 130,000.00 a year in gross income. Now they can at least afford a shop and add a nice income stream. Some may choose to do that with a pit and a water claw and poles stretched between ladders. Others may feel it is worth an investment of 45,000.00 especially if they see the potential for growth in their rug cleaning. It doesn't seem crazy to me. I bet there are a lot of cleaners with 45,000.00 and more, in their truckmounts that aren't grossing 130,000.00.

To each his own. Time will tell what size the market is for this equipment.

Completely agree with you David. The difference though is having a strategic growth plan for rugs BEFORE you dig a huge hole. Sometimes cleaners think if they buy the new, best, biggest thing (Vortex? a franchise? a Moore machine?) that the business will suddenly be pounding down your door. "If you build it, it will come..." - but it's a cop-out from doing the right marketing and sales steps to CREATE the cash coming in the door. A piece of equipment ain't going to build your business for you... yet I'm shocked at how quickly some will put down tens of thousands on a piece of equipment, then kick their feet on spending hundreds on a marketing system. =)

I know lots of people with a bunch of GREAT equipment (one of them wrote me today saying he has 300 dehus and fans sitting in his warehouse...) - and no business. But I know lots of people with great marketing, too much business, and needing more equipment. There just needs to be a combination of both.

I think the big rug equipment is cool. You just better be sure you can afford it, and have a plan to keep busy and KEEP your money instead of keeping busy to make the lease payments.

Lisa

 

[Ken Snow]

I totally agree Lisa- If I was only doing 12, or even double that, rugs a week I sure wouldn't need to spend 40k on equipment. Like yours our family business was doing that on their driveways 70 years ago. Equipment imo should be bought to improve either the quality of service or the quantity (ideally both), but not before the work to justify it has been either achieved or has a very clearly defined plan for being achieved.

Ken

 

[Shorty]

I'm going a little of course here.

Before anyone spends those mega bucks, ( the Aussie dollar is low again ), do your homework on the chosen field you're looking at getting into.

Research that industry from a customers point of view, ie: as a great friend told me, "Look through your customers eyes".

When you know what your customers want, before you spend all that bread on the new fancy gear, GET SMART.

Learn how to market these new services.

Most important, IMPLEMENT what you have learned.

Then, if you still feel you have the knowledge, the moolah & the confidence, get out there and sell your arse off.

Just don't be in too much of a hurry to let any smooth talkin' sales person rip the heart out of your hip pocket nerve.

It's YOUR money to spend whichever way you want to, spend it wisely.

As good as I found the Rug Badger, my replacement is now a second hand pile lifter which is oh-so versatile for many other jobs as well.

Look around at alternatives, think outside the square.

DO I REALLY NEED THAT, or can I make do with something else for 5% of the fancy ones $$$$. !gotcha!

Sorry, back on course.

Ooroo,

shiteatinggrin

 

[Mikey P]

12 people, who are you kidding...

 

[The Great Oz]

I guess that's the key to any diversification, let your volume drive you into investing in more labor-saving equipment. Even restoration contractors have to justify buying shiny stuff these days.

Tom Monohan introduced me to a couple of brothers from New Jersey that wanted to take their successful onlocation cleaning business into whole-hog plant rug cleaning overnight. He wanted me to talk them out of getting started this way, and outline how they might plan to reponsibly add equipment as their volume grew. He thought if they heard it from someone else they might listen. Pretty responsible attitude for someone selling equipment, but he's been there himself.


Of course, a large monthly payment can be a powerful motivator.

 

[rhyde]

thats reassuring to hear . I don't know anyone thats purchased centrum equipment and hasn't been treated well, given timely service & warranty work...unlike a certain someone in the preliminary stages of a lawsuit in Canadian court right now!


a couple suggestions and points....

1, have a contract with a delivery date and a option out & refund if that date cannot be meet...there's a member here that waited overt 1.5 years for delivery on a piece of equipment

2 Understand that most consumer protection laws and federal warranty provisions do not apply with business to business sales make sure the manufacture has a well laid out warranty and the ability to provide actual service. specifically, warranty contract that outlines how much time can be taken to fix a problem, and alternative remediation steps otherwise you could find yourself dealing with a manufacturer foot dragging for 7+ months.

 

[LisaWagnerCRS]

Thanks Bryan for sharing that... the only "visible" thing I've seen lately from Tom is that he took Dusty's slogan, trademarked it, and then pretended it was his. =)

It's pretty silly... but how you are in one area of your life, you are in other, and that was something really out in the open, and it's not like a million other ways to communicate good products...

But again... if there was a TON of business in buying big equipment in rug cleaning - they would not be trying to nickel and dime and swipe from one another, right? It's when business is tight that you start showing your true colors...

Though I'm happy to hear you say that Bryan about taking time to do it... that IS the smarter way. And Hyde...also you are right - if you can't stand behind your promises at purchase time, then what good are you?

Lisa

 

[Ron K]

Whatever

 

[Mikey P]

uh, Ron this is MB, where "whatevers" dont do shit for ratings so please nix the half assed innuendos and tell Lisa what your really think.

 

[DavidVB]

The statement that most who invest in equipment without having any idea of how to build the business must be based on your observations and I suppose it is likely true. However, I bought my first truckmount before I really needed it. I could have continued using other equipment I owned I guess. But as I look back it was a good decision and enabled me to improve my service and build my business more quickly.

Rarely does anyone question the sense of buying the truckmount, yet the numbers usually aren't as favorable as the example of 12 rugs a week.

It wasn't long ago that if you wanted to learn how to clean rugs, you didn't have many options other than to go to Colorado. For me, Lisa was the first one to offer another alternative and I thank her for that. Since then some equipment options have been developed. If the decision is to wash rugs on the driveway and send all the soapy dirty water down the street, suck them out with an extractor and hang them in between a couple of ladders, you do get to keep more of the money. You can also keep more of the money if you take the portable in, bucket brigade it and scrub and rinse. That is if you are satisfied with the quality and have nothing better to do.

I may be totally off, but I think some will invest some in equipment before their driveway is maxed out.

 

[Shorty]

The statement that most who invest in equipment without having any idea of how to build the business must be based on your observations and I suppose it is likely true. However, I bought my first truckmount before I really needed it. I could have continued using other equipment I owned I guess. But as I look back it was a good decision and enabled me to improve my service and build my business more quickly.

Rarely does anyone question the sense of buying the truckmount, yet the numbers usually aren't as favorable as the example of 12 rugs a week.

It wasn't long ago that if you wanted to learn how to clean rugs, you didn't have many options other than to go to Colorado. For me, Lisa was the first one to offer another alternative and I thank her for that. Since then some equipment options have been developed. If the decision is to wash rugs on the driveway and send all the soapy dirty water down the street, suck them out with an extractor and hang them in between a couple of ladders, you do get to keep more of the money. You can also keep more of the money if you take the portable in, bucket brigade it and scrub and rinse. That is if you are satisfied with the quality and have nothing better to do.

I may be totally off, but I think some will invest some in equipment before their driveway is maxed out.

Or the local council send in the sheriff to close you down.

We can't put ANY waste water down a driveway into the gutter................. PERIOD. !!!!!

My ex neighbour had me closed me down for cleaning rugs in a shed.

Despite 4 council inspectors saying what I was doing was well within the guidelines for sound, waste water disposal, etc;,
this mother of all felines, had a friend in the EPA side of our council that said I could not run a business from home and shut me down. %$@^&(^ EPA GESTAPO !!!!!!!!

Rather than be indicted for murder or deadly assault, we sold our rug cleaning side of the business and moved.

We still clean rugs, but nowhere in the volume we were building up to.

Besides, this old body's getting worn out and needs another beer.

Ooroo,

shiteatinggrin

 

[The Great Oz]

See Shorty, that's where having the equipment comes in. Give your neighbor one ride in an extractor and they'll never bother you again.

 

[LisaWagnerCRS]

The statement that most who invest in equipment without having any idea of how to build the business must be based on your observations and I suppose it is likely true. However, I bought my first truckmount before I really needed it. I could have continued using other equipment I owned I guess. But as I look back it was a good decision and enabled me to improve my service and build my business more quickly.

Rarely does anyone question the sense of buying the truckmount, yet the numbers usually aren't as favorable as the example of 12 rugs a week.

It wasn't long ago that if you wanted to learn how to clean rugs, you didn't have many options other than to go to Colorado. For me, Lisa was the first one to offer another alternative and I thank her for that. Since then some equipment options have been developed. If the decision is to wash rugs on the driveway and send all the soapy dirty water down the street, suck them out with an extractor and hang them in between a couple of ladders, you do get to keep more of the money. You can also keep more of the money if you take the portable in, bucket brigade it and scrub and rinse. That is if you are satisfied with the quality and have nothing better to do.

I may be totally off, but I think some will invest some in equipment before their driveway is maxed out.

Thanks Dave - my attempt when I began teaching was simply to share that it did not have to be so complicated (it still doesn't) - and at that time the ONLY option for rug cleaning equipment was a huge Moore system, and I had one friend who tried that route and failed into bankruptcy because of it (equipment and building for it). Since there were operations doing good volume WITHOUT a Moore system, I was just seeking out the different ways it was getting done. One of the top rug care experts at the time, Robert Mann, would not let any machinery touch their rugs... though once he got a wringer, his tune changed. =)

What I teach our members is to simply be smart about investments - decide which piece of equipment can boost your productivity most right away, save up for it, make sure you've got marketing bringing in the business for it, and do it in phases.

I kinda see some of the fancier stuff out there right now as being "the gold-plated bidet of rug cleaning" - there are other proven ways to get the job done, but if you want the extra high-tech "oomph" without getting your hands in the mix, more power to you. And if you are doing A LOT of volume - I'm sure over time the savings in production would be substantial... just like all you'd be saving on your paper products...

What is great today is that there are A LOT of options and equipment in the cleaning and restoration field that can create a more professional shop set-up than the backyard driveway (which by the way, at our gallery, we had a process to capture and get it into the sewer system - we are in CA... and they give life sentences to polluters here, but the real criminals just keep staying in office in Sacramento...) - there are options at different price points.

This industry needs MORE rug cleaners - and the huge price tags and communication that this is the "only" way to go, only keeps them from getting in. There are other more labor intensive ways, that still produce great cleaning...and then as you grow and add equipment, and get more done quicker and at less operational costs (minus the capital for the purchase) - you end up being more and more profitable per rug cleaned as you grow.

I'm looking forward to seeing what's new in the equipment side... it's always fun to look!

Lisa

 

[DavidVB]

Lisa,

I appreciate your thoughts. I agree that overhead can be a killer and that equipment purchases need to be well planned and not just a response to whatever a salesman says.

This is a labor intensive business and I spent a lot of years laboring in this business and in others. I am no longer a labor intensive guy. I'm too old. Plus, I don't want my son in a labor intensive setting for as long as I was. I even tend do do what I can to spare an employee from overly intensive labor.

As you know, lots of factors play in to each person's thinking and decisions. Its not always purely money.

 

[LisaWagnerCRS]

Lisa,

I appreciate your thoughts. I agree that overhead can be a killer and that equipment purchases need to be well planned and not just a response to whatever a salesman says.

This is a labor intensive business and I spent a lot of years laboring in this business and in others. I am no longer a labor intensive guy. I'm too old. Plus, I don't want my son in a labor intensive setting for as long as I was. I even tend do do what I can to spare an employee from overly intensive labor.

As you know, lots of factors play in to each person's thinking and decisions. Its not always purely money.

Completely agree with you David. Just need to be smart about it. Thanks!