Some questions for those that have..
Why the move?
Needed to be closer to the action.
Was the new location demographicly larger or smaller?
Much bigger. I'm right between a good size city (Des Moines) and a large college town (Ames...go Cyclones!)
What were the weather differences?
None.
What image and marketing aspects of the old business were kept and what where abandoned?
Branding was in place before. I came in to Iowa pretty strong after selling my biz in MT and was able to hire someone good to help us develop an image. I had the vision back then, just no customers! We used flyers and yellow pages years ago in the small neighboring towns. By now, we have abandoned paper marketing, with the exception of
Fill My Schedule.
Any changes to your methods or equipment?
Where would I begin?
I broke my leg (Tibia/Fibula spiral fracture) in a motorcycle crash shortly after moving into the town we live in now. I was on my back for 3 months. I started to do a lot of thinking and research. I began to engage with TWGCCF.
I was rocking a Chem Tex Panther 20 with a 12" portly wand (no
glide). I had 2 snail fans, a rake, stair tool, and a
DriMaster 2 upholstery tool. I just wasn't very well equipped.
First, I got a bigger wand. WestPak 14" with 2" tube and 4 jets.
I ditched my 50 foot 1.5" diameter whip hose and went to 2".
I loved the additional airflow so went further with a Devastator in line filter.
I bought a RotoVac 360i. This was pivotal and would prove to be a tool that would change my mind about what a carpet cleaner is capable of.
RotoVac is not a good solution for me on CGD so I bought a Cimex. This was a big deal too. It made some pretty LARGE commercial jobs attainable for me even though I was alone. The first one was 40,000 ft.² at a local mega church. It's still the biggest job I've ever had.
How long until you gained a satisfactory client base?
Still pushing but we have 1 van busy all the time (not Winter as I've shied away from restoration) and I'm trying to come up with a plan to duplicate many of the things I'm doing every day, into another truck.
And..
The single best new refferel source you found to work?
Facebook and Google. Hoody has been tremendously helpful too, with being found electronically.