“Because I can’t sing or dance”

[AMmmarie]

... and that is why I want to have a cleaning business. Really, because my aim has always been to work for myself and the thing I'm best at is service. Hi, I'm new here, online I like to go by my middle name, Marie. If you call me that in real life, I definitely wouldn't turn around This forum has some interesting characters no doubt and wealth of information.

I'm in the planning and technical skills development phase of starting. I'm signing up soon for the IICRC carpet cleaning cert., because it seems a good way to start learning about fibers/products in a comprehensive way - if you all would share any courses or material you think are beneficial to start with - it's very much appreciated!

If you are inclined to reply, I'd love to know:
1) How long have you been in business?
2) What do you enjoy most about the business?
3) If you had to pick 1 - do you attribute most of your success to your quality of service, your marketing skills/getting jobs, or just knowing what you're doing and getting it done?

 

[Bryce C]

Hi Marie. I'm Bryce and it's a pleasure to meet you here. Welcome to the boards! My wife and I launched our multi-surface cleaning biz about 4 months ago with peanuts for a budget, what a journey it's been. Thankfully I haven't caused any damage, have earned around 40 five star reviews across various platforms, and am starting to make pretty good money. It's not easy, but this work can be very rewarding in many ways.

Don't be like me winging it like a cowboy cleaning rugs on site with zero training or experience my very first week out of the gate . Seriously! Sounds like you're going to be far more prudent since you've already got your eye on IICRC courses. I went to Mikey's Fest in March and it was a seriously educational, inspiring, and networking experience. I can't recommend it enough especially for newcomers like us (next year).

Over this year we're planning on getting all sorts of proper training. My wife and I just got back from Jim Pemberton's Fabric Pro Workshop in PA last week. That was epic and worth every minute and penny. Jim is a very wise and good man and, if you order some chemistry from him, has legendary customer service that simply can't be beat. Mike has really sweet wands and glides, also a really good man and great customer service. Do connect with a local supplier/mechanic too though, you'll find each of those kinds of relationships very fruitful.

I could talk a lot about marketing a new biz with zero web presence (which I've been very successful at to my surprise) but that would make this post very long winded, so I'll wait for an inquiry. Anyhow, all the best with your new adventure. Be courageous. Study and practice. Do great work. And don't hesitate to ask for help. Cheers!

 

[Bryce C]

1) 4 months

2) I love being on the move always meeting new people. I also really enjoy the immediate and consistent gratification that one gets throughout each cleaning service. I have an engineering mind so problem solving is fun and you'll find plenty of that in this work. Also there is endless room for refinement and expansion in this biz, which is really wonderful for folks that like to excel.

3) I don't think any one of those alone can lead to success. Marketing alone won't get you far if you do poor work and get less than 5 star reviews on your platforms. Neither will doing great work alone get you very far in the beginning, because no one will know you exist without good marketing (best kept secret in town). And even if your marketing and technical skills are great, if you lack the people skills then folks will still have a poor experience and it won't bode well for your biz. Great question. It takes all 3 in my view, especially starting out if you hope to gain traction quickly.

 

[Bryce C]

This is a great carpet cleaning video series to get you primed. There are actually 8 parts if you dig through his videos, however 7 are included in this playlist.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDMUekKm5og&list=PLc2rQqKU0pnmnZx3MBMTf_7O6UDG0waOC


I would encourage you to consider upholstery cleaning as it is a very rewarding, profitable, and a growing market. You'll also find many customers that are interested in having their carpets and upholstery cleaned at the same time. Keep in mind that customers often don't want multiple cleaning companies to take care of cleaning their various surfaces, so offering multiple services will win you many customers. As with all things, but especially with natural fiber and specialty textured upholstery, it is a very good idea to get trained. And always identify and test the materials you are working on. However you can also start with only cleaning synthetic upholstery and then work towards including natural fibers. This is a pretty good video series that will give you an overview of upholstery cleaning. Cheers!


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9W-Crh8dW8&list=PLDKWJygT7rhnpyOHf4YRaM4fv2fzWd7zM

 

[AMmmarie]

1) 4 months

2) I love being on the move always meeting new people. I also really enjoy the immediate and consistent gratification that one gets throughout each cleaning service. I have an engineering mind so problem solving is fun and you'll find plenty of that in this work. Also there is endless room for refinement and expansion in this biz, which is really wonderful for folks that like to excel.

3) I don't think any one of those alone can lead to success. Marketing alone won't get you far if you do poor work and get less than 5 star reviews on your platforms. Neither will doing great work alone get you very far in the beginning, because no one will know you exist without good marketing (best kept secret in town). And even if your marketing and technical skills are great, if you lack the people skills then folks will still have a poor experience and it won't bode well for your biz. Great question. It takes all 3 in my view, especially starting out if you hope to gain traction quickly.

Thank you for sharing I will absolutely be checking those videos out! I'm definitely too concerned to make a mistake to wing it, haha, I want to arm myself as best I can. I was looking at the Mikey's fest in San Antonio this year (which is basically where I am) but it's clearly way out of my league right now. I will look forward to other workshops like the one you suggested.

It's cool your wife and you do it together - I know my husband will be around for support but he is a martial arts instructor and massage therapist, doing his own things. We were joking around about package deal, carpet clean and massage xD Does your wife ever go on jobs solo? That's something I think about as I've definitely never had a career where I was going in people's houses (aside from the fact I'm a property manager right now but that's kind of different). The other factor of being solo, I'm not sure on furniture - it seems some people clean around things or move simple things... It'd be nice to if working around larger objects is generally accept? Generally, when we have to do maintenance in people's homes, in PM, they are responsible for moving their things.

The more I plan, the more new questions come up x'D I'll definitely choose to have other add-ons as I learn!

 

[Bryce C]

Thank you for sharing I will absolutely be checking those videos out! I'm definitely too concerned to make a mistake to wing it, haha, I want to arm myself as best I can. I was looking at the Mikey's fest in San Antonio this year (which is basically where I am) but it's clearly way out of my league right now. I will look forward to other workshops like the one you suggested.

It's cool your wife and you do it together - I know my husband will be around for support but he is a martial arts instructor and massage therapist, doing his own things. We were joking around about package deal, carpet clean and massage xD Does your wife ever go on jobs solo? That's something I think about as I've definitely never had a career where I was going in people's houses (aside from the fact I'm a property manager right now but that's kind of different). The other factor of being solo, I'm not sure on furniture - it seems some people clean around things or move simple things... It'd be nice to if working around larger objects is generally accept? Generally, when we have to do maintenance in people's homes, in PM, they are responsible for moving their things.

The more I plan, the more new questions come up x'D I'll definitely choose to have other add-ons as I learn!

You're welcome. I think you might be looking at Mike's Multi Surface 5 day training course in Texas later this year. I was referring to Mikey's Fest which is a charity event, education oriented expo, and friendly gathering that happens annually. This year it was in March in Greenville, SC. Attending there was certainly a blessing for me.

Carpet cleaning and a massage that's brilliant, yes . My wife has not gone on any jobs solo yet. We use a portable extractor for all of our cleaning services right now and it weighs over 100 lbs dry. I'd feel like a terrible guy if I sent her out with that thing on her own, especially going up stairs. A while ago we considered getting a smaller one for her to do certain small jobs with but a decent unit would still be 80lbs and it's just a bit much. So we're dialing in working together as best we can.

When we get a truckmount in a van I think she would do fine on her own if the need arises. Occasionally people ask us to move furniture. I always tell folks we are happy to help move a few smaller items like office chairs or a coffee table but we are only insured for cleaning not furniture moving. It disarms the idea and keeps us from moving insanely heavy, time consuming, and risky stuff. For you on your own I would suggest doing something similar but limiting it to things like office chairs and ottomans. It's fairly rare where people inquire about us moving larger stuff anyway and I don't think it will be a problem for you.

That all sounds great. Good luck!

 

[AMmmarie]

You're welcome. I think you might be looking at Mike's Multi Surface 5 day training course in Texas later this year. I was referring to Mikey's Fest which is a charity event, education oriented expo, and friendly gathering that happens annually. This year it was in March in Greenville, SC. Attending there was certainly a blessing for me.

Carpet cleaning and a massage that's brilliant, yes . My wife has not gone on any jobs solo yet. We use a portable extractor for all of our cleaning services right now and it weighs over 100 lbs dry. I'd feel like a terrible guy if I sent her out with that thing on her own, especially going up stairs. A while ago we considered getting a smaller one for her to do certain small jobs with but a decent unit would still be 80lbs and it's just a bit much. So we're dialing in working together as best we can.

When we get a truckmount in a van I think she would do fine on her own if the need arises. Occasionally people ask us to move furniture. I always tell folks we are happy to help move a few smaller items like office chairs or a coffee table but we are only insured for cleaning not furniture moving. It disarms the idea and keeps us from moving insanely heavy, time consuming, and risky stuff. For you on your own I would suggest doing something similar but limiting it to things like office chairs and ottomans. It's fairly rare where people inquire about us moving larger stuff anyway and I don't think it will be a problem for you.

That all sounds great. Good luck!

It would be nice to be able to feel the weight and maneuverability of a portable (which of course I'll be starting with). I'm pretty strong (and stubborn sometimes) so I think I'll be okay. I'll probably stick to one floor jobs only for the time being. Still working out a lot in my head and on paper!

Thank you for sharing what you've got going on, and best of luck to you and your love as well

 

[Nomad74]

It would be nice to be able to feel the weight and maneuverability of a portable

There is nothing nice about a porty.

 

[AMmmarie]

There is nothing nice about a porty.

That may be true, but it's a starting point and I don't have the capital to jump into something super pro yet. Unless of course you would like to fund a start up