Can I succeed with a portable extractor?

[Mike S]

Okay, so I don't have enough funds to start my business with a truck mount. Can I still succeed with a portable extractor? If so, any suggestions on a specific brand?

 

[Guest]

Cross American XPS 500 psi machine; $3195; Comparable to a t/m; I can run 200 foot hose from mine without an external booster. I would pair it up with an EDIC Powermate(change trigger switch to an 800 psi minimum. I have a $347 2000 watt Mytee heater that is really good or a cheap bucket heater may do for ya.

 

[Heathrow]

I still use one when I have to. Combined with a scrubbing system of some sort (rotary scrubber or similar) I think you can still get great results. Just takes longer in my experience. I would especially look at using a scrubber if you're not able to get much heat to work with.

 

[Desk Jockey]

NO you can't!

But you can use one for a few years until you can afford the TM.
Portables can clean just as good as a TM, if you put the extra effort and time into it.

Problem is....it takes the extra effort and time!

If you had a TM you could be cleaning twice as fast and working half as hard.

There are plenty of good portables out there, heat is nice, but often they restrict flow to get the heat and it adds another power cord.

I'd get a simple one and use good chems to make up for the lack of heat.

 

[Raedan]

What they said above. I used a porty before my Tm.

Joe

 

[Dolly Llama]

"can" you succeed w/porty?

that would be contingent to your business savvy, desire, motivation and people skills

actually, that would apply regardless of equipment choice


Rickie, have you REALLY been a full time CCer for 26 years?
cause you suggesting you can run 200ft of hose on a porty makes me wonder if you have a clue :roll:


..L.T.A.

 

[TimP]

If I was you I'd go to a bank and see if you can get a loan first. It may cost 4-500 a month to get you into a used $20,000 TM. If you don't feel you can pay the 4-500 a month to get you started, especially after you get going with the porty it may be that you might not be cut out for this biz. I wouldn't quit your job to get started if you have one already. Get the porty if it's all that you can do for now.....then get you the loan and get the TM. You will more than cover the payment with the extra work you can get done.

From last Sat to this Sunday I have scheduled enough work to pay about 3 months of payments on my TM all in 9 days......it takes some time to get that way and I'm hardly ever this busy. But like I said 4-500 isn't much....about 3-5 jobs is all if that....hell 1 job at mikeys rates will pay a payment.



Oh and the hose length thing...200 ft on my TM isn't much suction with my 47 choked down cds....if I run 2 runs of 2 inch for the first 50 ft the 200 isn't bad but still 200 on a porty isn't gonna cut the mustard I would think, without a vac booster for sure.

 

[Scott S.]

yes you can. You can do it, dont listen to people who put you down. portables still make money. TM's just make things quicker whicht means more money quicker. if you got any questions send me a pm. i'm a porty guy to.....

 

[Brian R]

yes you can. You can do it, dont listen to people who put you down. portables still make money. TM's just make things quicker whicht means more money quicker. if you got any questions send me a pm. i'm a porty guy to.....

Good lord,
I started with a porty but if I knew then what I know now, I would have got financed for the Tm and Van.
If you can get the financing...do it.
If you can't then get a good porty and work on a down payment. If CCing is what you want to do, you won't be sorry.
The payment will more than get paid for by having better equipment.

Like said, more money quicker...Time is money bro.

 

[Mike Draper]

NO!

 

[Jim Williams]

A portable will clean just fine. I use my Ninja sometimes in old folks homes and high rises. It is slower, but just starting off you probably won't be bustin out 5 jobs a day anyway. I would avoid debt. The first 3 years are kind of tough.

Get something with 3 vac motors. Recoil or Cross American are good machines and those things can suck start a Volkswagen.

 

[RC Eden Carpet Cleaning]

I started out with a porty, do I regret it, no not really. It helped me learn the business and realize the potential in carpet cleaning.

HOWEVER knowing what I know today I definitely would have just financed a van and tm.

Can you succeed, yes (I did). Is it worth all the trouble and looking unprofessional to the customer, absolutely not.

 

[Walt]

Yes you can. Though, I wouldn't take it to a suburban home. Try to focus on applications where a truck mount wont work such as high rises. If you don't have those in your area, I wouldn't bother.
I do several jobs a month with a portable. Here's a hint - charge more for use of the portable not less. For a portable, we charge .48 per square - standard, measured wall to wall. No furniture moving. $250 minimum. Everything extra is "extra." It has to be. Furniture is 50% more than standard prices. It's a nice change of pace. Everything takes way longer and you have to have patience - and you probably wont make as much per hour. But good profit margins. The next day it is good to get back on the truck.

I would recommend a Solus 500, a floor machine and lots of cotton bonnets. Prescub, Steam the dirty areas and then bonnet everything else.

 

[Ernie G]

Mike, I agree with Walt, find a niche in the market, go where the truckmounts can't go. also some truck mount guys either don't have portys or they don't want to do that kind of work. We get referrals from guys that won't or can't do high rise and we charge 65-85 cents a sq.- but you better get some good training first. Also start out at less and as you get busy you can slowly move your prices up. Good luck to you.

 

[Jim Martin]

If it is a portable or a TM..the machine is just a tool....It is all about who is at the other end of the hose....

I know a few good cleaners that run portables that can out clean guys that run truck mounts that don't know what they are doing.......

 

[tracywalker]

I started out with a TM in a trailer. all together my monthly payments were about $600. My theory was that if I could not atleast generate $600 per month then I should not be in business. I am still here 7 years later!

 

[TimP]

I started out with a TM in a trailer. all together my monthly payments were about $600. My theory was that if I could not atleast generate $600 per month then I should not be in business. I am still here 7 years later!

That's what I've been saying....congrats. I started out with more of a payment than that.....yes it's been hard but 2 years later I'm still going.

 

[Brian R]

Image will bring money.
Most people cringe when you bring a porty into their house. I've been there. Or even to the door step.
They won't refer you as often I don't care how good of a job you do.

I like the Idea of going where TMs can't go. If you get a porty then get those jobs. I would imagine you could make a lot of money in that area.

I was mainly speaking of home owners and reachable commercial.

 

[Jim Martin]

maybe someone cant afford or just don't want a $600 payment...the question is can he do it and the answer is yes.....you can start with a portable and build from there....

 

[TimP]

maybe someone cant afford or just don't want a $600 payment...the question is can he do it and the answer is yes.....you can start with a portable and build from there....

That's understandable....but after getting started up there should be a sense of security to afford a payment in that ballpark. It's ok to start that way and pay off the porty and save up enough to get a down payment or just go get a loan. A TM is well worth the investment....especially a TNT judson to start. Don't be affraid of the payment....it will help you get out there and get business if you feel you're going to default and it will be something that pushes you to suceed.....keep you from slacking off. Not to mention it will allow you to get way more done in less time.

 

[Ron Werner]

Sure you can.
I worked portable for the first 4yrs in this industry and I out cleaned TM's all the time, or so I was often told by my clients. It not that hard since one client told me I had the carpets looking better than the last guy and all I had done to that point was vacuum, prespray and groom!!

One reason you can easily succeed is that your expenses will be way lower. You won't have a $600 or in more cases $1500/mth payment to even worry about. Maintenance is also much easier and less expensive.

Buy the best porty you can. Maybe check with Les, he and Odin seem to have a cool looking machine going.
Don't use any more than 2 power cords. Its tough enough finding 2 circuits let alone more!

As was already mentioned, market to places where TM's can't go. You've just eliminated 90% of the cleaners in the YP.
I see you're in West Palm Beach. Got to be lots of million $ condo buildings! market ONLY to those and at a higher price than 95% of the other cleaners in the area, maybe even go higher than the highest TM operation. The idea is that you have a highly specialized machine that will provide the best cleaning for their carpets. If it were me and in condo's that cost over $500,000, I'd price about 60-75cents/sf- JUST THE CLEANING. So you can only do one job a day. 500sf just made you $375, with half the overhead! Add protector at half the price of the cleaning, you've added another 187.5 for a $562.5 day. Very respectable!

Sell the "specialized machine", TM's may clean better but so what, they can't reach!
Also sell the security and safety, no hoses over a balcony, no hoses down the hall or staircase, and more importantly, esp in this world, NO OPEN DOORS. Condo owners are getting more and more ansy about security and open doors.

Have a fan/airpath, something to speed dry the carpets.
Have a large dolly or cart, put your porty and all your equipment on that and wheel it on up. You could even make a powered cart, like the Prowler portable machine.
You could have that set up so that you are blowing minds before you even get to the front door.

Oh, market yourself to the best TM operators in town. If you haven't noticed TM operators like speed and almost detest porty work. Make a deal with a couple guys, they give you porty work and you'll pass on house work.

If I knew back then what I know now, I would have remained a porty operator and gone after condos not houses.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I’ve got a machine that’s not impressive to look at….it’s slightly larger than a rental machine. It’s going to make your home hot and humid when I use it. Oh and it’s going to take me twice as long as the other guy to get it clean. Plus I’ll also need to use your electricity to power it and dump dirty water down your toilet.
But it’s just as good as a TM!
:roll:

Like many here I spent a lot of time with portables (10-years), most of it regrettable time.
To this day when our guys have a portable job, I have to practically scrape them off the ground to get them to go to the job.

Dumping and filling will kill any good production numbers. Unless you have a helper fetching water, you’re shut down when filling and dumping.

TM’s exhaust outside, if possible stick the portable on the porch or balcony, otherwise it will exhaust humid often smelly air into the home or condo, extending drying times. It may even make the windows sweat in the winter. Homeowners don’t like that!

Spills happen, be sure to place a mat under the machine, odds are you may spill when dumping or filling.

Also on occasion when the machine fills with foam, it will blow out of the vacuums exhaust on to the mat, not the carpet.

I like Ron’s suggestion of a cart, we always used one it just made thing easier. Fewer trips to the truck and saves time!

Just make sure you don’t get too big of a cart, some elevators are small.

I think it’s your best option until you become established and can afford a TM. This way if you decide to bail on the whole carpet cleaning idea you don’t have too much invested.

Successful, I still think to be successful you’ll need the TM, but this is a step and the TM would be the next step. 8)

 

[Ernie G]

Mike, I know I said this early on another post, but I'm going to say it again, get some good training. This is the most important element to your busn., because I know guys out there with truckmounts that don't have a clue. Find a good quality carpet cleaner, with alot of experience who is willing to mentor you. Offer to work for him in exchange for the learning experience, make sure he is a reputable cleaner, who is honest. Thats exactly what I did 34yrs. ago, and i'm still learning today. Also their are alot of classes out there to take, never stop soaking up the knowledge. No matter what equipment you purchase, it won't make you a pro. Education and Experience is the key-If you need any more advice, give me a call. I promised myself I would always try and help others the way people have helped me. My phone # 425-788-5671

 

[Greenie]

".... get some good training. This is the most important element to your busn., because I know guys out there with truckmounts that don't have a clue."

My question was always, Who sold it to them? I think suppliers have an obligation to not sell a weapon without showing how to use it safely.

 

[erik240]

The company I work for was ALL portables until about a year ago. On a good saturday we do over 300 jobs, over 200 on the weekdays I'm pretty sure. Its a big operation and has been around for 20 years.

So ... based on this I think portables can be successful :-)

 

[Able 1]

The company I work for was ALL portables until about a year ago. On a good saturday we do over 300 jobs, over 200 on the weekdays I'm pretty sure. Its a big operation and has been around for 20 years.

So ... based on this I think portables can be successful :-)

6.95 a room successful? Oh I forgot addons till there there nose bleeds, successful!

Keith

 

[Scott S.]

i park my machine outside, i can easily run 100ft of hose. so i can reach inside just the same in most occasions. this way the heat and moisture stays outside. alot of people that i clean for really like the portable machine because its quieter than a tm parked in your yard. i can offer slightly lower prices due to the fact that i have really low maintenace when it comes to my porty and i dont have to fill it up every couple of days. I Run a TruckForce 3500, by masterblend.


Greener
Quieter
Less maintenance
Easier to work on
Parts easy to order and easier to change than tm.
no oil to change
no grease fittings

think you get my idea.

 

[Ernie G]

Erik, I still believe that you would be better off looking for a nich-like places truckmounts can't go-and charge more for it. That doesn't mean you would not be cleaning regular homes some of the time, but I don't believe that would be your bread and butter. Its hard to compete with truck mounts day in day out, and I'll bet the company you worked for was a bait and swicther, and they were sucessful and profitable because they had alot of employees, each making a small profit. My guess is you want to build a good busn. that is reputable and honest, so you have to separate the bad from the good that you learned from your former employee. And if you want to be profitable, you need to know what your cost of doing busn. is and make sure your charging enough.

 

[Rex Tyus]

".... get some good training. This is the most important element to your busn., because I know guys out there with truckmounts that don't have a clue."

My question was always, Who sold it to them? I think suppliers have an obligation to not sell a weapon without showing how to use it safely.

Excellent point Green One. I have often refered to the way the dive industry handles this(or at least the way they did when I was diving). They will not sell equipment to someone that is not certified. Whether or not it is because of a sense of responsibility or a fear of law suits i don't know. But none the less you have to know how to dive and be able to show certification to buy the equipment.

When I read of the cleaners that die from exhaust fumes I wonder how long it will take the ambulance chasers to latch onto this potential gold mine.

But back on topic if you have more time than money YES you can. Then when you max out on productivity with your portable a truckmount will dramatically improve your situation.

 

[RC Eden Carpet Cleaning]

But back on topic if you have more time than money YES you can. Then when you max out on productivity with your portable a truckmount will dramatically improve your situation.

YES exactly my experience!