carpet cleaning business

[ymdewa1976]

i need to start a carpet cleaning business. i am new to this an have no experience. I am student and need to have this as my part time job just to get by. i do not have truck, so i need something that is quite portable but that will allow me to do the job effectively. i am considering buying a rotovac power wand and rotovac cfx extractor. this equipment can at least fit into my toyota corolla. I need advice before i venture any further with this idea. any recommendations will be welcome.

thanks

Yamu

 

[Mikey P]

Forget the rotovac wand. waste of time, money and water.

Get a well formulated portable, a 175 rpm floor scrubber with a 1.5 hp motor, a shampoo brush and a decent 2 jet (AW29) wand with a glide on it.


And pay attention here.

 

[cu]

buy a stainless steel repair kit and make millons

look up odin he will fill you in , great guy.......but very sour face

also look up posts by admiralclean knows all there is to know about the biz







the pig farming biz ..................knows nothing about carpet cleaning

 

[The Preacher]

get Cu to answer yore fones as his Scottish accent will close more sales than you can clean in a week!!!

 

[CleanEvo]

You need a Vortex to make it in this biz.

 

[tokmik363]

If you think you need some accompaniment then get some. Sometimes it's not bad to have someone out there to give you company specially when they give a little help. Gilbert Carpet Cleaning

 

[ACE]

I would buy used equipment. A 175, a porty with the most vac and psi you can find and the smallest cargo trailer you can find. A muiti-sprayer or other electric sprayer might be a good investment. You should be able to buy all that for less than 3k and resell it in a few years for about the same. The big issue with portable units is heat so, get 2 or 3 bucket heaters and learn how to keep the hot water coming without tripping breakers. Get an MBA learn this business and you can look forward to a very high level of income.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I knew a guy that backed his portable into his Honda Civic.

He removed the passenger seat and it all fit nicely into the little car. Maybe you should do the same for more space?

 

[Mike Draper]

I'm just going to b as honest as i can. most guys struggle starting a carpet cleaning bussiness for the first 1-3 years in a good economy. starting a bus right now will probably increase your chances of going under by a substantial amount with the economy in the shape it is in. If things get much worse many established carpet cleaners will start to lower their prices and make things that nuch harder for you to b proffitable.

 

[sweendogg]

Why not find a reputable carpet cleaner in your area and see if you can hire on part time. Some guys could always use a few extra ch... hands around during busy season. You can learn the ropes with out any equipment investment and increase your chances of actuelly making some money.

 

[Becker]

Best way to learn a business is to work for someone already doing it.
-Bruce Williams

He always sez, go to work for someone in the trade for 6 months to a year.
Maybe a neighboring city.

I guess the flaw in that today is 100s of unemployed people bidding for that same job.

 

[Brian R]

Yea, the whole "No experience" thing aint workin for ya bud. You need some hands on experience or you just might figure out you hate carpet cleaning.

Go work for someone. Learn the ropes ...esp upselling and customer service THEN you can start a little business.

How much money have you got in the bank? It will take revenue to start where you are at right now.

 

[Brian R]

Don't you love how we make life decisions for people?

:wink:

 

[Becker]

As far as we know he is a fake poster.

If I had to guess.

ymdewa1976


If he is real, He lives in WA, born in 1976.

But at least wants us to think that.

 

[sweendogg]

Fake poster or not.. we could always make in wawk the plank of hard knots. Knotty pine that is!

 

[TimP]

might as well get an OP machine with a sprayer or seperate sprayer, vacuum, some towels/pads for the op machine and some scampoo cleaner like HotKnife from vac-away. and go out and scam away....

 

[Ron Werner]

I worked for a company for 1 1/2 yrs b4 going on my own. KNew how to clean, knew nothing about marketing. Cheyenne in my backseat, wands in the passenger seat, chems in the trunk.
A scrubber would defitely help, Sebo takes less room than a 175, no learning curve to operate it.

A basic porty with wand and 25ft of hose, a couple pumpup sprayers, 2 grooming brushes (or a Sebo duo brush machine and 1 grooming brush),a good vacuum! LOTS of busn cards, some flyers, and LOTS of reading about marketing and how to clean from the board here.
Clean the rooms for your buddies! I knew nothing about carpet cleaning when I was in univ and could have saved myself a LOT of grief!

 

[renegade_cowboy]

I knew a guy that backed his portable into his Honda Civic.

He removed the passenger seat and it all fit nicely into the little car. Maybe you should do the same for more space?

I saw a guy put a small TM in the back of his POS GMC Jimmy. He kept the hoses and wand on the roof. I only drove by so I didnt get a chance to stop and peek inside.