I wrote this article a few years ago for Cleanfax magazine.
Keep the fire alive
By Loren Egland
It was many years ago when you started your carpet cleaning business, and some of your social circle may have looked with skepticism upon your decision to enter the business.
After all, at first glance, cleaning someone’s soiled carpet or piece of furniture would seem to be a lowly, unglamorous job.
It might also seem like a lot of hard work at undesirable times, such as nights and weekends.
And now, years later, you may be agreeing with them as you feel the slow, unrelenting effects of “carpet cleaning burnout.”
The evolution of cleaning
It is easy to see how you could have been discouraged from becoming a self-employed carpet cleaner when faced with this doom-and-gloom perspective.
But, in spite of this negativity, you were filled with enthusiasm and looked on the bright side.
You entered the cleaning business for some very good reasons.
Your personality, needs and desires may have motivated you to stay an owner/operator or to grow into a multi-truck operation.
To make a long story short, you now have many years behind you as a self-employed cleaner.
Even if you have a successful cleaning business, whether as a single truck owner operator or as a multi-truck company, you can, over time, have a change of attitude about your cleaning business.
Unlike the enthusiasm when new in the business, you may feel burned out and feel a need for a change.
That change could mean moving on to a different profession, getting off the truck and growing with employees, or just the opposite by simplifying one’s life and downsizing back to being a one-truck owner-operator.
It can be the little changes that can make a big difference in your attitude.
What happened to the ‘fire’?
Those initial months — or years — of enthusiasm may now be dampened.
How can cleaners avoid becoming bored, stressed, discouraged and even depressed?
What can be done to avoid “burnout”?
There are probably as many answers as there are cleaners. Not only do we all have a different personality, we all do something a little different than our colleagues, and our life situations are not all the same.
Having spent the last 36 years as the owner/operator of two cleaning businesses I started in two very different parts of the country, I would like to share some things I keep in mind that have helped me avoid burnout.
Although my thoughts on avoiding burnout will reflect my owner/operator background, some of them may also be of value to owners of larger cleaning businesses.
Make comparisons
One suggestion is to consider the possible alternatives to what you are now doing.
All you need to do is look around at people from different walks of life with whom we come into contact.
You may have to look no further than to your neighbors.
I have neighbors who hate their jobs, don’t make enough money, have long or lousy hours, or both husband and wife have to work full time.
They feel trapped in dead-end jobs. They look dragged out. They don’t seem that happy with this part of their life.
Sometimes, people we clean for lose their jobs or they get transferred to another part of the country, against their will.
For many, their commute of stressful stop-and-go traffic can take hours each day.
Others have less-than-desirable working conditions, or simply just hate their tedious or high-pressure job.
Maybe they don’t get along with their boss or workmates.
Perhaps their job requires extensive travel away from home and family.
You can see how this could all add up to being very stressful or depressing. When you see what so many others have to put up with in their jobs, it makes you appreciate some of the advantages of our profession.
Remember the reasons
Another way to help avoid burnout is to reflect on the reasons we chose to be in the cleaning business, as well as where we decided to live and work.
Being in business may be a dream of many, and for good reason.
It gives you control over your life! Successfully building a business of your own is something to feel good about and something to take pride in.
When you first started in the cleaning business, maybe it was because you didn’t want to spend thousands of dollars and several years in college just to get a good job.
Or maybe you have a degree, but it hasn’t paid off the way you envisioned.
By comparison, the initial cost of starting a cleaning business was quite low compared to the time and money required to learn a trade through higher education, or to start and build most other types of business.
The learning curve was fairly quick. You realized it can be profitable right from the start with the right approach.
In a short time, repeat and referral work may have become all that is needed to stay busy, since you have proven to be the consumer’s best choice.
Daily benefits
It’s nice to be out and about part of the day and not be stuck in a dingy factory or a cubicle all day.
For the most part, a cleaner is indoors in a nice atmosphere while cleaning carpet rather than working outdoors all day, often in bad weather.
With some jobs, there is little satisfaction to be had from the work performed. This is not so with carpet cleaning.
It is extremely satisfying to start with an ugly soiled and stained carpet and transform it to a beautiful, like-new appearance.
Cleaners are often so proud of their accomplishment they take photos of their work, and show these to other customers.
Diversification
Some cleaners find they can rekindle their fire by adding additional services.
This gives them a challenge — and more income.
Whether it is window washing, car detailing, hard surface cleaning, power washing, etc., providing more services means you specialize in more things, which makes your work more interesting.
Of course, not all cleaners are created equal. If you are not interested in diversification, don’t do it. But if you are, it can help prevent burnout.
The one thing
In the movie City Slickers, with Billy Crystal and Jack Palance, a revealing exchange occurs.
Jack Palance’s character knew that the secret to life was “one thing,” and Billy Crystal’s character wanted to know what it was.
The “one thing” was different for everybody.
Doing something well was the secret to happiness.
Billy Crystal’s character was burned out and unhappy, but rather than changing his job, he just decided to do it better again.
That was his “one thing.” You must find your “one thing.”
Become a better cleaner
It is usually a human desire to be good at something.
Isn’t it the case that when first starting in the cleaning business, we all try to do the very best job we can?
However, after spending years in the business, it is easy to get complacent.
We may not even recognize this about ourselves.
Perhaps we clean a little too quickly.
Maybe we get upset that we seem to compete more on price than we used to.
A good self-examination may reveal we need to get back to that same enthusiasm for being our best, resulting in a better clientele that can help bring a cleaner out of the doldrums.
Carpet cleaning is something that anyone can be good at if he/she puts forth the effort and makes the sacrifices necessary to be the best.
Maybe all it would take is an impressive new truck or machine, or making small changes that make you feel you are now the best.
You call the shots
For many carpet cleaners, “taking the job home” isn’t a problem.
Some professions require considerable mental involvement that may be hard to leave at the office.
Isn’t it great to be able to make plans to go somewhere or do something that you really want to do and know that no boss can tell you, “No, you can’t go!”
If you are employed on a job, it can come first, and something that may be important to you or your family will not be realized if your job demands that you work instead.
Job security
No job today is secure.
Getting laid off or fired from a good job can be devastating.
Even getting transferred to another state can be rough, especially if your job transfers you often.
Owning your own business means you never have to worry or live in fear of such a negative, life-altering experience.
The health factor
Some will argue that carpet cleaning is hard work and wonder if you will still want to clean when you get older.
But looking at the other side of the coin, a little exercise will keep you healthier as you age.
Rather than paying to spend time working out in a gym, you get paid for exercise while cleaning.
As you get a little older, you can simply do fewer jobs per day.
If demand for your service is high, then raising your prices will slow things down to an acceptable level, and plenty of money will still be made.
Carpet cleaning provides an excellent way to “semi-retire.”
The bottom line
If you feel burned out and think you need to make a change, it would be well to look before you leap.
The grass may not be greener elsewhere.
By reflecting upon your business, considering the many benefits it provides, appreciating your blessings, and weighing the alternatives, you too can avoid burnout and keep the fire burning.
Loren Egland, an
IICRC Master Textile Cleaner, was the owner-operator of Rochester Steam Way, Rochester, MN, from 1970 to 1984, and has owned and operated Delta Steam Way, Antioch, CA, since 1984. His website is
www.deltasteamway.com.
