Country carpet cleaning success, is it possible?!

[ruff]

I apologize for the long post but your hard earned advise will be highly appreciated.

This is my situation:

My business is in a large urban area (The Bay Area,) where I have a good successful business. It caters to a niche market- I charge a high price, my clients expect good quality and are willing to pay for it. Though my clients include some rich folks, mostly they are middle class and in general, more highly educated.

In the Bay Area it is a large enough niche to enable me to run a good business.

In about a year I’ll be moving to the Hill Country in Texas. Mostly it is small towns about 35-40 miles from each other with population of approximately 4000 people each. There are some larger towns of about 15,000 here and there. Also some areas within 75-110 miles of some high income towns- lake side properties. San Antonio and Austin are about 2 to two and a half hours drive.

I am not interested in high volume low price cleaning (too old for that and in my opinion it never works well.)

Also travel times and distances can put a real damper on profit. In all fairness sometime it takes me 40 minutes of city drive to get to my first job.

What is your experience?

Can a viable business that caters to people who appreciate good quality and are also willing to pay for it possible in this situation?

Thank you all.
Ofer

 

[Mikey P]

Yo

What do you know about Navajo Rug Cleaners in the City?

 

[Steve Toburen]

Hi Ofer,

A few questions:

1. What sort of operation do you want to run? high end, owner-operated? Or go with employees and a large company? What net in-your-pocket dollar goals do you have?

2. What is the population base in a 1/2 hour drive time radius from your projected home? How many more people do you add if you bump your commute time up to one hour each way?

3. What is the median income in the area?

4. Are there any colleges/ universities there?

5. Are you looking at also doing commercial or restoration work?

6. Do you have any contacts or background in the area?

7. What is your time window before the business needs to start turning a profit?

8. what is the current comptetive situation like?

sorry to be so inquisitive but you did ask for help and your answers will allow us to tailor our insightful yet witty answers to fit your needs. (seriously, you have a great resource here.)

Steve "Island Boy" Toburen

PS I would strongly suggest looking askance at any posts from Prattville, Alabama. even more so if the feller is offering you a great deal on a Truck Mount.

 

[hogjowl]

Hey ... now that's a great idea.

Buy my $13,000 TM/Van and I'll tell you how I made millions in a podunk Southern town. I'll even throw in a picture of me and George Wallace at a free gift. (Who needs Joe P.?)

Thanks for the idea, I.B.

 

[Greg Loe]

George Wallace sticker! that's funny.

 

[ruff]

Hi Steve, and thank you for being inquisitive, I appreciate it.

1. What sort of operation do you want to run? high end, owner-operated? Or go with employees and a large company? What net in-your-pocket dollar goals do you have?

I'd rather run a high end owner operator operation. Assuming normal business hours anything above say $65,000.00 net will be good.

2. What is the population base in a 1/2 hour drive time radius from your projected home? How many more people do you add if you bump your commute time up to one hour each way?

From what I know, 45 minutes drive radius will be about 30,000 population. Adding another half an hour drive will add another 50,000. Within 2 to 21/2 hours drive are two large metropolitan areas (Austin and San Antonio.)

3. What is the median income in the area?

In the immediate radius it is supposed to be $25,000 (2003 statistics.) Higher as the radius increases as there are some lake properties that are second homes. In immediate are house values are about $100,000 per house, new ones about 150,000 to 180,000.

4. Are there any colleges/ universities there?

There are some small college extensions and many retirees.

5. Are you looking at also doing commercial or restoration work?

Trying to stay away from night work. Commercial ok, restoration-no.

6. Do you have any contacts or background in the area?

No. We own some properties.

7. What is your time window before the business needs to start turning a profit?

I'd like to have income asap, however it does not have to happen immediately, I have enough immediate income. Trying more to decide if it is actually worth the effort. In other words, I have been doing this for a while and I am very good both professionally and with clients. On the other hand we all know that starting any business is both time and energy consuming. Trying to weigh the reward versus investment and potential earning. Never lived in a country setting that has a very different mentality and also being a foreigner. In a large city I know i'll do well, this however may be different.

8. what is the current comptetive situation like?

From what I know mostly low pricing. Or people are not willing to drive all the way. The ones that are it seems like people think they are too pricy. One lady had a company from Austin and they wanted something like 35 cents per square foot which she thought was too much. I asked her how much would she consider fair and she thought 25 cents.


Also I'd really like to get feedback from people who work in small country areas where the per capita income is lower. Are people willing to pay good price for excellent service and quality work. Is quality an issue, or is the lowest price pretty much the rule? Any information and feedback from you guys that work in this kind of situation will be highly appreciated.

 

[J Scott W]

I began and operated a carpet cleaning business for 38 years in a rural area. The town we were located in had a population under 7,000. There was a town of 14,000 about 20 miles away. Including several little communities of a 1,000 - 2,00 our entire service area was about 40,000 in a 30 mile radius.

For several years I operated the carpet cleaning as a side business while also working (2 years) for my father's window cleaning business and (1 year 8 months) at a branch of the University of Tennessee. Eventually I had to take the part-time business to full time.

I was able to go from 2 or 3 jobs per week to 8 or 9 jobs a week in two to 3 motnhs. With-in a year of going full time, I was booked as much as I could handle with the exception of cold weather months of January and February. Adding some water damage work from frozen pipes kept me working during the winter.

Our focus was on middle income as well as upper end home. While I would have like to work only for the rich, there simply were not that many in our community to keep me busy. While most competitors were in the 12 -14 cent range we started at 22 cents and eventually moved to 25, 28, 30 cents. Always being several cents higher than the competition and providing greater service.

Refined systems to get referals and keep repeat business. They were the life-blood of the business in small towns. I had to really focus to keep those up.

At wo different points I expanded (once to janitorial and once in restoration) to 30+ employees. Eventually decided I like personal contact with my clients and a family business better.

Scott Warrington

 

[ruff]

Scott,
Thank you for your response and as usual very informative, I really appreciate it.

A few questions:
Were personal contacts an essential part of your immediate success?
Did you use your father’s client list to establish your carpet cleaning service?
Since I have neither that benefit nor, any history in the community I am trying to figure out how hard is it to penetrate a small town market?

How much is it an “old boys” club and how much are people open to working with someone who is new and in my case has an accent?
I know that the real estate agent we’ve been working with (originally from California U.S. born) has been there for ten years and though reasonably successful, she is still considered an outsider.

Did you also have a carpet cleaning business in a large metropolitan area?
If yes, is there a difference in the marketing, the way business is conducted, mentality?

Were longer travel times and distances (especially in today’s costs) a big issue? Did you price it in? (I assume you tried to bunch clients of the same area together.)

From your experience, anything else I should know that I have not taken into account?

Thank you
Ofer

 

[J Scott W]

Scott,
Thank you for your response and as usual very informative, I really appreciate it.

A few questions:
Were personal contacts an essential part of your immediate success? Yes, we used personal contact as a means to get work. I had more time to make personal contact than I had money for advertising. I can send my report on farming that details how I did this. I just need your email address.
Did you use your father’s client list to establish your carpet cleaning service? I did not specifically use the window cleaning contact list, but I got many jobs from window cleaning customers who would ask "Can you also clean ....?" So early on, I did carpet, tile floors, whatever.
Since I have neither that benefit nor, any history in the community I am trying to figure out how hard is it to penetrate a small town market? We had moved to town from the northeast. Also were regarded as outsiders. Dad's cold calling every business in the area is what built the commercial side of the window cleaning business. Then owners and employees of those businesses become the first customers on the residential side of the business.

How much is it an “old boys” club and how much are people open to working with someone who is new and in my case has an accent? Trying to state the facts without offending anyone. There was no "old boys" network" that covered the cleaning business in the rural south during the 1960's and 1970's. The perception of many potential clinets was that anything to do with cleaning should be the domain people of one particular skin color / social class. We had to overcome the idea that we were not the proper skin tone to be in the cleaning business.
I know that the real estate agent we’ve been working with (originally from California U.S. born) has been there for ten years and though reasonably successful, she is still considered an outsider.

Did you also have a carpet cleaning business in a large metropolitan area? Always worked in the small town, except for brief periods as a consultant. So I have no experience with marketing in a metro area.
If yes, is there a difference in the marketing, the way business is conducted, mentality?

Were longer travel times and distances (especially in today’s costs) a big issue? Did you price it in? (I assume you tried to bunch clients of the same area together.) We definitely tried to group clinets in the same area. Our large erasable board showed what part of the county we were working in on any given day. We would take nearby jobs at the beginning or end of any day but farther out, we would devote a day to each little community. If MRs Jones from Huntland called and asked for Thursday. We would try to schedule other jobs in the same area on on the way for Thursday. This usually meant folks would have to be willing to wait a few days to get fit into the right day on our schedule. Once people got to know we were honest, they would just leave a key for us to come at a day and time we could fit it in.

From your experience, anything else I should know that I have not taken into account? You will either need some reserve cash to cover you until the business is built up and/or be willing to take whatever work will bring in a few dollars until you get in a position to dictate the way you want to do business.

Thank you
Ofer

 

[Steve Toburen]

Hi Ofer,

Sorry that I didn't get back to you right away and even sorrier that I let that wily Scotty W. sneak into "our thread". But Scott (like myself) has been there/done that. I built my business in a market that within a 30 minute drie had a total population of around 30,000 peole. My guess is you can build a nice company too. (Especially if you do not need to be making big money right out of the gate.)

You'll obviously need to hustle in the beginning. You say "about a year" for your move. I'd suggest late winter which will let you get settled and then you can focus on the spring cleaning rush. So what would I do if I were Scott Warringt ... oh excuse me, what would I do if I were moving into a small market base?

1. Network like crazy. Chamber of commerce functions, home shows (e-mail me for info on how to do these), charity functions (let them auction off a 200.00 gift certificate), free cleaning for Ronald Mcdonald houses, etc.

2. Sell like crazy. Visit all the realtors in town. They usually have sales meetings and ask if you can sponsor snacks or donuts for them if you can just hand out your brochure or cards. Then hit the carpet retailers. Offer the best ones your free 12 month Spot and Spill Warranty free of charge for ALL of their customers. Also ask if they will give away your Lifetime Free Spotter bottles with your phone numb er and logo on them. Do the same with beauty shops, dry cleaners, etc.

3. Get your web site developed now and put it up and running at tleast three months before you make the move. Get a phone line installed and hae it switched on to your current phone. When people call use your phone script (e-mail me) and then explain that you are out of town for ____ weeks and can they postpone their cleaning need till you "get back".

4. Be visible. Seriously consider a wrap for your truck and have it done before you arrive. always drive your company truck everywhere- even out to dinner. And while you are at dinner leave your business card there and everywhere you go. (Even if you don't want night work lots of restaurants are closed one day a week.)

5. Above all else, make Cheerleaders out of each and every client you serve. this is the secret advantage/curse of the small market place. People still talk to their friends and neighbors. sounds like you have this concept already nailed but redouble your efforts.

I'm birdwatching with Sioux (seriously- gotta love a mobile broadband card) and she is way ahead of me down the trail. But these ideas will get you started. I would go for it.

Steve Toburen
Director of Training
Jon-Don's Strategies for Success

PS BTW, Ofer, you could do worse than drop by our next SFS in Dallas which is going to be next march 16-20. Much of the program is modeled on helped us be successful in our 30,000 population market base. Also if you want any of the "small town success" information I reference above my e-mail is stoburen@homefrontsuccess.com

 

[J Scott W]

That is pretty much what I was going to tell you. I am glad Steve volunteered to do the typing for me.

One source to add, schools. They always had some sort of fund-raisers. I always donated gift certificates that could be used toward cleaning. Parents appreciated it when they knew you supported the local schools. I also ended up getting the school systems to clean all the elementary and junior high schools on an annual basis. (But that happend about 3 years later.)

Scott Warrington

 

[Steve Toburen]

Good reminder as usual, Scott. However, Ofer, I think even Scott would agree that you would benefit greatly from attending SFS. (As long as you promise to not BUY anything from Jon-Don while you are there.)

Steve "Island Boy" Toburen

PS After all, Scotty is one of our most famous SFS graduates!

 

[Guest]

About 3,500 pop. here.

 

[ruff]

About 3,500 pop. here.

Hi Josh,
Thanks for your response.
Shed some light, please. How is it going?
How did you start or any more information regarding my questions above? I'd love to learn from your experience.

Scott: One thing you did not tell me was what was the average household income. Rich or poor community?
Bedroom community with good salaries, or mostly local economy?

Steve, I heard that SFS guarantees six figure income the second month! Does that mean I'll have to move to an island, since boy is out of the question?
I'll do my best to attend, i heard only good things.

Thanks
Ofer

 

[J Scott W]

About 3,500 pop. here.

Hi Josh,
Scott: One thing you did not tell me was what was the average household income. Rich or poor community?
Bedroom community with good salaries, or mostly local economy?

Thanks
Ofer

The actuall numbers on household income might not be too meaningful since my experience runs from the '60 through 2005, there was a lot of change.

But the area was mainly agricultural and rural. Some years were godd for the farmers, others not so good. By the middle and late 80s many were getting jobs that required a communte of 50 to 100 miles and still trying to operate the farms. Those folks simply had no time to do their own cleaning.

There was also the usual, doctors, lawyers and business owners along with a small but significant to us high tech industry.

Scott Warrington

 

[ruff]

Yo

What do you know about Navajo Rug Cleaners in the City?

Yo.......
Sorry, didn't see that.
I know nothing about them, never even heard their name mentioned.
Ofer

 

[Jay D]

I just left that situation. Newman, Ca. population 8,000, farms, realtors, retail stores. etc. You will be cleaning for a completely different clientele and INCOME bracket. Will they pay more? You will not get bay area prices in the hill country. If you do you will work very little and stay home. The suggestions above are all good. You just have to get involved in the community and get to know folks. Will you be an outsider? Yes but a friendly likeable person will do fine in time. I hope this will not be your primary source of income to start. If the median family income is 25,000 a year in that county i have reservations that will not be a good clientele to service. 65,000 Net will probably take some doing. Think of all the different things you can do to make a living in cleaning. Carpets, upholstery, tile and grout, windows, VCT, wood floors, and yes water damage too. I would call it Chore Boy home services(Sacramento business). A little this and that. Do not do janitorial unless you can sub it out. Call me if I can help. I have never been in the hill country but have survived a small town setting for 9 years. You Can do it if you set your mind to it.

 

[Guest]

Basically, sell your equipment. Hang up the wand. You're done.






Actually, this town seems to be made up mostly of senior citizens. So I just look into what interests seniors, and then cater to their needs.

The main thing is to get into their house; to get them to call you. Once you're in their home do your very best to make them happy, not just with the great job you did on their carpet, but with the way you respected them and take your time to listen to them and clean their little rug at the entry way at no charge, ect. They will go out of their way to make sure people call you! It's not just with seniors, it seems to mainly be with people in smaller towns- if you make one customer happy, they'll tell at least 15 of their friends that they should call you. If you make one customer unhappy, they'll tell at least 15 of their friends to never call you.

 

[Jay D]

Wasn't trying to be negative. You will just have a different company than you currently have. Just have open eyes and realistic expectations of the area and clientele you will service. You or your wife may need to work pt somewhere. Also what Josh said about the 15 people is so true. Where I use to live everyone was intermarried and a close community. Go above and beyond there expectations, sit and have coffee if invited, things to get them to know you. Best of luck. :wink:

 

[ruff]

Hi Jay and Josh,
Thank you for your responses, very informative.

JOSH, my area have a lot of retirees too (45- 75 minutes drive) as the Hill country (not too many hills in Texas) is very appealing for retirees and people with second homes (these people do have higher income.) If they are happy and tell 15 people each, I am in good shape. Here, you are lucky if they tell one person that they like you (nobody knows anybody in the city, you hardly know your neighbors,) but they sure do tell 15, if they don't like you. Having a great relationship with my clients has never been a problem.

JAY, I did not think it was negative at all, it was realistic. Thank you for the phone offer, I will take you on it, I still have your number from our previous posts.

I know I will not get Bay area prices, the income level is so different.
l will have other sources of income, so I do not have to rely on carpet cleaning income immediately.

I am trying to access the situation with my eyes open, that is why I am asking for the opinions of guys with small town (country) carpet cleaning experience. If I can have a decent income ("decent", also depends on the amount of hours spent making it) then it is o.k. For example if I can make say $30,000 net income a year working normal hours 3 days a week, that will be fine as it will allow me to develop other business while having an income.

Also, I do travel, and when I did in the past I just closed my business for 2-3 weeks, it was not great for business (loss of new clients) but most of my existing clients did wait for me. From your experience, will small town clients be willing to wait?

So, if that situation is possible, it's worth it, as I have the knowledge, the skill and the equipment, so there is very little cash outlay. If, however I will have to devote tons of hours just scraping to make a living, I might as well try a business with a better chance of making good money. As we all know, it takes a lot of effort and energy to get a business going. So, if the above is not realistic I might as well spend my time and energy where at least there are better chances for $ return.

What's your opinion guys?

p.s. Josh, I can't hang my wand!
That is called "wand lynching" and it is strictly forbidden on this board.
On second thought, it is Texas though.

 

[Jay D]

I would say you could get to 40,000 net(55,000gross receipts) no problem working 30 hours a week. Also once your clients know you traveling for 2 weeks or so is not a problem as long as the phone is on call forwarding and you call them back at the end of each day. Most retirees understand you need to vacation once and a while. The only people that might have a situation with that are the vacation rental property managers if there are any there.