Does Anyone Here Clean Carpet???

[ACE]

I mean only clean carpet for 95%+ of their revenue.


Here is a laundry list of services I currently or have offered over the last few years, Carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, protection, odor removal, offsite rug cleaning, Hardwood refinishing, janitorial, window washing, restoration, carpet stretching / repair, tile and grout cleaning, VCT refinish and maintenance.

Diversification is good but, not at the cost of efficiency and focus on your primary business. I’ve come to the realization that I’m not much of a business man and don’t see much growth down the road. I want to keep it simple, profitable and small from here on out.

So how many here have simple enough operations that all of the equipment fits in a well organized van but are not hurting for work??

 

[Derek]

i fit into that category. less than 5% comes from commercial upholstery. probably 1-2%.

the rest is strictly CC'ing with just me and the missus. simple and a pretty flexible schedule. i feel very fortunate. i am always looking for more clients, but not desperately so anymore. this was a good year.

i hope simplifying works out for you Ace! :mrgreen: less stress is a good thing.

 

[Doug Cox]

I do mostly carpet. I also do upholstery, but that is the extent of my business. If I could do something other than commercial to keep me busy in the winter, I might consider it, but haven't found it yet and am happy with it the way it is. Over the years I've been eliminating services to lighten my work load. And I work full time or better 3/4 of the year, so a little time off isn't too bad.

 

[Able 1]

95% carpet here, probably 3% upholstery, and 2% tile and misc. stuff (if that)...

 

[Jim Nelson]

100% carpet.

 

[Shorty]

You name it, I've probably done it.

I wonder how many others are so gullible that we take a trainers word, (who is usually paid by a supplier), that the course we are doing is going to be the next best thing since sliced bread.


AND, if we use such 'n such products, we'll need another van to get our money to the bank.

How many times have you bought the "duck's guts" in equipment, only to find it spends more time in your truck, or being repaired and it really doesn't do what "they" promised it would do.??

Or this "new juice is rocket fuel and will blow the competition away", and you realise that it costs an arm and a leg to do a mediocre job, that your present product has been doing, a lot better, for a fraction of the price.

I'm also slowing down, or, if I can borrow a catch phrase, I'm going "back to basics".

The more you learn, the more crap you buy, the bigger the rig gets, the more profit you outlay to go bigger and better to service a rapidly diminishing market that the price hunters have scalped.

I have come to realise that there are several honest producers and suppliers out there, but they are few and far between.

Wow, guess I needed that dummy spit. shiteatinggrin

 

[John Watson]

I used to offer it all, Carried 98%of the stuff on the truck so I had it when I needed it. Like the Short One said Go to all these get rich add on schools, Up the suppliers monthly take, Ive seen many get so spread out they couldn't do anything good.. Me and My Helen just did things "More Better" . Now just enjoying sitten back memberin, On to 4 mo of doing nothing, Couple more and I might have it down patt. Just today, My Helen was atalkin bout what we misses and whats we don't..

 

[Becker]

I'm nearly all res carpet.

In fact 91.3% res carpet cleaning
2.5 comm carpet
remaining upholstery and small chunk of tile.

 

[Chris A]

yup 90+ carpet, and all my stuff fits in my extended chevy (I do run a clutch drive though)

 

[juniorc82]

60% carpet 25% tile and vct 15%upholstery, water, etc

 

[renegade_cowboy]

I do mainly residential carpet.

I watched an interview with Bill Gates and someone asked his advice about starting a business and he exact words was "keep it simple". Everything I do is simple all the way to the per room pricing, 31 day guarantee and stick to carpet and Upholstery till I can build off that and expand. Next spring I am going into hardwood floors (cross fingers), leather and more T&G. I already have training in those services, so should be easy to incorporate in. Just wanted to build up the foundation before I spread myself to thin.

 

[Derek]

Ace, i guess it's just Keith, Jim & me.

diversifying can be a good thing no doubt. us 3 have made it work 95%+. good or bad is up to you. personally, it's worked for me.

 

[ACE]

Don’t change a thing!

It’s so tempting to add another service because it’s interesting, and you have been leaving money on the table by not providing it.

The biggest names in this industry like steemer and Chem –Lie keep it simple, streamlined and easy to replicate. By all means find a unique image, but Keep it simple.

 

[Derek]

the only way guys like us will be in trouble is obviously if the flooring trend goes on to more and more hard floors.

but that would only hurt us in like 5-20 years. and for a guy like me in commercial only, it will be even longer.

either way, it is beneficial to at least KNOW how to do other stuff like refinishing wood floors, so if the poop hits the fan for us, we can cross over more easily. if that happens i'll be back to cleaning toilets in no time :mrgreen: anything to pay the bills.

 

[Chris A]

Don’t change a thing!

It’s so tempting to add another service because it’s interesting, and you have been leaving money on the table by not providing it.

The biggest names in this industry like steemer and Chem –Lie keep it simple, streamlined and easy to replicate. By all means find a unique image, but Keep it simple.

I'm not sure about Chem-Dry, but Stanley here in Akron does Tile, Air Ducts, wood floors, area rugs, water damage and of course upholstery. Maybe their the exception but they're a pretty large franchise (~10 units)

 

[Brian R]

Take it from a guy who's business name used to be "Just Carpet Cleaning".


You need to do more than just carpet cleaning to make that "over the top" money.


I would bet you guys whol said almost 100% carpet cleaning add for pet treatment etc right?

It's not so much just the act of carpet cleaning....It doing extra services WHILE IN THE HOME that makes all the difference.

Time is money......Yes still.


If you can go in to clean the carpets......Add a stain resistence, clean their upholstery and do a pet treatment....that little bit of extra cash will make a huge difference at the end of the year.

Don't push the hard sell...Which some call the "upsell"....Just offer them your services while in the house....Tile was huge when I offered it....Now my biggest are protectant, pet treatment and upholstery.

You don't have to do airducts, carpet repair, window washing, house cleaning etc......But be sure to find somone to refer that work to so they can refer work back.


Don't limit yourself....But don't overextend yourself either.

 

[KevinL]

90% carpet, also do wdr,upholstery, t&g. Lets name a few of the items we've been sucked into buying with the lines "you're leaving money on the table" or "you'll be the guy they call". 1. E-tes that I've used once in 2 years. 2. Bear Claw that I can't even make work.

 

[Derek]

Brian, i dont charge extra for treating & OP'ing dog urine. John's URout is a great product, can even be used as a straight up pad cleaning solution if you wanted to. i use it for that on the homes with dogs, just in case.

 

[Brian R]

I too use a onestep solution Blast....But I put more of the pet urine stuff in when needed....And charge for it.

 

[Jim Nelson]

Take it from a guy who's business name used to be "Just Carpet Cleaning".


You need to do more than just carpet cleaning to make that "over the top" money.


I would bet you guys whol said almost 100% carpet cleaning add for pet treatment etc right?

It's not so much just the act of carpet cleaning....It doing extra services WHILE IN THE HOME that makes all the difference.

Time is money......Yes still.


If you can go in to clean the carpets......Add a stain resistence, clean their upholstery and do a pet treatment....that little bit of extra cash will make a huge difference at the end of the year.

Don't push the hard sell...Which some call the "upsell"....Just offer them your services while in the house....Tile was huge when I offered it....Now my biggest are protectant, pet treatment and upholstery.

You don't have to do airducts, carpet repair, window washing, house cleaning etc......But be sure to find somone to refer that work to so they can refer work back.


Don't limit yourself....But don't overextend yourself either.

When you clean the carpet you don't need a pet treatment,it comes out in the cleaning. For the new year I will be cleaning hardwood floors all so.

 

[GeneMiller]

i'm not sophisticated enough to know my numbers but we do a lot of tile and furniture along with carpet. i'm shocked at how low some of the numbers are for the other items. up selling protector on furniture is almost 100 % and the same with sealer on grout.

gene