Hey old guys

[Chads]

How much did you seasoned guys make Gross the first three years in biz,and tell numbers for each year, and how did you get your self established. What was your biggest mistake and your best business move you made. :?:

 

[joe harper]

I made just enough to get drunk every night.....and saved enough money for HUNTING SEASON.
Then I would sleep with all their wives & girlfreinds while they were at HUNTING CAMP.......
(male-bonding) :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

I went into great detail :wink: :wink: ....to SERVICE them to the best of my abiality

This created a very close-nitt cleint base....With-in the upper income CIRCLES.....
And of-course there was always the FISHING & GOLF OUTINGS to fill in the slack times......


GOOD LUCK..... "Thats how the OLD GUYS ROLL"

ps On the other hand ....you young "whipper-snappers" were getting the same service from JOE P.

 

[Papa]

I can't tell you what we made the first three years because our records don't date back that far, but I can tell you that an owner operated business has always been very lucrative. We established ourselves as a labor shop for local furniture outlets, where people purchased carpet in those days, and offered cleaning to the buyers of new carpet. Our biggest mistake was paying our techs too much just to have them buy their own truck and steal our customers. The best business move we ever made was to get rid of our showroom when the home depot came on the scene. Did you know the home depot owns chemdry?

 

[Jim Martin]

How much did you seasoned guys make Gross the first three years in biz,and tell numbers for each year, and how did you get your self established. What was your biggest mistake and your best business move you made. :?:

We took a loss the first 2 years.......the third year things started to turn around and after all the over head we were able to finally go to McDonald's and grab a happy meal...

I honestly think it was a "Free Protector" post card that got our phone ringing a little more...After that it was just a matter of giving 100% to every job and start build in client base and good relationships .....Good referral program also helped push it along....

Our biggest mistake was the lease on the equipment......falling face first into buying all the useless crap that we did not need but were told we would have to have it to make it in this industry.....and getting sucked into worthless marketing plans that just did not fit with out area....

The best move we made was when we got out of that comfort zone and started to take care of everything our self and and learned that we don't need a main person/distributor to help us......we learned how to make things happen for our own self's...Stop worrying about what everyone else was doing and focused on where we wanted to be......after about 6 months of doing this things took a turn and the company just took off and we have never looked back...There was some hit and miss for awhile there but now we have it very fine tuned....

Old ......probably, I don't heal as fast as I use to
Seasoned......not even close...Only in this industry for around 7 years, and still have a long way to go.
It takes strict dedication ......Something I had to put in me being an electrician for so many years is there is no room for mistakes....One mistake could burn someones house down and I have brought that over with me...I am hard on myself and on Tia...

 

[Brian R]

My first company...Chem-Hack
I did $220,000 but it was a franchise and I had a partner...and I didn't know how to run the business part of it so I didn't see much of that money.
Got screwed on ads and all that.
Most of my money went to Harris Research.

Establishing WAS easy because at that time Chem-who was pretty trending and it sold it's self...so it looked like a good deal

Biggest mistakes...going into business with family members (not wife) and doing it with no knowledge of office. Plus I would never own a Franchise again...too many regulations and fees.

Best business decision, was to do everything my way no matter what other people or other business' said. If I screwed up, It was me to blame...and I learned from it.




Actually, getting involved with the Chem-dry and a partner was probably the BEST business move I made...

Because I wouldn't have the knowledge and the drive I have today from ******* up so bad to begin with.

 

[Steve in Omaha]

Lease and large yellow page add almost did me in. Oh yeah, get a good tax pro and stay current!

 

[Jimbo]

How much did you seasoned guys make Gross the first three years in biz,and tell numbers for each year, and how did you get your self established. What was your biggest mistake and your best business move you made.

I've always made good wages and a little profit from my biz...as far as hard numbers no records back to 1981...I kind of think it's not polite to talk about HOW MUCH money we make...just a personal thing...but it has been enough to feed, clothe, and raise three kids...put a couple of them through college...and feed my HotRod habit!


How to get established? Really care about your customers...go out of your way for them. If they are over 50...or look like it...ask them if there is anything else they would like you to do around the house...cause you have about ten minutes before you need to leave for the next job...change a light bulb...whatever...most have nothing that needs done...But YOU OFFERED...no other service person ever has...you stand out as someone who cares.


Worst mistake? Believing that anyone ever reads print advertising...and paying way too much for it. The young whipersnapper yellow pages salespeople always wish me 'good luck' when I turn down their ads...but I don't need luck...I have people that refer me. 2nd worst...financed Business equipment.

Best Business move? I used to carry a 8x11 glossy photo the family...3 happy little blond kids...a smiling (now ex...thank god!) wife and me...as the homeowner paid their bill...I'd show them the picture...and tell them my family wanted to say 'Thank You!' Women melted...tough guys turned mellow...everyone Loves to do biz with a family guy...all of a sudden they Want to refer you and keep doing biz with you...It really worked well...those folks are still with me. 2nd best Pay cash for all equipment...takes a huge amount of stress off.

 

[Nate The Great]

How much did you seasoned guys make Gross the first three years in biz,and tell numbers for each year, and how did you get your self established. What was your biggest mistake and your best business move you made.

I've always made good wages and a little profit from my biz...as far as hard numbers no records back to 1981...I kind of think it's not polite to talk about HOW MUCH money we make...just a personal thing...but it has been enough to feed, clothe, and raise three kids...put a couple of them through college...and feed my HotRod habit!


How to get established? Really care about your customers...go out of your way for them. If they are over 50...or look like it...ask them if there is anything else they would like you to do around the house...cause you have about ten minutes before you need to leave for the next job...change a light bulb...whatever...most have nothing that needs done...But YOU OFFERED...no other service person ever has...you stand out as someone who cares.


Worst mistake? Believing that anyone ever reads print advertising...and paying way too much for it. The young whipersnapper yellow pages salespeople always wish me 'good luck' when I turn down their ads...but I don't need luck...I have people that refer me. 2nd worst...financed Business equipment.

Best Business move? I used to carry a 8x11 glossy photo the family...3 happy little blond kids...a smiling (now ex...thank god!) wife and me...as the homeowner paid their bill...I'd show them the picture...and tell them my family wanted to say 'Thank You!' Women melted...tough guys turned mellow...everyone Loves to do biz with a family guy...all of a sudden they Want to refer you and keep doing biz with you...It really worked well...those folks are still with me. 2nd best Pay cash for all equipment...takes a huge amount of stress off.

My pops would do that, but with wallet sized pics. He always had a smile on his face. Now he's the Grinch who stole christmas!

 

[Papa]

Hey Nate, what island is Aiea on?

 

[TimP]

I'm not an old guy but i'm starting out. I've been losing money the first few years like Jim stated. And like Jim I leased equipment, that I use but the cost is way high for what I bring in. I should have it paid for in 2.5 years and be doing just fine then. However I am starting to be a bit more profitable.

I may need to do a free protector special like Jim did. It's a good idea.

Knowing what I know now I would of bought a used vehicle in good shape. And financed equipment if I could. Leases stink.

 

[Becker]

(9 years ago)Last time I started over, I did about 70k in sales in the 1st 12 months of business.
The next it was close to 100k and on cruise control with growth every year and much less expenses.

It was a good market, even after 9-11.

Should be interesting to see how my once again new location is.
Over all my city now has a far less population, and income. On avg the houses are smaller, and there is a great deal of competition. Along with a very bad economy.

 

[floorguy]

8,16,32

i aint shamed to admit what i did. I thought it was pretty cool to double each year..I mean isnt that a GOOD thing???

I was working another job the 1st 2 years, and so was the wife, so it was supplemented.

i think the 3rd or 4th i bought my 1st BIG ticket item..an autoscrubber...


Sooooo why is everyone saying that leasing was a big mistake?? I mean i know it costs more in the long run....but if i didnt have that write off...the fookin government woulda taken my money.

True this yr being a little slower it sux having that payment...but hey any loan would suck right now..

 

[Loren Egland]

Asking us old guys how much the first year won't get you anywhere. Money went a whole lot further 30 or 40 years ago. If you made $5000 - $10,000 per year in 1970 you were doing just fine.

 

[Kevin. McCreary]

I made just enough to get drunk every night.....and saved enough money for HUNTING SEASON.
Then I would sleep with all their wives & girlfreinds while they were at HUNTING CAMP.......
(male-bonding) :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

I went into great detail :wink: :wink: ....to SERVICE them to the best of my abiality

This created a very close-nitt cleint base....With-in the upper income CIRCLES.....
And of-course there was always the FISHING & GOLF OUTINGS to fill in the slack times......


GOOD LUCK..... "Thats how the OLD GUYS ROLL"

ps On the other hand ....you young "whipper-snappers" were getting the same service from JOE P.

Im not that old but it really works!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Nate The Great]

Hey Nate, what island is Aiea on?

Oahu. "The Gathering Island". :wink:

 

[Papa]

Hey Nate, what island is Aiea on?

Oahu. "The Gathering Island". :wink:

Hey bro, I see that you don't do tile and grout. I've only been to Kauai but I never saw any carpet. You ever thought about coating the lanai's with some sort of cleanable material and selling your hard surface cleaning at the same time? How many people are doing the truckmount cleaning thing over there? You're so blessed to be living in such a beautiful place. Mega shakka brudda!

 

[Askal]

1, 3, and 4 K about for the first three years. That's gross of course. Best decision was taking a 3 year business management program after 6 years of struggling and being broke all the time.. Worst mistake was not taking it sooner.
Al

 

[steve r]

1st year was part time. business made $10,000

2nd year i quit full time job in april and made $40,000

3rd year(last year) made about $55,000 full time all year

1st year i ran a yellow page ad for about $70 a month and not much else.i picked up a resturant that i still have and is monthly.picked up several apartment complexes from the yp ad also.i was forced to quite my full time job because of the apartments.

2nd year started running newspaper ads and things boomed.i found one paper pulled in all the work. i tried about 5 of them so i stuck with the one.also joined BNI maybe the single best thing i have done for my business in terms of money made and professionalism.

3rd year i worked steady all winter except for a couple weeks here and there mostly due to weather.still having a kinda slow start but making more than im spending.i also stopped the newspaper ads a year ago.i have a lady working on my books for me and a hot chick on the van with me once in a while.

im going through a divorce so im not trying to knock them dead but the future looks great.

 

[Fred Homan]

"Free protector"????? ANYONE would figure that you got it built into the price.....Helloooooooooo..... :shock: How stupid do you think people are?

 

[lancehollister]

First year around 80,000

By year 5 a little over 800,000

at year 11 a steady 500,000

Went from 9 trucks to 5 because im tired of training future compitition.

No offense but i paid my dues working for other companys and learning the ins and outs. I had 1 guy leave my van on a side street going to a late flood and had his daddy pick him up and then called me a few hours later to tell me. Then the next week he in his own van. With 3 months experiance on his side. Atleast the smarter ones go a year or so.

The question is , are you a rug scrubber or a Pro.....

 

[Axeman]

First year was a credit card and saving job.

Now three years in and despite the recession my old custies and referrals are a real boon. Still have a looong way to go yet, but it feels like it's getting easier and easier as time goes on.

 

[Out of Character - 0]

First year around 80,000

I had 1 guy leave my van on a side street going to a late flood and had his daddy pick him up and then called me a few hours later to tell me. Then the next week he in his own van.

Those are the guys I don't mind getting collections calls for 9 months after they leave.

I've had 4 employee's gamble on their lunch, win a couple grand, and quit in the middle of their shift. The last guy (IQ lower than my iguana) won 5k at 2:00am and quit the week after we had to loan him money for rent and told me he had at least 5 months to find a job with that much money. I feel for his genetically deficient newborn and stupid wife.