Looking to start a business based on a CRB/VLM sytem

[andrewyates]

So, this is my first post. (woohoo) I have spent the past few months doing some research in the carpet cleaning industry. Keep in mind that I am new to this industry and wanted to get as much information as possible. I came across OxiFresh and fell in love with the business model. (everything but the franchise fees) So, I did my research and finally found the business who manufactures their equipment and white labels most of their products. A one system set up would cost around $4k -$5k.

I wanted to see what some of you who have used this type of method. After all, that is all that OxiFresh is built on. I've spoke to several of the franchise owners and they love it. Most one man crews generates $2,500 - $3,000 a week in residential services.

Thanks guys!

 

[hogjowl]

Many of us here have CRB/VLM equipment, and successfully use it on commercial. One or two of the really weird guys here claim they make a living using it exclusively in residential.

We also have a few guys who claim they are successful rocket scientists or stock brokers and just clean carpet for fun.

 

[andrewyates]

lol you mean we can get paid to clean carpets?

I am just curious because I feel it would be a hard sell to homeowners. However, somehow OxiFresh has done it and is pretty successful. They use no truck mounts what so ever. Just the CRB machines and the pres-pray/encap

From what I see the average chemical cost is right around $0.05 sq.ft. Which is another reason why I am interested in this.

 

[Mikey P]

Its a very limited method. Any of the Very Low Moisture methods are.

Deep greasy soil and pet messes will just be made worse as a tech attempts to "draw" the soil out by "rubbing/brushing" it in. You either will have to have an extractor on hand of some sort, 12 gallon portable, auto in auto out like the Rotovac CFX machines or be willing to sub out or refer out the large homes that you wont want to attempt.


Oxy Fresh is certainly a cheap way to go a bout it..Small Econo car, a $3000 scrubber and a few chemicals.. Easy to train the techs, low maintenance costs etc.. And you find that maybe 75% of your jobs will go as planned and customer will be thrilled with the dry times if they are use to the splash and dash franchise steam cleaners.

YOur tech (or yourself ) will need strong skills in spot cleaning. The OF method does not have heat or flushing involve so lots of spots that a steam cleaner can remove in second wiht no extra effort will be a hand and knees event for you. (blot don't scrub)

We have a guy here on MB, @WillS is his user name. His biz in Las Vegas uses the Host method (very similar to OF) and he does very well with it. I strongly recommend have a discussion with him over the phone.



what else..?

 

[J Scott W]

Low moisture and fast drying is important to many consumers. Chem Dry and other carpet franchises have been built on that concept. Dry (or drier) methods can also be great way to get commercial accounts.

Many cleaners will be glad to spend time discussing what method removes the most soil and variations of that topic. But the key is finding clients who want what you offer. Usually the hard part of business is getting the clients - marketing. Plan to spend time and dollars on that aspect of the business.

We have some training videos on our website. Also would lvoe to provide what ever machines, accessories and chemistry you need to reach your goals. www.interlinksupply.com

 

[WillS]

You won't be on your hands and knees removing spots. You'll only have to do this with red dye. Urine extraction is easy with a Heated Extractor and Water Claw.

Everyone wants to say CRB is only used on commercial carpet, but it seems like more and more everyday cleaners are switching to it for Residential. Ever changing. As long as you do it right, you can produce as good and even better results then other processes.

Feel free to message me and I can provide some more information on low moisture cleaning. Cleaning Results, Customer Service, Good Marketing. After 2 years of opening we service 50 houses a week on avg. right now. More than our competitors with those advertised amazing truck mounted systems that have been cleaning for 30 years with IICRC certification. With all due respect...

Do you know what type of chemicals OxiFresh is using to clean? Do they use a dry compound? I've checked out their pricing per room before and they are higher than us, makes me think I need to be raising that again here soon.

 

[Mikey P]

Do you know what type of chemicals OxiFresh is using to clean?

liquid, peroxide based wonder juice.

 

[WillS]

Encap 02? I really want to know how they clean. They are charging $265 for 3 rooms and a hallway in Vegas. It must be amazing.

 

[Mikey P]

wow...

it must be OXY Fresh!

 

[andrewyates]

@WillS I'm surprised to hear those rates. Most of the OxiFresh guys have lower prices. Which surprises me, between the franchsie fee's, chemical fees and all the other hidden fee's they are giving away at least 12% of their income to the franchise.

 

[WillS]

Just get a fancy looking logo and look like a franchise.

 

[andrewyates]

Love the trucks and logo. They look great!

 

[Mikey P]

Will is the only vlm guy I listen too with full respect.


Consider yourself very fortunate to have made the connection

 

[andrewyates]

great to hear!

 

[andrewyates]

From crunching numbers, I am looking at $0.25 sq.ft residential and $0.175 sq.ft for commercial. What's tough is a lot of TM guys are doing work in the area at $0.07 sq.ft. somehow they are able to make something in it because they keep paying for marketing and getting jobs.

I'm not in the business to lose money. Just or of curiosity, what kind of rates are you seeing and what kind of rates do you guys charge?

 

[Mikey P]

@Desk Jockey

 

[Desk Jockey]

.35 residential HWE and Encap from .12 to .18 depending on size of job.

30k and we will be around .12.

You can barely make a reasonable return at .07, regardless of method. One bump in the road and you'll be lucky to break even.

 

[Shorty]

wow...

it must be OXY Fresh!

I think their brains may be Oxy-Starved.

 

[TomKing]

Welcome to the board.

If you truly want to do your research take the time to look at all the major carpet manufactures warranty.

95% of them recommend HWE as their preferred method of cleaning.

Fabrica one of the finest carpets made recommends Host as an interim cleaning method and then tells you to use HWE for restorative cleaning.

I do not know of one carpet manufacture that recommends the method you are describing to maintain their product.

Several have language that would indicate you are violating the manufactures warranty.

Some will jump in now and say warranties are junk. That is not the point.

Professional look to follow recommendations.

The CRB/VLM guys can talk the talk all day long and the distributors will tell you it is a good way to get started because they sell the stuff.

You will find 100 guys who have been in the business 10-20 years that will tell you to go get a truck mount for every one CBR guy like Will. No disrespect to Will he might be the only successful guy in America doing this.

CRB will never do what a Truck mount can do for scope and type of work.

How do you expect to clean high end upholstery fabric that is maybe like $150 dollars per yard? You can't run your CRB over it. How about Tile? How about hardwood? Truck mounts can do all that a CBR can only do carpet.

If I take my Harley or BMW in to be serviced I want them to take care of it like it is recommend.

If your goal is to go around cleaning a bunch of apartments or rentals that might not matter if you would like to make the money some on this board do and clean, clean carpet for really nice clients you might want to think about HWE.

A good Truck mount and van can be had for about $900 a month for 84 months. You can blow away what Encapsulate will do and never have to worry about making that payment. CBR cleans one type of surface a truck mount cleans Carpet, Tile,Upholstery, Hardwood.

I bought 2 new Hydramaster 4.8 CDS units in Chevy extended vans in 2013. One was payed off in December and the other will be paid off in February. I also own 3 cimex units. I owned 2 truck mounts before I had a cimex for encaping. Heck we just bought 3 brush pro units this summer but had 4 truck mounts.

I started with crappy equipment 7 years ago and if I had it to do over I would go right down to Jon Don and get my brand new unit and never look back.

Oh we have the franchise you speak off around here. It's one truck. Not a major player in our market. You seem like a guy who might want more.

I would be happy to talk live give me a call.

 

[ruff]

.....

I wanted to see what some of you who have used this type of method. After all, that is all that OxiFresh is built on. I've spoke to several of the franchise owners and they love it. Most one man crews generates $2,500 - $3,000 a week in residential services.

Could it be that what these franchisees really like is what the franchise provides in Image, Public awareness, advertising, actual marketing and marketing materials etc.
Are you ready and willing to create your own and compete with them?

As I am sure that there's nothing really new, revolutionary or unique in their specific product and process. It's the other stuff.

 

[WillS]

Being a VLM cleaner doesn't mean you can't offer upholstery, tile, drape, hardwood floor etc. cleaning.

We do all of that. Use the heated extractor you buy to extract urine with a water claw. Put a hand wand on it and there ya go. Tile cleaning? We actually use a CRB to go over grout lines (so much easier than hand-scrubbing them) while cleaning it with a floor machine. It just depends on how you want to go. Things that we can't do, water damage, air duct cleaning; those reasons I would buy a TM in the future.

This is in my opinion..... Spend $30,000-$40,000 on a truck mount w/ van and use the same tool for everything, which is great, or you can spend 10,000$ or less on several tools and use them for everything. Hence why we have the 3 trucks with back up equipment for each and spent around $30,000-40,000. We have built this up over the last 2 years with NO debt. Cash paid for everything instead of worrying about a monthly payment for a TM that could breakdown and cost thousands to fix. Our biggest equip. cost is replacing a motor and gears in a HOST machine for $1,200.

3 trucks has been more profitable then running 1 van, when business build$ up. There are quite a bit of VLM cleaners out there that run profitable businesses. I can't seem to find them on the board, but if you do some google research, touch base with those cleaners, they are out there.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Sell clean instead of selling a method. People really don't care what method you use as long as they feel they got value for their dollar.

Don't price yourself by what your competitors charge. Rather decide on what your target rate per hour is and break that down by the room or sq/ft.

 

[hogjowl]

You know those guys who dress up
like Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader at Star Wars movies? They're 30 something and live at home with Mom.

They're also vlm cleaners.

Don't make your kids be a child of a vlm cleaner.

 

[WillS]

Are you just posting for credits again? The raffles over.

No Star Wars here. However I did spend 7 hours watching "Making a Murderer" on Nextflix yesterday while working on the laptop. If you haven't seen it, IT'S A MUST.

It's been a slow week.

 

[Mikey P]

dont be picking on Olson...He sells truckmounts at least.

 

[ruff]

......I came across OxiFresh and fell in love with the business model. (everything but the franchise fees)...........

It will help if you'd be more specific about what is their business model that you like so much.

 

[TomKing]

Being a VLM cleaner doesn't mean you can't offer upholstery, tile, drape, hardwood floor etc. cleaning.

We do all of that. Use the heated extractor you buy to extract urine with a water claw. Put a hand wand on it and there ya go. Tile cleaning? We actually use a CRB to go over grout lines (so much easier than hand-scrubbing them) while cleaning it with a floor machine. It just depends on how you want to go. Things that we can't do, water damage, air duct cleaning; those reasons I would buy a TM in the future.

This is in my opinion..... Spend $30,000-$40,000 on a truck mount w/ van and use the same tool for everything, which is great, or you can spend 10,000$ or less on several tools and use them for everything. Hence why we have the 3 trucks with back up equipment for each and spent around $30,000-40,000. We have built this up over the last 2 years with NO debt. Cash paid for everything instead of worrying about a monthly payment for a TM that could breakdown and cost thousands to fix. Our biggest equip. cost is replacing a motor and gears in a HOST machine for $1,200.

3 trucks has been more profitable then running 1 van, when business build$ up. There are quite a bit of VLM cleaners out there that run profitable businesses. I can't seem to find them on this board, but if you do some google research, touch base with those cleaners, they are out there.

What Will says makes financial sense.

It still does not address the fact that the manufactures don't recommend it.

Water damage 1 big rain and your truck mount can be paid off.

With TM's being only a $900 payment a guy like Will would never have to worry he is to much of a get out there and hustle guy.

A fully stock and ready to go TM is more about $65k. Don't go out to a distributor and buy everything find a guy on this forum in your area to help.

Again hind site tells me go get one yesterday and start selling.

I used a bunch of cobbled together equipment our first year it sucked.

I could not believe the first time we pulled in hose and solution line changed the tools for the different surfaces. FAST HOT AND AMAZING RESULTS.

Start writing your business plan.
Look around what do you want your company to be?
Size? Employees? What will your daily role be?
What services will you offer?
How much risk can you with stand?
Do you have a past successful sales record?
Have you every managed people?
Where you ever in charge of a budget?

Answer those questions and it might be easier to decide how to start.

What's the old saying "begin with the end in mind".

 

[Desk Jockey]

You know those guys who dress up
like Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader at Star Wars movies? They're 30 something and live at home with Mom.

They're also vlm cleaners.

Don't make your kids be a child of a vlm cleaner.

You know you're a tremendous asshole! Congrats on being far beyond average!

 

[andrewyates]

Sell clean instead of selling a method. People really don't care what method you use as long as they feel they got value for their dollar.

Don't price yourself by what your competitors charge. Rather decide on what your target rate per hour is and break that down by the room or sq/ft.

That's my thought exactly. My challenge will be that Buffalo is known as a "coupon" city.

 

[Desk Jockey]

"What's the old saying "begin with the end in mind"
Steven Covey