Retail

[renegade_cowboy]

How are you guys doing on retail items? Rakes, mats, spotters, lipstick. What else do you offer? Is retail a factor in your business?

 

[Desk Jockey]

Not really a factor.

I think we sell $6,000.00 a year total and we have a store front.

But it costs little, the girls are here anyway answering the phone and taking in rugs and cushions.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

What kind of items are you selling? What do you techs have to sell on the vans?

 

[Desk Jockey]

Spotters, rakes, deodorizers.

We tried on the truck, but protector sales always made them more. So the dollars they made were not worth carrying the items on the truck. The items would get roughed up and when they finally would make a sale it looked bad.

Probably easier to do as an owner operator.



The items that sell the best are: pet odor eliminators, deodorizer for water damage and koolaid type stain removers.

 

[sweendogg]

We are a full retail business in floor coverings and the cleaning lets us service what we sell and maintain better contact with our customers. So often.. we sell the carpet, rugs, or tile we are cleaning.

 

[Larry B]

And for you BDCC Sweenies dog is up there cleaning the inside of your monitor

 

[sweendogg]

Darn straight... good pooch, and he works cheap too!

 

[Ken Snow]

Like Richard we found it did not make sense to sell the small ticket items off the truck. Like Sween dude we are a retailer and have 4 showrooms selling oriental and area rugs, wall to wall carpet and hard surface flooring.

We do sell a lot of product in our rug cleaning centers (we have 4 and are opening our 5th in a week or so) and sell about 30k in rakes, spotter, deo etc out of them. Our newest rug cleaning center will also have a smattering (aboout 250) of modest priced area rugs (power woven and tufted) and we hope it will be able to genrate about 100k at retail on an inventory of about 20k at cost.

Ken

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Im glad you chimed in Ken, I was curious to what your company does in regards to retail items. I was thinking of having different fronts to this company of mine. Mall, van, store front and online store. I was looking at selling other retail items that pertained to green cleaning and living. There is a big market for it up here. Like Brian, I am just finding ways to piggyback a income off my company., while promoting my carpet cleaning business.

I am still a little ways off from some of the stuff I want to do, but it gives me something to work for. I have a friend that works for a company that can put my name and logo on various items from cloths, towels, pens, stickers for the kids, ect. When I worked at Steemer many years ago, they pushed the retail and it sold pretty well.

 

[Ken Snow]

Hey Brent~ we found like richard did that have 2 dozen plus trucks of guys going out kicking ass all day to clean and upsell SG etc for the cleaning to try to keep retail packaged products clean and actually in stock (spelled shrinkage) on the truck was too much for too little return. The rug ccare centers that have almost 20,000 trantactions a year (times 2 visits for each customer, drop off and pick up) is a much better way for us to display & sell the retail items that are really small ticket items anyway. I'd much rather have them focised on the road with selling additional cleaning (more rooms, furniture, tile etc) at 3-20 times the price of a 10.00 rake, or 3.99 bottle of spotter that after shrinkage/damage is taken into account only had about a 30-40% GM. Add on sales in the home can have as much as a 80-90% GM.

Ken

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Hey Brent~ we found like richard did that have 2 dozen plus trucks of guys going out kicking ass all day to clean and upsell SG etc for the cleaning to try to keep retail packaged products clean and actually in stock (spelled shrinkage) on the truck was too much for too little return. The rug ccare centers that have almost 20,000 trantactions a year (times 2 visits for each customer, drop off and pick up) is a much better way for us to display & sell the retail items that are really small ticket items anyway. I'd much rather have them focised on the road with selling additional cleaning (more rooms, furniture, tile etc) at 3-20 times the price of a 10.00 rake, or 3.99 bottle of spotter that after shrinkage/damage is taken into account only had about a 30-40% GM. Add on sales in the home can have as much as a 80-90% GM.

Ken

I was thinking I would get more of a return off online sales and at a kiosk in the mall. I want to focus more on the kiosk, sell related products with what i do, but more importantly cross sell my carpet cleaning business. The demographic is perfect. 700,000 people go to this local mall every year. Annual income $75,000.

I really dont expect to sell alot off the van, I am more about promoting other stuff I am looking at creating.

 

[Ken Snow]

Sounds like a cool idea Brent~ have you done a proforma to determine your breakeven after your COGS, rent, salary, overhead etc?

 

[Desk Jockey]

I like your online store Idea best. You'll have to sell quite a bit just to pay your monthly booth rental.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Sounds like a cool idea Brent~ have you done a proforma to determine your breakeven after your COGS, rent, salary, overhead etc?

Not yet. I am having a hard time focusing on single projects right now. I just went through a bad seperation with my ex and just picking up the pieces now. So I am trying to get back on the bandwagon. Focus.

I assume there will be little profits with the kiosk, but its the cross selling the carpet cleaning is where I hope to have a bigger profit. I have only picked out half of the invetory I am going to stock in the kiosk. So like other things, its a work in progress. I was thinking of taking business classes to help aid in my focus of what all I want to do.

 

[Ken Snow]

That's cool Brent, you could build the cross selling sales into the proforma by giving a commission to the kiosk business for the cross sale. A portion could go to the salesperson and the balance stays in that business unit but your cleaning business books the expense as marketing and if a separate entity cuts a check monthly for commissions to the kiosk company.

 

[bensurdi]

Brent it sounds like you are very similar to me, and with that being said let me offer you this piece of advise. Take all of your drive, all of your creativity, all of your passion, all of your energy... and put it into ONE platform. Basically... focus on building a very successful carpet cleaning company before you begin to spread your expertise into other areas. You will share much greater success this way and will build stronger businesses. You CAN and WILL make A LOT of money by running a successful carpet cleaning company.... Not enough money? Add upholstery cleaning... Still not enough... Add rug cleaning... STILL NOT ENOUGH?! Add tile & grout cleaning... you get the point.

The added retail aspect of your company will follow effortlessly once you have built a solid foundation for your other goals to build on....

Just my opinion based on my own experiences.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Brent it sounds like you are very similar to me, and with that being said let me offer you this piece of advise. Take all of your drive, all of your creativity, all of your passion, all of your energy... and put it into ONE platform. Basically... focus on building a very successful carpet cleaning company before you begin to spread your expertise into other areas. You will share much greater success this way and will build stronger businesses. You CAN and WILL make A LOT of money by running a successful carpet cleaning company.... Not enough money? Add upholstery cleaning... Still not enough... Add rug cleaning... STILL NOT ENOUGH?! Add tile & grout cleaning... you get the point.
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The added retail aspect of your company will follow effortlessly once you have built a solid foundation for your other goals to build on....

Just my opinion based on my own experiences.

Good advice. I am not getting into retail because I am not making enough money on carpet cleaning, uph cleaning and rug cleaning. I am getting into it to build a brand, to do more than just be a cleaning service. I believe building a brand is important for growth and will substain a business for years to come.

I am working with BD&A to help with my vision. I have a good friend that works there and I am getting my name, logo, image and ideas printed on everything from reuseable grocery bags to stickers for the kidos for next to $nothing$. So cost will be low.

I understand what you are saying about spreading yourself to thin. I 100% agree with you. That is why right now I am sticking to the basics of what I have now and build off that when the time comes. Right now I am planning, looking, learning for it all to come together. I am looking at 2010 for Go Green's: The Green Apple Store to open. It will either work or not. It will be as sucessful as I want it to be. If you can dream it you can do it...

I have been doing this for a long long time. All I do when I clean is think how I can be better, whats really important to the customer and how I can set myself apart from my competitors. I have had some great distractions in my life recently and now I am getting my focus back and my ducks aligned. So we'll see.