Starting A Business

[fm88]

Hello everyone!

I run a car detail(interior & exterior) business in Northern California. I get tons of requests asking me if I do or know a carpet cleaning business. So, with that being said, I am going to delve into starting a carpet cleaning business alongside my auto detail business. Now, I am good at marketing, sales, creating business goals/vision and getting new customers. What I lack is good technical knowledge and experience in carpet cleaning. I have done car upholstery but I would assume that house carpet cleaning is a whole new monster.

With all of this said, I will be starting on a shoe-string budget(like my other business) and reinvesting back into the business. I will be part-time for a bit and having a few helpers here and there. Eventually I may full-time it up and hire someone to manage it. I am not looking for high-end cleaning or market. I am more into the production line of work while still maintaining good quality work and ethics. I have found out that forums are usually the best way to connect with intellectuals and knowledgeable professionals and enthusiasts. So, if you would like to help me with the technical side of the business, I would appreciate it. Some of the things I am curious about are:

What kind of system should I start with which is easy to pick and learn while not breaking the bank? Can I buy it used/refurbished and from where? What technical skills can I acquire and from where(books, videos etc)? Anything that you guys a newbie should be aware of?

I would appreciate your help. Thank you!

 

[Mikey P]

Marty, its your turn...

 

[PrimaDonna]

Be nice, Mikey. The guy is looking for some USEFUL info. Don't sic Marty on him.

 

[ruff]

Do a search on similar subjects.
Maybe Mike and Fred can make a FAQ area on this board, as some of these questions come along every so often.

Also call and talk to Ray at Carpet maintenance supply (650) 345-5050. Good and honest supplier, will give you good advise.

And down the road, don't forget to give your business to the people who support you. That advise was free and it's on me

 

[billyeadon]

Fahad,
Jon-Don has created a new program designed for a start up cleaning business. If you would like more information http://www.jondon.com/starting-carpet-cleaning-business

 

[J Scott W]

Decide on your market before you decide what equipment to purchase and how to run the business. Commercial cleaning is different from high end cleaning and different from high volume cleaning.

For your budget, check out the classified section on www.interlinksupply.com. The site also has several training videos and more.

 

[Desk Jockey]

• Carpet cleaning is recession-proof
• The profit potential is HUGE
• Carpet cleaning is a “scalable” business
• There’s never a shortage of new customers
• Demand for professional cleaning services increases every year
• Anyone can do it And here I thought I was special.

 

[ruff]

Sounds almost as true as the four noble truths:

The Buddha's first sermon after his Enlightenment centered on the Four Noble Truths, which are the foundation of Buddhism. The truths are:

1. The truth of suffering (dukkha)
2. The truth of the cause of suffering (samudaya)
3. The truth of the end of suffering (nirhodha)
4. The truth of the path that frees us from suffering (magga)

 

[fm88]

Hello and Thank you all for the input. I am only seeking Commercial and/or Volume. More like maintenance gigs and eventual business expansion/franchising. I am still doing research and checking out the resources you people have mentioned.

@Ofer Kolton : I will give him a call some time next week.
@billyeadon : Love their resources and reading/watching them during free nights.
@Scott W: Checking them out as well. Any other places for buying used equipment? I all ready do high-end work for my other business and I am not looking for high-end in carpet cleaning.

Thank you all. Means a lot!

 

[Captain America]

Go talk to 3 local carpet cleaning guys who started there business...
Ask them all these questions and look at there equipment before you jump into $$$$ for equipment.

 

[Steve Toburen]

I am only seeking Commercial and/or Volume...

Fahad, if you are focusing on commercial Jon-Don's new 3 day Steps to Success seminar for beginning carpet cleaners might be just the ticket. For example, in our first STS I am teaching a two hour session called...

Why and How you can set up Commercial “Toll Booths”!

• What the regular cash flow of a commercial “Toll Booth” route can mean to your new business.
• How to efficiently perform your weekly "Dedicated Sales Morning".
• What to do when you are face to face with a commercial prospect. (Use your Commercial Carpet Analysis worksheet!)
• We cover in-depth how to design and price a commercial proposal and why “open access” (a key!) is so important.
• Plus you will receive production guidelines and tips for speed in commercial work.

Best wishes,
Steve

PS Now Fahad, to get you focused right now we have an entire section on selling/ pricing/ producing commercial contract accounts HERE on the SFS web site. All the resources are free. (I can't do better than free. OK, I do pay Mikey extra just to read them...)

 

[PrimaDonna]

I all ready do high-end work for my other business and I am not looking for high-end in carpet cleaning.
!

Why not?

You already have an established client base you could market to. Ones that already know you, trust you and hopefully are repeat customers . The leap to you to maintain their flooring and home furnishings should be seamless.

The profit in high end carpet cleaning is worthwile. Seems like it would be a great way to expand in your current demographic/niche.

 

[fm88]

@Captain America: I'll look into it and I plan to connect with them prior to the launch in March/April. Thank you.

@BurdicksCleaning: You are absolutely spot on! I did think about it and it was a hard decision but this carpet business is going to be isolated away from my current business. There is profit but I am always booked with my detail gigs and other projects that I don't have time to learn and practice all the high-end work. It will initially be hard and may even be a big loss but I am willing to take this business gamble. My goal here is hire, easy duplication and rapid expansion while maintaining quality work. I'll leave the high-end and more liable work to all the more experienced and knowledgeable folks, such as yourself. With that being said, I will market it to my customers as a 'sister' company but at the same time lower their expectations and be honest with them about the quality of work. In other words, I would rather be an honest downgrade than a dishonest upgrade. Unless... you can tell me that high-end work can be done while having rapid expansion and easy duplication of labor?

 

[PrimaDonna]

Unless... you can tell me that high-end work can be done while having rapid expansion and easy duplication of labor?

I absolutely can tell you that. @TomKing, I think this would be a perfect time for you to chime in. And you too @Steve Toburen .

No matter what business, rapid expansion is only possible when you have the correct and duplicable systems in place. But, it takes time to get those systems in place, people trained and work out the kinks....be it commercial or residential. (Have you read the E-Myth?, From your posts I would bet you have, but if not, get on it) It may take a bit longer to do in the high end residential market, but it would be well worth your patience in taking the time to do it.

I will market it to my customers as a 'sister' company but at the same time lower their expectations and be honest with them about the quality of work. In other words, I would rather be an honest downgrade than a dishonest upgrade

Why would you want to lower their expectations? I'd be worried they would then begin to assume/associate (wrongly) that the quality of your currently doing for them would not be up to par or start to slip. I really hope that you explore and rethink this strategy a bit more.

 

[Mikey P]

Keep this in mind..

Higher end clientele IMO, are home owners with working spouses or a white collared hubby who makes enough for wifey to stay home. They own two or more autos and take vacations. Non subsidized retirement is in their future.


Are people like that scaring you off?

Get over it because those are the ones that keep cleaning on a regular basis when the economy goes sour.

Besides its easier to perform a great cleaning and rest on your reputation than to splash and dash your way through and have to always be marketing for new suckers.


Pre vacuum
Pre spray
Aggitate mechanically
and or rinse with a rotary extractor
Rinse with a well formulated low profile multi jetted wand
Groom
Wipe prespray of uph legs.

That's high end cleaning.

Low end?

Pre spray bad spots
Charge extra if they're red or yellow
Wand rinse with lots of emulsifier
Wait for bad review on the web.
Return visit to correct whicking and plead for forgiveness.


Which sounds better?

 

[PrimaDonna]

Higher end clientele IMO, are home owners with working spouses or a white collared hubby who makes enough for wifey to stay home. They own two or more autos and take vacations. Non subsidized retirement is in their future.

And they don't let their carpets get trashed like low end rentals. So, it's a lot less work when you aren't trying to "restore" a carpet. (Unless they have a spoiled pet that they treat like a human offspring that pisses and poops everywhere and is allowed on the furniture. Then they pay even more for you to do urine removal in the carpet and to clean the upholstery to get the so.il/oils from the pet fur out)

 

[PrimaDonna]

And their checks don't bounce.....

 

[fm88]

@Mikey P : The low-end you mentioned isn't quite what I thought but I do agree that it does sound horrible. I was thinking more in the lines of the high-end process you mentioned(though you did make it more elaborate for which I thank you). Is there a book or website I can read regarding more of the process you mentioned? I don't quite have the funds or time to attend any seminars. Videos, write-ups and books are my friend here.

@BurdicksCleaning : I haven't read e-myth. Looking at it on Amazon right now. I did study mechanical engineering at Purdue and taken a few entrepreneurship courses as well along with accounting, computer science, business administration, psych and so on. However, I will add that to my late night reading book. Anything else you think I should be wary of and need to know?

I think you and Mikey have made a solid case with the high-end market. Plus, they are always really nice people with great manners aren't they?

 

[PrimaDonna]

Actually they can be a pain in the ass...but I'd rather have this kind of pain in the ass than the cheap ones.

I don't mind bending over backwards to please a customer that will pay top dollar and refer us to like clients. Can't tell you how many times I've heard "Oh, if you clean for so and so, you are good enough for me. I know how picky she/they are."

Glad you have listened to reason! You won't be disappointed if you stick with this demographic. It may take a bit longer to get established and build your client base, but I promise it will be worth it.

If there is any way you can get yourself to Jon-Don's Strategies for Success, it would be well worth your while. You will walk away with an operations manual with all the systems you need. Not to mention so much info, you won't know where to start. And a great network of folks you can reach out to. If you want some great "free" reading, check out that site and sign up for the weekly newsletter. @Steve Toburen

How about that @Mikey P, Someone is actually taking our advice.

 

[WillS]

And their checks don't bounce.....

Amen!

 

[Willy P]

I don't know why everyone has a woody for apartments. I get 80 fr a one room studio, 100 for a 1 bedroom, and 120 for a 2br - double if they're nasty. Pre vaced and ready to go.I show up on time and do a good job consistently, use a rsag to wipe drips and throw a few ounces of deodorizer in my prespray. Last week I did three 1 br's for $300, done in a little over 2 hours.Most of the managers try to schedule multiples for me as they know it helps me. It's what you can do, not what you can't or won't.

 

[Mikey P]

Its not the apartments Willy.

Its the apartment dwellers.

 

[Captain America]

You can make money on just about any carpet cleaning high end apts. rentals even hotels.
I clean whatever is available and always make between 50-100 per hour.
It's better to clean low end than no work at all, you should diversify.
I know a few guys who refuse to clean anything but high end and one is out of business.

 

[Ivan Turner]

I know a few guys who refuse to clean anything but high end and one is out of business. <----------- excellent point! I did the same thing some 15 years ago and charged .35 per square foot. I sure never had to worry about doing to many dumps. However, the Pickens was a bit slim considering that my rate was higher than average and only priced after an in home estimate. I would have been better off room pricing and taking anything that came my way, with an exception here and there.

 

[Desk Jockey]

15 years ago and charged .35 per square foot.

We charge that now! Man you were gouging people.

 

[Ivan Turner]

Hey listen Hoppy, I ran a Bane. I could only do so much footage per day.

 

[Ivan Turner]

Richard....and on top of that I used a pocket microscope to determine fiber type, and did the entire pre-inspection skit. So in essence, .35 was way to low in my opinion.

 

[Desk Jockey]

uhh huh....for your pocket book.

 

[Steve Toburen]

Fahad, between Mikey and Meg you have received some really good advice here. Even though especially in the beginning if you can score some solid regular commercial account this regular cash flow can be huge. With residential (even with the high end stuff) there is constant fretting over "is the phone ever going to ring again"?

Now I know you say "I don't quite have the funds or time to attend any seminars. Videos, write-ups and books are my friend here." That works... up to a point. But we are talking your future here. Just a little time/money invested here in "getting started off right" will pay huge dividends later. The people here are great but nothing beats "going to school"! However...

... If you want some great "free" reading, check out that site and sign up for the weekly newsletter. @Steve Toburen

So Fahad, as Meg suggest if you really can't (won't?) invest in your future now you can sign up for our free weekly QuickTIPS HERE. (In the right hand column.) You can also read the hundreds of QuickTIPS at the same link. Many came from people here including some really good ones from a physical work-challenged guy in Topeka, Kansas!

Steve

PS Nice to see you earning respect from this rough-and-tumble group on here, Meg. In fact, Fahad, You can learn even more from Meg in her ongoing business blog HERE on the SFS website.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Many came from people here including some really good ones from a physical work-challenged guy in Topeka, Kansas!