bob vawter
Grassy Knoller
GREAT...i think i got away with it.........
The greenest greenhorn I hope I'll ever see.....
- Thread starter Kellie Hiler
- Start date
Kellie Hiler
Member
You did not get away with it.....
If the dude owns 2 other major franchises, I'm sure he's doing just fine. Like DeskJock said, he's probably right that you have to have several to make good money, but the amount of capital$$$$$$ you have to have just to buy the name of those franchises tells me that he has a good cushion to take care of himself.
We looked at sandwich shops several years ago and were advised against them by our accountant.
Good money but you need a few to make it worthwhile. Plus the workforce problems were magnified with multiple locations and working with teenagers.
He basically told us to stick with what we know. Entrepreneurial drift can get the best of you if you're not careful.
Wow ---Richard C---.
Entrepreneurial Drift has kicked my azz so many times. Having too much free time over the winter with summer income from the bike shop to "invest"-(better known as Lose). I should have taken winters off and gone skiing or to southeast Asia and just paid down loans.
Entrepreneurial Drift---has cost me---I cannot believe Richard you could spell a 15 letter word---
Desk Jockey
Member
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Hows dis for length? Uhhh another word.
Hows dis for length? Uhhh another word.
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Walt
Member
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2007
- Messages
- 1,016
That was me 12 years ago. I bought a vortex as my first TM. I had some money saved up and experience working for myself in the cleaning industry. But I'd never cleaned a residential carpet.
One of the scariest moments was paying $1000 bucks a month for a phone ad and the phone didn't ring. I actually thought my phone was broke. I was starting to run a deficit. And I had to sell my beloved jeep to get through the first winter.
What helped the most: ideas I got off of cleanfax and eventually Mikeysboard on how to improve my abilities, how to gorilla market and how to hustle. I networked like crazy with other cleaners my area. I'm surprised how generous many of them were. And I worked like a mad dog on my business.
I made it work, but this thread reminded me that I wasn't alone. I know I don't post here very often. But truth be told, I owe Mikeysboard members a lot.
So, thank you all very much!
@Walt---it just shows either you had huge kahunies or fell for an awesome sales pitch. Or both.. Do you remember what you paid for your Vortex? (probably about what a Butler is now). Do you remember what your payments were besides the 1k a month for the phone and I am assuming some yellow pages? How long did you keep the Vortex? How long until you were actually making a living? How long before the Vortex had a work ending repair?
So as not to be just a question Whore I will give my background.
I started with $3,200 in savings and I rented a 200 square foot office ($200 per month) on the main street of Missoula. There were 6 other shops in town about 50k population at the time. Industry standards recommend one shop per 50k populaton. I bought 13 bikes from a wholesaler in Spokane and bought $1000 in parts, tubes, derailleurs, wheels tires etc. Early on I often cannibalized a bike to sell parts off of it. I Grossed about 30k my first year. I had no credit and for the first two years had to buy everything COD. Actually to save on the fees I sent the checks in before I ordered---the $20 COD on freight was killer.
My best year in the early 90s I grossed $1.1 million. I sold the bike shop to one of my sons a couple of years ago.
So to keep asking Walt Questions ---What are you running for equipment now?
So as not to be just a question Whore I will give my background.
I started with $3,200 in savings and I rented a 200 square foot office ($200 per month) on the main street of Missoula. There were 6 other shops in town about 50k population at the time. Industry standards recommend one shop per 50k populaton. I bought 13 bikes from a wholesaler in Spokane and bought $1000 in parts, tubes, derailleurs, wheels tires etc. Early on I often cannibalized a bike to sell parts off of it. I Grossed about 30k my first year. I had no credit and for the first two years had to buy everything COD. Actually to save on the fees I sent the checks in before I ordered---the $20 COD on freight was killer.
My best year in the early 90s I grossed $1.1 million. I sold the bike shop to one of my sons a couple of years ago.
So to keep asking Walt Questions ---What are you running for equipment now?
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Hows dis for length? Uhhh another word.
Mis spelled...
Things are often not what they seem. If the franchises were doing so well for him why isn't he developing more of them? The money he spent on the Carpet gear would probably be enough for a down on another one of his franchises.... Once you own one the companies are really after you to buy more franchises.
He bought great equipment. He may have to take a 40% hit and unload it in a couple of years but most of us have lost our shirt on one deal or another....
Cleanworks
Moderator
I thought you were going to ask him a carpet cleaning question.
@rick imby , are you a carpet cleaner or a bike dude, or both? If you're a carpet cleaner, can you tell us your success in our field of work?
bob vawter
Grassy Knoller
You did not get away with it.....
you'da been disappointed had i not tried.....?
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Kellie Hiler
Member
Lol! Probably right! I really had a great time hanging out with you Bawb....
hogjowl
Idiot™
You're grieving.
Time will heal you.
Time will heal you.
bob vawter
Grassy Knoller
Kellie....jus so ya know.....I had a great time watching you hang out. ....as well!
Walt
Member
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2007
- Messages
- 1,016
It reality I think I was a little bold and a little dumb. I did fall for the Vortex pitch. It seemed about 3 times as nice as any other machine set up and was only 72k. I think the payments were around 1k a month on a 7 year load. I would still have the Vortex if it wasn't so loud. That's the only beef I had with it. It really began to rattle my nerves. I hated starting it up. I tried my best to quiet it down, but it wasn't enough. I sold the Vortex to a friend in Idaho and I really didn't do too bad on the deal. The price of a Vortex had gone up a lot since I had purchased and the used market was pretty strong. It is still running today with no major repairs. He loves it and plans on keeping it forever. The noise doesn't bother him. (I warned him about it).
I then got a Sprinter van with a PowerClean DXT (diesel) which I had for 3 years. With a 5.9 blower and an Isuzu engine it was plenty powerful and surprisingly quiet in single wand mode. I really liked that machine, but it had it some small issues. When PowerClean went out of business, I sold it for a little more than half what I paid for it.
Then, I put a propane powered Judson in my Sprinter van. It was a great machine, but the engine blew after I had a guy work on a leaky seal. So I put a new motor in and it blew with in two weeks. This was my fault, since I had the great idea of taking the propane parts off of the old engine and putting them on the new gas engine. It seemed to be fine, but it wasn't and "pow" I was down again.
In my frustration, I bought a ProChem Everest and installed a fuel tank in the van. The local shop had one in stock, so it took about 24 hours from start to finish to get it installed. He put it in my truck with little more than a handshake. It's a very nice machine and my local shop knows it really well. I have about 1200 hours on it now and its been trouble free. So goes the history of my machines.
The first year was the worst. But I still had some income coming from my other ventures. By the second year, internet advertising was really working. I quit the yellow pages and we just squeaked by on the income of the business. The third year was when we became "successful" and were able to pay all our bills without dipping into savings.
I still work alone (as that is my preference), but I make a good living. I've been able to do some traveling and have time to volunteer. My goal has been to reduce the amount of work that I do so that I can do other things that are more important to me.
Mikey P
Administrator
its good to have you back Walt.
so how many helpers have you gone through before calling it quits?
so how many helpers have you gone through before calling it quits?
Thank you Walt---
Matt, I never pulled the plug to go into the carpet cleaning business. I have cleaned the carpets in my apartments and a few others. I have not figured a way to easily ---scale---the carpet cleaning business without my full time work. Me working full time is way way down on my list of todos.... I would probably move into a motorhome and become a vagabond rather than work full time----oh wait that is what I am now....
I am scaling my ebay/amazon bike parts business, I have had a few setbacks but it is making OK money.
Matt, I never pulled the plug to go into the carpet cleaning business. I have cleaned the carpets in my apartments and a few others. I have not figured a way to easily ---scale---the carpet cleaning business without my full time work. Me working full time is way way down on my list of todos.... I would probably move into a motorhome and become a vagabond rather than work full time----oh wait that is what I am now....
I am scaling my ebay/amazon bike parts business, I have had a few setbacks but it is making OK money.
I love bicycles too and I almost took a dive into your business with getting a shop open back in '04 when my carpet cleaning business wasn't doing anything. I'm kinda glad it didn't work, because I don't know what would've happened to either business in '07-'09 if I was doing both.
But with that aside, you seem to have the knowledge of a good business owner, and I hope you get to apply that to our business sometime.
Walt
Member
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2007
- Messages
- 1,016
.
Thanks! Just a few. But it always seemed a burden to be within 10 feet of the same person 8-10 hours a day. Guess I'm weird.
Mikey P
Administrator
I've had to hire my wife here in Nevada for a few weeks while my foot recovers or on real large jobs.
She's finally learned where everything goes in the truck, how to start, adjust and stop the 370, the names of tools and can groom a carpet like no straight man can
yesterday we got complimented on how well we work together
She's finally learned where everything goes in the truck, how to start, adjust and stop the 370, the names of tools and can groom a carpet like no straight man can
yesterday we got complimented on how well we work together
bob vawter
Grassy Knoller
can she cuss lik a carpet cleaner yet.....?
Desk Jockey
Member
bob vawter
Grassy Knoller
Tell her she has all of our sympathy. ...
Meet the NEW boss---NOT the same as the old boss....
You are in trouble now Mikey---No more biking for you---the new boss will have you booked up 10 hours per day....
May as well sell that KTM now before it rusts from lack of use...
You are in trouble now Mikey---No more biking for you---the new boss will have you booked up 10 hours per day....
May as well sell that KTM now before it rusts from lack of use...
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