This might be a stupid question, but it's worth talking about

[BIG WOOD]

To those who have a shop where customers can visit:

Have any of you offered renting out decent portable machines to the cheapskates? Not only the machine rentals, but selling chemicals, and renting air movers with the portables.

As some would say this is stupid...There IS a market for this, or it wouldn't be offered at home depot, grocery store, or walmart. And I think it would be a good way to increase your prices for carpet cleaning, and when the customer says that's too expensive, you could always offer your option of renting out the machine for them to clean it themselves for their apartment they're moving out of.

Plus, a good portable that we have access to provides a good cleaning compared to RugDoctor. I doubt it'll be a big increase in income, but it should help to pay the monthly rent at the shop.

Has anyone on here tried that?

 

[Trip Moses]

We used to have a little retail carpet cleaner shop here in Savannah. They rented rug doctors for about two weeks and said screw it.

 

[BIG WOOD]

We used to have a little retail carpet cleaner shop here in Savannah. They rented rug doctors for about two weeks and said screw it.

Because rug doctors are crap. People were probably pissed at renting them and demanding their money back

 

[Trip Moses]

Because rug doctors are crap. People were probably pissed at renting them and demanding their money back

Probably.

 

[scotty747]

I think the time spent dealing with renting it out could be used better. Plus they'll leave it in the back of there truck to freeze or get stolen. "I ran out of the cleaner you gave me so I used Drano".

 

[Cleanworks]

There are already tool rental places that do that. Usually 100 psi ninjas. On a small scale, it would take long time to make your money back.

 

[Brian H]

I think the time spent dealing with renting it out could be used better. Plus they'll leave it in the back of there truck to freeze or get stolen. "I ran out of the cleaner you gave me so I used Drano".

Or dropped it getting it out of the car, or left it clogged with who knows what, or didn't clean it up properly after cleaning up after their dog or kept it and you have to chase them down or running a new piece of equipment out to them because it "broke down" or spending all you time trying to walk someone through how to get stains out or defending yourself and your equipment because they left their carpet too wet or...

Many years ago I thought about renting truck mounts out to local cleaners when their truck was down. After seeing the condition that some people leave their own equipment, much less a rental, I figured it was not a good idea.

 

[hogjowl]

Matt:
You’re correct

 

[Jim Pemberton]

To those who have a shop where customers can visit:

Have any of you offered renting out decent portable machines to the cheapskates? Not only the machine rentals, but selling chemicals, and renting air movers with the portables.

As some would say this is stupid...There IS a market for this, or it wouldn't be offered at home depot, grocery store, or walmart. And I think it would be a good way to increase your prices for carpet cleaning, and when the customer says that's too expensive, you could always offer your option of renting out the machine for them to clean it themselves for their apartment they're moving out of.

Plus, a good portable that we have access to provides a good cleaning compared to RugDoctor. I doubt it'll be a big increase in income, but it should help to pay the monthly rent at the shop.

Has anyone on here tried that?

I've known a few cleaners who have done this.

Here is what they learned:

1. Its nearly impossible for a good cleaner to not want to give advice to the renter. You can end up spending half an hour talking to them about how to get spots and odors out. The value of your knowledge can't be paid back in rental fees. You might think you can talk them into using you to clean for them, but that almost never happens.

2. The treatment your rental equipment will get will cause you to have to create some pretty firm deposits/fees for damage. That type of confrontation is never fun.

3. It's difficult to try to work both sides of the cleaning equation. When you are doing one, you are shifting your mind set, and therefore your business focus. If you want to invest in the equipment and products and set someone else up to run it, it might work. If you interact with it, you'll find it very diluting of your time and mental focus.

 

[Mikey P]

My local ACE hardware rents Carpet Butler machines for $40 a day.

There is no one at Ace to ask about how to use it.
And I highly doubt The Butler gives you links to Saiger videos either.

 

[FB7777]

If you can’t close a sale with this type of customer, why would you want to entrust thousands of dollars of your capital with them?

Not a stupid question but a very imprudent idea

 

[BIG WOOD]

Now I know what I'm NOT gonna do when I get my fancy shop next to when all my debt is paid off, when I win the lottery.

 

[The Great Oz]

On top of the problems mentioned, the people you'd attract are never going to become the target market for your more profitable cleaning services. Might as well use your spare space to sell work boots.


Before I started, our company was the NW regional HQ for renting Steamex portables and Host dry powder equipment. Did a lot of unprofitable business before shutting it down. We still have one Host machine from back then, which shows how little it gets used.

 

[scotty747]

Cleaned my first carpet with a Steamex porty rental. Ran out of cleaner so I added windex. Amazing what janitors will do.

 

[Nomad74]

It's called the grocery store.

Is this going to be one of your all-time good ideas like selling vacuums to all your customers?

 

[BIG WOOD]

It's called the grocery store.

Is this going to be one of your all-time good ideas like selling vacuums to all your customers?

Just go back to hiring methheads and silentSarah mr Shift Manager Damon

 

[Nomad74]

Make me

 

[BIG WOOD]

Admit it. That comment made your heart rate speed up a little bit.

 

[Kenny Hayes]

I have a buddy here in OKC that sells and rents equipment to cleaners. He has several off chutes. He has no debt and has all the money. He shares space with our floor machine mechanic. Oh lord, what a pain in the rear end.
He rents propane buffers, scrubbers, carpet machines. Think of a scenario he’s had it. He makes money, but what a pain.

 

[Mikey P]

Just go back to hiring methheads and silentSarah mr Shift Manager Damon

Silent Sarah....lol


Damon when are you going to start your own curbside trash pick up route?

 

[BIG WOOD]

Oh bring that back up! Ugh

 

[LCCFL]

To those who have a shop where customers can visit:

Have any of you offered renting out decent portable machines to the cheapskates? Not only the machine rentals, but selling chemicals, and renting air movers with the portables.

As some would say this is stupid...There IS a market for this, or it wouldn't be offered at home depot, grocery store, or walmart. And I think it would be a good way to increase your prices for carpet cleaning, and when the customer says that's too expensive, you could always offer your option of renting out the machine for them to clean it themselves for their apartment they're moving out of.

Plus, a good portable that we have access to provides a good cleaning compared to RugDoctor. I doubt it'll be a big increase in income, but it should help to pay the monthly rent at the shop.

Has anyone on here tried that?

I'm sure they'll beat the machine up really bad.

 

[BIG WOOD]

After listening to a wonderful message on my voicemail from MelonMikey, it made me want to say Thank You to everyone who actually converses with my ideas on these different avenues of business that could possibly be added to carper cleaning.

if I just dwelled on it and never got input from outside of my secluded bubble, I’d probably have a garbage truck parked in my driveway, a building full of hundreds of vacuums that never sold, and about 10 portable machines that are full of cat hair and gunk that I’d be dreading to fix

 

[Hack Attack]

Dont worry, Its not so bad you're sharing toileting dreams..

 

[Lee Stockwell]

I had a janitorial supply store from 79-81+. Seemed I was mainly selling to broke competitors on credit.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Matt keeps reminding me of stupid things from my newbie years.

Thus I bristle a bit now when someone pitches "diversification".

 

[BIG WOOD]

Matt keeps reminding me of stupid things from my newbie years.

Thus I bristle a bit now when someone pitches "diversification".

I didn’t have the forums In my early years and I diversified into almost all types of cleaning starting out. My growth was terribly slow due to the low quality and stress behind it. When I dropped 6 of those services and started networking with the businesses that do those, my quality in this industry went up fast and my business started showing real positive growth

that’s the main reason I ask these questions

 

[scotty747]

Diversification? like Amazon selling carpet cleaning. They call me once a week to help me grow my business.

 

[bob vawter]

MATT......were you dropped on yor hED as a baby........

 

[Mikey P]

MATT......were you dropped on yor hED as a baby........

we already decided that was a given.

Mom couldn't hold him and his not so twin baby brother "Damon Wood" at the same time, so in order to keep her precious favorite Matt alive, and with a somewhat normal shaped head, she adopted out Damon to her hippy friends in California who promised to raise him a proper vegan.