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-   -   should i stay or should I go (http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4593)

Unregistered December 17, 2007 02:25 PM

should i stay or should I go
 
OK, business experts ... I'm considering ... maybe ... investing some money and going into the carpet clearning business.

Talk me out of it. Or talk me into it.

I'd love to hear your feedback, one way or the other.

Thanks

Robert

GordonJ December 17, 2007 02:52 PM

Two words to get you started: Joe Polish
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 18028)
... I'm considering investing some money .

Thanks

Robert


Robert,

This is a highly competitive business because it is so lucrative. Check your local phone book and see who your competitors are...study their advertising for a month...try to get estimates from them for your home...

Visit Joe Polish, he got rich cleaning carpets...read everything you can at his site.

My question is HOW MUCH MONEY? Cause there could be better ways to put it to work. Are you going to be the main guy cleaning? Does that "some money" include employees, insurance, equipment and a marketing budget?

www.joepolish.com Get his report for CARPET CLEANERS ONLY...

May I ask WHY you are considering this business?

Gordon Jay Alexander (once a hard working guy, NOW a lazy old curmudgeon...much happier this way)

PS. My best advice, in less you absolutely have too...put off any investment at this time, til you have at least read Mr. Harvey Brody's report on "Toll Positions"... and see if there is a better way to put your money to work.

Jason Hatchett December 18, 2007 04:43 PM

Re: should i stay or should I go
 
Carpet Cleaning in my town is very competitive. There are about 80 or 90 companies and every spring I see 10 to 15 new carpet cleaning vans running around and by winter most are gone.

I used to work for Servpro, Coit & Color Master carpet cleaning. Servpro makes most of their money in water & fire damage. Coit is also a national company. I was friends with the owner and he said he was barely making $5 an hour, he worked 12 to 15 hours a day. He has since sold it and moved to California. Color master is a local company who’s been around for 30 years. He said when he started they did very well. But as more and more people got into the business, his business went down and down. His son now runs it and they just barley get by. A one man operation is just another job for the owner.

I’m not saying you can’t make good money in carpet cleaning but you need to have 3 to 5 vans running full time if you want to make a 6 figure income. It’s just another saturated market that people think they can get into easily, but to sustain it is a lot of work.

Thank You,
Jason Hatchett

Robert J. December 18, 2007 10:30 PM

Thanks guys
 
Thanks for the help guys.
Kind of what I figured ... lots of competition. I also know that many newcomers to the business basically work themselves right out of business by under-pricing just to get jobs. This is a dangerous environment to try to compete with ... especially if you are just starting out and do not have a solid reputation in the field.
I really do appreciate the input, Jason and Gordon.
Robert

Phil December 19, 2007 05:53 AM

Re: should i stay or should I go... Here's how to Cleanup on this business...
 
Robert,

Consider the Carpet Cleaning business without Doing the Carpet Cleaning... :)

Read through the following thread...
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthre...t=sharon+fling

And pay close Attention to...
From Sea Weeds to Local niche & PROSPECTING ideas...

Carefully Listen to...

Light Bulb Moments With Perry Marshall
Sharon Odom Fling

Instead of getting into the Carpet Cleaning business...

Get into the Lead Generation business and Grow a Marketing Referral network for Multiple Service businesses...

Use both Online and Offline Marketing methods Starting off Locally and then Develop the concept into a National Lead Generation and Referral Centre...

If you're interested, Skip on Sowpubs has an Excellent report that covers the overall concept (somewhere around $17 bucks or so) Just contact Skip through one of his posts....

Add the posted FREE Ideas from...
Light Bulb Moments With Perry Marshall
Sharon Odom Fling

There's some Serious Money to be made Offline and Online... Service businessses Love targeted customer Leads rather than High cost Advertising...

Service their Needs... Without all the High costs of equipment, competition and Hard Labor...

Just a nice back door business opportunity for Anyone that's interested in becoming a Lead Generation Consultant... ;)

Phil

Unregistered December 19, 2007 11:03 AM

Re: should i stay or should I go
 
Thanks for the heads up Phil. I've never thought of doing a lead generation business before. It seems like a viable business plan, especially since the service industry would eat a service like that up.

layla17 December 19, 2007 11:04 AM

Re: should i stay or should I go
 
Thanks for the heads up Phil. I've never thought of doing a lead generation business before. It seems like a viable business plan, especially since the service industry would eat a service like that up.

Sorry I was logged out and posted without knowing I was a guest... this is taking sometime to get used to.

Skip Rosell December 19, 2007 12:25 PM

Re: should i stay or should I go
 
Hi Robert,

Thanks for asking. As Phil stated I have a report on lead generation for service businesses. This is the way to be in ANY service business without the headaches of service businesses. Like competition, advertising, employees, etc.

Send me a PM and I will send you a copy for free. You can see the information on this report here:

http://makemoneyalert.com/servicebus/sl.htm

Also I like to mention here what I think of Phil's research. GREAT! It would have cost me thousands of dollars for some of the ideas, tools, software that Phil has given links to for free. Phil I just debited (or is that credited?) your account. Any way I can help YOU, let me know. I OWE you big time, Thanks.

Best of success,

Skip Rosell

Unregistered December 19, 2007 11:13 PM

Re: Thanks guys
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert J. (Post 18041)
Thanks for the help guys.
Kind of what I figured ... lots of competition. I also know that many newcomers to the business basically work themselves right out of business by under-pricing just to get jobs. This is a dangerous environment to try to compete with ... especially if you are just starting out and do not have a solid reputation in the field.
I really do appreciate the input, Jason and Gordon.
Robert


Lots of comp only means lots of money to be made (one way or another)!

First let me state that if you are waiting for someone to push you into it, put your dough somewhere else as it appears you have led yourself to water and want someone to make you drink.....
We all know that this is not how the story goes.......


If you dive in, how do you plan on carving your slice of the pie?
Do you have a plan on that will help you cut your piece of the pie?


If I have misread you and you really want in to the biz, I suggest that you get the clients first before investing in the equipment.

I noticed that you feel people fail because they lowball for work.

If they lowball, the only Service they are providing is doom for themselves as well as the folks they are to be SERVING. I say so what, the people that want the lowballers are not the folks you want to deal with anyway. They will be more headaches than they are worth and are not likely to be return clients.

Cleaning carpets can be profitable without putting several vehicles on the road, you just need to define the PROFITABLE segment of the market you want to serve and provide the best SERVICE they have ever had.

In a SERVICE business, your job is to provide a SERVICE to your clients, if you deliver a valuable SERVICE, they will tell a few people.

On the Flip, if you provide a POOR SERVICE they will tell everyone.

Best wishes,
Jason

Gregg December 20, 2007 12:04 AM

Re: should i stay or should I go
 
I agree that it seems like a hard business to sustain. It's basically a one-time sale. Even regular customers get their carpets done twice a year, give or take.

You could try to get hooked up with realtors or apartment complex for move-in / move-out cleans.

I thought about doing this myself as well. But opted for commercial office cleaning instead. Steady accounts provide steady revenue. You're not always searching for the next job. It requires a much less investment as well. You probably have most of the cleaning supplies you would need to start in your house. Including a vacuum.

Plenty of competition with that business also. But there are plenty of doctors, lawyers, hair salons, gas stations, deli's, insurance agents and so forth in every city too. So competition never really bothered me. (I also had a hair salon a few years back. Located on a main intersection with a salon on every corner.

One big difference is that these business's are "there" when you go out. You don't have to look to hard to find a gas station. But with cleaning and such you're probably working from home. So you have to go to the marketplace.

I started the cleaning as a side business to pay for my "habits". It's not as physical as you would think either. Plus you're usually at the business when they're closed so there's nobody around. My older son helps now too.

But I agree that "Toll Positions" are the way to go.

Hope this helps.

-Gregg

Robert J. December 21, 2007 11:02 PM

Re: should i stay or should I go
 
Skip, thanks for the help. Instead of PM'ing you for a freebie, I signed up on your member site (re-signed up, as it were), and downloaded your report. I would love to see/hear that Perry Marshal interview Phil referred to, too, but can't seem to access it on Sharon's site. Oh well. You all have been so helpful, and I can't thank you enough.
Robert J.

Phil December 22, 2007 03:14 AM

Robert... If There's A Will, There's A Way... Direct downloads...
 
Try downloading the files directly to your computer from Sharon's blog... :)

It should work...

As you posted in another thread...

Some Marketers put out Great Free information that is Priceless...
http://www.geolocal.net/blog/categor...l-news/page/2/

If some aren't familiar...

Ken Evoy's Sitesell Local Business Masters Course is written by Sharon Odom Fling...

Again FREE...

With Ken's usual Excellent examples of Preselling & Upselling... ;)
http://www.geolocal.net/blog/date/2006/10/

Phil

MichaelRoss December 22, 2007 04:55 PM

More thoughts...
 
Robert,

Gregg hit upon something that could be good to throw into your back of tricks...

Carpet cleaning for those who have a higher frequency than once or twice a year.

Let me first run some numbers and then elaborate on the high frequency thing, then provide a Source you can look into some more...

If a Job is worth $100 to you then to gross $30,000 you need to do 300 jobs. If those are ALL repeat customers who get done every six months, then you need to find 150 customers. (Realistically, maybe only half would repeat for two goes in the year, maybe even less. Some would be once a year and some every two to three years.)

So those 150 customers will gross you $15k. How quick do you need to be making some money with this thing? (Only you know the answer to that.)

If you want to do $3,000 a month then you need 30 NEW customers a month. After a while, when the repeat customers come into it, you don't need to generate so many NEW customers. But in the beginning you do.

Those are the numbers of it. Shown here so you can see that, depending on the repeat rate and whatnot, you will need to generate ALL new customers for at least 6 months, and maybe even a year or two, just to get enough repeat customers to keep you going. Also factor in that many customers will move house, rip up their carpet and install new flooring of some kind, or use different carpet cleaners because they lost your number.

High Frequency: There are some clients who would be considered High Frequency customers. Such as cinemas and hotels (specially upmarket hotels). I've seen hotels that get their ground floor carpets cleaned Daily! A few clients like that and you'd be finished your day pretty early and could have the rest of the day off.

Also worth considering is, After Hours Carpet Cleaning. And target businesses for this. This way the carpet is ready for them when they come back in in the morning. Better chance of landing a business as a client if their carpet can be cleaned without needing to disturb their day to day operations. (This is just a niche, you still might find it tough to land them though. So don't expect too much here.)

Team up with office cleaning businesses. When I ran my cleaning businesses I would Sub Contract the carpet cleaning to someone else. I didn't need to mess about with the additional equipment and it worked a treat.

Team up with existing carpet cleaning businesses and offer to do their Overflow Work during busy times.

Source: Have you had a look at Von Schrader http://www.vonschrader.com and what they can offer. While they certainly make money by selling Tools To The Miners, a look around their site and request for further information could yield some more ideas for you, should you decide to go down this route.

Hope this helps,

Michael Ross

Robert J. January 13, 2008 10:56 PM

This is why I love this site
 
I just went back to read yet again the responses to a question I posed on sowpub.
There's some insightful answers and some people obviously put a bit of thought into providing them.
I want to thank you all again, both as the guy who posted the thread, but even more so as someone who loves to read, learn and be inspired by sowpub.
Robert J.

Robert J. January 13, 2008 11:00 PM

Re: More thoughts...
 
Thanks for the comments, Michael.
Yes, I have visited Von Shraders site, and have been on their mailing list for some time. They market with some phenomenal success stories! Would that it were so easy! LOL
They have carved out a niche in the low-moisture cleaning, where carpet can be walked on in a matter of a few hours.
There are also some other exciting developments in VLM cleaning, and many companies promising wonderful ROI and profit to be made to the tune of six figures.
But, Michael, I think your analysis re. how many new clients would be required in the first six months of operation is surely an eye-opening one.
Thanks again!

Cornell January 16, 2008 12:48 AM

Expereinced opinion..
 
Hi Robert:

I don't visit here much anymore, otherwise I woulld have responded sooner.

If I were re-entering the cleaning business, the only company I would consider going with is Steamatic (they have a web site)....I have used others and there is no comparison.

There is no match on the market for their equipment and cleaning solutions...the franchise is a bit pricey, but quite so considering the equipment and the quality job it does.

When I started out...I spent 3 weeks cleaning carpets and upholstery for free...3 jobs a day, 6 days a week....54 freebies....those 54 freebies turned into full time such that I no longer had to hunt down new customers.

The word of mouth going through family and friends kept me fully occupied....and that was what the Steamatic equipment did for me...a quality job that no one else's equipment could touch....in fact one of my competitors sent me jobs involving certain upholstery fabrics because he just couldn't clean them without ruining them.

Within 3 months I had also picked up a chain of pharmacies with 12 stores...done monthly after hours.

Also picked up were several high end restaurants.. again after hours.

The commercial can indeed make a very nice income if you want to work nights....either that or hire a competent trustworthy night manager and crew...and I have to stress honest as you will be in retail outlets and restaurants....and temptation will be there for the dishonest ones.

Should you decide to choose Steamatic, contact me and I will tell you how to mix 2 of their chemicals (they say you aren't supposed to mix them) that will make traffic areas and bad stains clean up lickety-split.

Cornell


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