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.

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

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

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.

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!

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