I am seriously considering starting a small carpet cleaning business and I
am in the middle of doing research about it. Basically, I wouldn't be doing
the actual carpet cleaning myself. Instead, I would be funding and setting
up the business and I would own it, but I would be using a friend of mine to
do the actual work of taking the calls and doing the carpet cleaning. Once
it is set up, I only expect that he would be doing the carpet cleaning jobs
part time, maybe 1 job every couple of weeks in the beginning, and then
building up to possibly 1 or 2 jobs a week. Also, this would ONLY be a
carpet cleaning business -- not a cleaning business in general, and not a
fire restoration business etc. -- just a guy with carpet cleaning equipment
who cleans carpets.

One place I have gotten some ideas about how to get started is at
http://carpetcleaningentrepreneur.com/ and
http://familyunlimitedopp.com/90-day-action-plan . I don't know who this
website person, but he does seem to provide a lot of information. I also get
the feeling that he sells something ("How To" DVD's or website services or
something), but I don't see anything on any of his web pages that says what
he sells or how to buy it. So, maybe he is just providing free information
about how to start a carpet cleaning business.

I have a lot of questions, but one is from the videos that I saw. Is it
true that a good quality portable professional steam extraction carpet
cleaning machine is sufficient for a small carpet cleaning business and it
will do just as good (or almost as good) of a job as a truck mounted
machine?

Also, any other thoughts, suggestions, questions, or ideas about the carpet
cleaning business would be appreciated.

Thank you

I'll write a bit more, today or tomorrow. But, here is a
couple of thoughts to get you started.

I tried to get into the carpet cleaning business, back in
the early 90s. A couple isolated ideas I remember. I did get
one apartment complex, they hired me to do apartments.
* They liked it when I put some citrus cleaner in with the
mix, and "made it smell good"
* I'd tried several types of detergent. Powdered ultra Tide
worked the best for me. One carpet, I think it might have
been wool. Turned the carpet a different color, and they
weren't pleased.
* What works well for me, is to sprinkle water down with a
garden sprinkler. Move the water around with a rotary brush
shampooer. Draw up the water with an extractor. I use the
same names as washing machine. Fill, wash, rinse. I havn't
pefected spin, yet. I get too dizzy with the building flying
around.
* At my church, they have guys in twice a year, with hot
water extractor. They do get some dirt. But, the rotary
brush shampooer really lifts up a lot of dirt. I have done
my cleaning a couple days after the truck mount guys, and
pull up plenty of dirt.
* Thin carpet, glued onto cement, you can be generous with
the water. Wood floors, like trailers, you need to use much
less water.
* Portable equipment can be every bit as good as truck
mounted hose equipment.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Ron" wrote in message
...
I am seriously considering starting a small carpet cleaning
business and I
am in the middle of doing research about it. Basically, I
wouldn't be doing
the actual carpet cleaning myself. Instead, I would be
funding and setting
up the business and I would own it, but I would be using a
friend of mine to
do the actual work of taking the calls and doing the carpet
cleaning. Once
it is set up, I only expect that he would be doing the
carpet cleaning jobs
part time, maybe 1 job every couple of weeks in the
beginning, and then
building up to possibly 1 or 2 jobs a week. Also, this
would ONLY be a
carpet cleaning business -- not a cleaning business in
general, and not a
fire restoration business etc. -- just a guy with carpet
cleaning equipment
who cleans carpets.

One place I have gotten some ideas about how to get started
is at
http://carpetcleaningentrepreneur.com/ and
http://familyunlimitedopp.com/90-day-action-plan . I don't
know who this
website person, but he does seem to provide a lot of
information. I also get
the feeling that he sells something ("How To" DVD's or
website services or
something), but I don't see anything on any of his web pages
that says what
he sells or how to buy it. So, maybe he is just providing
free information
about how to start a carpet cleaning business.

I have a lot of questions, but one is from the videos that I
saw. Is it
true that a good quality portable professional steam
extraction carpet
cleaning machine is sufficient for a small carpet cleaning
business and it
will do just as good (or almost as good) of a job as a truck
mounted
machine?

Also, any other thoughts, suggestions, questions, or ideas
about the carpet
cleaning business would be appreciated.

Thank you

"Curt" wrote in message ...

"Ron" wrote in message
...
I am seriously considering starting a small carpet cleaning business and I
am in the middle of doing research about it. Basically, I wouldn't be
doing the actual carpet cleaning myself. Instead, I would be funding and
setting up the business and I would own it, but I would be using a friend
of mine to do the actual work of taking the calls and doing the carpet
cleaning. Once it is set up, I only expect that he would be doing the
carpet cleaning jobs part time, maybe 1 job every couple of weeks in the
beginning, and then building up to possibly 1 or 2 jobs a week. Also,
this would ONLY be a carpet cleaning business -- not a cleaning business
in general, and not a fire restoration business etc. -- just a guy with
carpet cleaning equipment who cleans carpets.

One place I have gotten some ideas about how to get started is at
http://carpetcleaningentrepreneur.com/ and
http://familyunlimitedopp.com/90-day-action-plan . I don't know who this
website person, but he does seem to provide a lot of information. I also
get the feeling that he sells something ("How To" DVD's or website
services or something), but I don't see anything on any of his web pages
that says what he sells or how to buy it. So, maybe he is just providing
free information about how to start a carpet cleaning business.

I have a lot of questions, but one is from the videos that I saw. Is it
true that a good quality portable professional steam extraction carpet
cleaning machine is sufficient for a small carpet cleaning business and
it will do just as good (or almost as good) of a job as a truck mounted
machine?

Also, any other thoughts, suggestions, questions, or ideas about the
carpet cleaning business would be appreciated.

Thank you



If you truly get interested in buying a portable, I have an older model
Castex. Has floor wand, stair tool, & upholstery tool. See similar
machines on eBay, but they look like junk, no tools included.

Tried the business some moons ago. I got started cleaning motorhomes &
campers. Unfortunately I bought a new machine at the time, which I thought
was expensive. Believe I had almost $3k in the machine & tools, plus
bought a used van to haul it.

Trying a shotgun approach through advertising can be a big waste of $,
especially when you're competing against the big boyz. I did have Sears
contact me, & wanted me to do subcontracting on a 50/50 split. Tried it a
couple times, but they have customers who want you to work miracles,
basically fix torn carpet with a cleaning machine! Absolutely unreal.
Anyways, customers don't pay Sears, Sears won't pay you.

If you can get into cleaning campers or motorhomes through a dealer, is a
pretty good gig. Might want to try the airport for airplane seats, and
even movie theatres.

I'd suggest testing the waters, b/4 jumping in with both feet and making
the investment.

Thanks for the information and feedback. I am still looking into types of
portable machines to get, how much they cost, etc. But, so far, the
consensus seems to be that a portable extraction machine is the way to go.

I agree that the cost of advertising and dealing with a lot of competition
could be an issue. In my case, I wouldn't need to build up the business
enough to support a full time income for anyone. It would mostly be a
situation where the person that I have in mind would be doing the jobs on a
part-time as-needed basis only. And, I am not planning on spending much if
anything on advertising. The reason is that I have a couple of almost-free
local sources of getting carpet cleaning jobs. One is that a friend of mine
owns a dry cleaning business in a somewhat upscale neighborhood with a lot
of customers. He would let me set up a little display for free about my
carpet cleaning business where his customers would see it, and I would give
him some money from each job that we got that way. Also, I belong to a
large real estate investor group that has an email exchange list among the
members. I could let fellow members know that I have a carpet cleaning
business that they could use for cleaning carpets when getting their rentals
ready for their next tenants.

"Ron" wrote in :

I am seriously considering starting a small carpet cleaning business
and I am in the middle of doing research about it.


The very best research you could do is to get a job working for somebody
else's business, starting on the ground-floor doing grunt-work of actually
cleaning the carpets and getting customers.

That way you learn the ins-and-outs, what can go wrong, where the money is
made and where it's not, who the best suppliers are, who the best customers
are, what the best and cheapest equipment and products are, what shortcuts
exist and where, how to not get ripped off by the client, how to sell
yourself to clients who have their doors beaten down by everybody who wants
to clean their carpets, etc, etc, etc.

Plus, by starting with somebody else, you get to piggyback on the other
company's customer list. You then provide substantially better service to
those customers than anybody else who works for that company. Then, when
you go on your own, you just wait a while, then spread the word. Customers
will follow.

You must remember that in most jurisdictions no license is required to
clean carpets, so there are no barriers to entry, and competition is
fierce. People are used to being rooked. When they find somebody who does
not rook them, they are astonished, and will usually be loyal to the non-
rooker, to the end.

Being an entrepreneur is NOT something you buy from somebody selling
entrepreneur-type stuff. It's dirty work, involving endless dull daily
details and endless learning and slogging. It's hard work, keeping the
customer happy even when having to say the word "yes" almost makes you want
to vomit. It's an endless and critical round of watching your costs and
your cash-flow (especially your cash-flow!), and knowing how to price
things.

That guy whose site you saw is making money from people like you who don't
see through his scheme. I'd save my money, if it were me.


--
Tegger

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
I'll write a bit more, today or tomorrow. But, here is a
couple of thoughts to get you started.

I tried to get into the carpet cleaning business, back in
the early 90s. A couple isolated ideas I remember. I did get
one apartment complex, they hired me to do apartments.
* They liked it when I put some citrus cleaner in with the
mix, and "made it smell good"
* I'd tried several types of detergent. Powdered ultra Tide
worked the best for me. One carpet, I think it might have
been wool. Turned the carpet a different color, and they
weren't pleased.
* What works well for me, is to sprinkle water down with a
garden sprinkler. Move the water around with a rotary brush
shampooer. Draw up the water with an extractor. I use the
same names as washing machine. Fill, wash, rinse. I havn't
pefected spin, yet. I get too dizzy with the building flying
around.
* At my church, they have guys in twice a year, with hot
water extractor. They do get some dirt. But, the rotary
brush shampooer really lifts up a lot of dirt. I have done
my cleaning a couple days after the truck mount guys, and
pull up plenty of dirt.
* Thin carpet, glued onto cement, you can be generous with
the water. Wood floors, like trailers, you need to use much
less water.
* Portable equipment can be every bit as good as truck
mounted hose equipment.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org

I am glad to hear that your experience was that portable equipment is as
good as truck mounted equipment.

Some of what I have been reading is to not use detergent, particularly
powdered detergent, when doing carpet cleaning. Apparently, there is some
type of emulsifier that carpet cleaning companies use instead of detergent.

Aside from figuring out the right type of equipment to get, one other thing
I will have to figure out is where to get actual training on how to do
professional carpet cleaning. I have heard that there are "carpet cleaning
schools" that people can attend, but I haven't found any yet.

The custodial supply places near me sell carpet extractor
detergent. One brand they had, really had a stink to it. The
other brand much milder. I ran out of the mild, one time.
Used some of the stinky stuff. The customer commented that
was good stuff, smelled like it was doing something.

Definition of EMULSIFIER
: one that emulsifies; especially : a surface-active agent
(as a soap) promoting the formation and stabilization of an
emulsion
See emulsifier defined for kids »

Definition of DETERGENT
: a cleansing agent: as a : soap b : any of numerous
synthetic water-soluble or liquid organic preparations that
are chemically different from soaps but are able to emulsify
oils, hold dirt in suspension, and act as wetting agents c :
an oil-soluble substance that holds insoluble foreign matter
in suspension and is used in lubricating oils and
dry-cleaning solvents
See detergent defined for English-language learners »

(Actually, most detergents are great emulsifiers. And many
emulsifiers are made from detergent.)
I've not heard of carpet cleaning school. I'm guessing the
large chains have in house training.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Ron" wrote in message
...

I am glad to hear that your experience was that portable
equipment is as
good as truck mounted equipment.

Some of what I have been reading is to not use detergent,
particularly
powdered detergent, when doing carpet cleaning. Apparently,
there is some
type of emulsifier that carpet cleaning companies use
instead of detergent.

Aside from figuring out the right type of equipment to get,
one other thing
I will have to figure out is where to get actual training on
how to do
professional carpet cleaning. I have heard that there are
"carpet cleaning
schools" that people can attend, but I haven't found any
yet.

On Nov 25, 11:19*am, "Ron" wrote:
I am seriously considering starting a small carpet cleaning business and I
am in the middle of doing research about it.

snip

Whoa there Dude...you have the cart way before the horse. You first
mistake is having a friend as an employee, never works, never will.
Your next error is taking on anything without a well developed
business plan. You will need financing, plus all the ancillary
services that businesses must use, like legal, accounting, etc.

Take a deep breath, check out some college level courses on business
development and learn how to form and present your plans to people who
will make the vital decisions with respect to your proposed operation.
From where you are now, the business sounds about as promising as
selling vacuum cleaners or encyclopedias door to door.
Above all, remember that carpets are being replaced almost everywhere
these days by hardwood (fake or real) flooring. Good luck.

Joe

There's a bunch of machines for sale on Ebay. Might be worth
buying a cheap one there, and go pick it up, or have it
truck freighted to you.

Also, please call for prices of insurance. Very often, the
insurance costs more than the job brings in.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Ron" wrote in message
...


I'd suggest testing the waters, b/4 jumping in with both
feet and making
the investment.

Thanks for the information and feedback. I am still looking
into types of
portable machines to get, how much they cost, etc. But, so
far, the
consensus seems to be that a portable extraction machine is
the way to go.

I agree that the cost of advertising and dealing with a lot
of competition
could be an issue. In my case, I wouldn't need to build up
the business
enough to support a full time income for anyone. It would
mostly be a
situation where the person that I have in mind would be
doing the jobs on a
part-time as-needed basis only. And, I am not planning on
spending much if
anything on advertising. The reason is that I have a couple
of almost-free
local sources of getting carpet cleaning jobs. One is that
a friend of mine
owns a dry cleaning business in a somewhat upscale
neighborhood with a lot
of customers. He would let me set up a little display for
free about my
carpet cleaning business where his customers would see it,
and I would give
him some money from each job that we got that way. Also, I
belong to a
large real estate investor group that has an email exchange
list among the
members. I could let fellow members know that I have a
carpet cleaning
business that they could use for cleaning carpets when
getting their rentals
ready for their next tenants.

Joe speaks with wisdom. I'll admit, I've tried to hire
friends as employees. None worked out. It's too hard to
change from buddies to "do what you're told". Sadly, I don't
have enough work to hire a full time employee, just need
part time labor. One day at a time, or so.

I had a chance to attend some business college, but thought
I knew what I was doing. Years later, I wish I'd taken some
business courses, but I had not.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Joe" wrote in message
...


Whoa there Dude...you have the cart way before the horse.
You first
mistake is having a friend as an employee, never works,
never will.

Your next error is taking on anything without a well
developed
business plan. You will need financing, plus all the
ancillary
services that businesses must use, like legal, accounting,
etc.

Take a deep breath, check out some college level courses on
business
development and learn how to form and present your plans to
people who
will make the vital decisions with respect to your proposed
operation.
From where you are now, the business sounds about as
promising as
selling vacuum cleaners or encyclopedias door to door.

Above all, remember that carpets are being replaced almost
everywhere
these days by hardwood (fake or real) flooring. Good luck.

Joe

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
One carpet, I think it might have
been wool. Turned the carpet a different color, and they
weren't pleased.

That is what "no brown" is for. It's a debrowning agent. Spray it on or put
in directly in the extractor, like magic, it turns the carpet back to the
original color.

On Nov 25, 12:19*pm, "Ron" wrote:
Is it
true that a good quality portable professional steam extraction carpet
cleaning machine is sufficient for a small carpet cleaning business and it
will do just as good (or almost as good) of a job as a truck mounted
machine?

Depends on the machine, of course, but a good "box extractor" will
easily outperform truck mounted units. A lot of suction and heat is
lost between the unit and the head.

When I was cleaning carpets Steamex (now Pacific Steamex) was the
best, but they no longer sell that unit, or any closely resembling
it. I found one on ebay a few years ago and still regret letting it
get away for $2K.

The Pacific Steamex Flash-based site suggests to me they are now to be
avoided like the plague, since 1999 has come and gone and they do not
seem to have noticed.
http://www.pacificsteamex.com/

Their Triumph 1200 model is the closest to those I used.

Flash, especially with audio, just screams "moron" to me. That's
woefully insufficient evidence, but I hate Flash sites so I
rationalize that it's plenty.

"Steam" is a misnomer. It's just hot water.

The big problem/s with cleaning carpet by extraction is over-wetting
(and residual soap). A little too much water and you can create mold
and mildew problems and ruin perfectly good carpet and padding.

The tricks a

1. Vacuuming the **** out of it first, and by that I mean vacuuming
slowly, not the typical rush job that does not allow the vacuum to
work as designed.

2. Pre-treating w/o over-wetting.

3. Wetting only the nap of the carpet, and sucking it so dry that it
is dry as a bone in 2-3 hours, at most.

Lots of resources available on the web, but I'd start here.
http://www.shawfloors.com/Tips-Trends/Carpet-Care
-----

- gpsman

On Nov 26, 9:26*am, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
Joe speaks with wisdom. I'll admit, I've tried to hire
friends as employees. None worked out. It's too hard to
change from buddies to "do what you're told". Sadly, I don't
have enough work to hire a full time employee, just need
part time labor. One day at a time, or so.

I had a chance to attend some business college, but thought
I knew what I was doing. Years later, I wish I'd taken some
business courses, but I had not.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
*www.lds.org
.

"Joe" wrote in message

...

Whoa there Dude...you have the cart way before the horse.
You first
mistake is having a friend as an employee, never works,
never will.

Your next error is taking on anything without a well
developed
business plan. You will need financing, plus all the
ancillary
services that businesses must use, like legal, accounting,
etc.

Take a deep breath, check out some college level courses on
business
development and learn how to form and present your plans to
people who
will make the vital decisions with respect to your proposed
operation.
From where you are now, the business sounds about as
promising as
selling vacuum cleaners or encyclopedias door to door.

Above all, remember that carpets are being replaced almost
everywhere
these days by hardwood (fake or real) flooring. Good luck.

Joe

I agree with Joe and Stormin. Makes no sense to me. He
wants to start a business where he's gonna hire a friend
to do one cleaning job every couple weeks, working up to
possibly one or two jobs a week? WTF?

If I'm starting a business it would have to be
worth all the trouble and something that could
yield a reasonable profit. Those troubles include:

keeping records and paying income taxes
payroll taxes
any necessary business license
insurance
dealing with customer complaints
finding customers
necessary business forms, eg business cards, quote forms
dealing with your friend as an employee

If the friend wants to do this, why would he
need the OP? He could buy some cheap eqpt
himself. Or if it's gonna be more professional, with
a real truck with power eqpt, how are you gonna pay
for that with 1 job a week? How many people are
gonna hire someone with amature eqpt when there are
lots of companies with real pro eqpt? etc.

On Nov 26, 8:28*am, gpsman wrote:
On Nov 25, 12:19*pm, "Ron" wrote:

Is it
true that a good quality portable professional steam extraction carpet
cleaning machine is sufficient for a small carpet cleaning business and it
will do just as good (or almost as good) of a job as a truck mounted
machine?

Depends on the machine, of course, but a good "box extractor" will
easily outperform truck mounted units. *A lot of suction and heat is
lost between the unit and the head.

When I was cleaning carpets Steamex (now Pacific Steamex) was the
best, but they no longer sell that unit, or any closely resembling
it. *I found one on ebay a few years ago and still regret letting it
get away for $2K.

The Pacific Steamex Flash-based site suggests to me they are now to be
avoided like the plague, since 1999 has come and gone and they do not
seem to have noticed.http://www.pacificsteamex.com/

Their Triumph 1200 model is the closest to those I used.

Flash, especially with audio, just screams "moron" to me. *That's
woefully insufficient evidence, but I hate Flash sites so I
rationalize that it's plenty.

"Steam" is a misnomer. *It's just hot water.

The big problem/s with cleaning carpet by extraction is over-wetting
(and residual soap). *A little too much water and you can create mold
and mildew problems and ruin perfectly good carpet and padding.

The tricks a

1. Vacuuming the **** out of it first, and by that I mean vacuuming
slowly, not the typical rush job that does not allow the vacuum to
work as designed.

2. Pre-treating w/o over-wetting.

3. Wetting only the nap of the carpet, and sucking it so dry that it
is dry as a bone in 2-3 hours, at most.

Lots of resources available on the web, but I'd start here.http://www.shawfloors.com/Tips-Trends/Carpet-Care
*-----

- gpsman

For our personal use, I own a Cobra. very happy with the ease of use
and effectiveness. Research that unit tells you a lot. Two power
cords, takes a LOT of power. Heats the water enough to burn you.
For me the mechanically removeable spray nozzles are ok, but if you do
this a lot, you may want 'quick disconnect' spray nozzles.
From 'expert' cleaners:
1. Let the machines do the work.
2. Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. Then clean process once.
3. Carefully select/apply cleaner [we use a Brulins liquid product,
with built in anti mold/fungus]. Do periphery as a boundary first. If
cheap carpet, or wrong cleaner, you can end up ruining both, or the
underpad, turning it super brittle! The guy is right about quantity
of water. Think spray on remove instantly, no setting around, no
letting dribble down through everything. especially to a wood
flooring.
4. Rinse, rinse, rinse. Very important to remove ALL chemical
residues.
5. Extract to dry, dry, dry. It will be decent in a couple of hours,
especially if you set up those large floor fans to blow across.
6. BUY INSURANCE! If you break something inside someone's home, or
inside a business, and don't make good, your rep goes to zero!

I think the equipment is readily available at any local professional
janitorial supply house

Didn't know such existed. Thanks. I'll ask after it, if this
happens again.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Curt" wrote in message
...

"Stormin Mormon" wrote
in message
...
One carpet, I think it might have
been wool. Turned the carpet a different color, and they
weren't pleased.

That is what "no brown" is for. It's a debrowning agent.
Spray it on or put
in directly in the extractor, like magic, it turns the
carpet back to the
original color.

I'm getting the idea that the OP has a great idea, but
hasn't really thought through a lot of the other things.
Insurance, and so on. I think he'd be better to get a van,
painted, hand out a zillion business cards, and hit the
ground running. This "job or two a week" sounds like
disaster.

I think you wanted to keep your hired man working full time.
Has he had any full time jobs this year? Can he take
directions, and do what he's told? Can he change roles, and
change you from Buddy to Boss?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


wrote in message
...

I agree with Joe and Stormin. Makes no sense to me. He
wants to start a business where he's gonna hire a friend
to do one cleaning job every couple weeks, working up to
possibly one or two jobs a week? WTF?

If I'm starting a business it would have to be
worth all the trouble and something that could
yield a reasonable profit. Those troubles include:

keeping records and paying income taxes
payroll taxes
any necessary business license
insurance
dealing with customer complaints
finding customers
necessary business forms, eg business cards, quote forms
dealing with your friend as an employee

If the friend wants to do this, why would he
need the OP? He could buy some cheap eqpt
himself. Or if it's gonna be more professional, with
a real truck with power eqpt, how are you gonna pay
for that with 1 job a week? How many people are
gonna hire someone with amature eqpt when there are
lots of companies with real pro eqpt? etc.

Wow, thanks everyone for all of the great feedback and suggestions. I'll
try responding back to some individual posts, but if I don't respond to your
post directly it probably means that I tried to cover what you wrote about
in a reply to someone else.

Ron wrote:
I am seriously considering starting a small carpet cleaning business
and I am in the middle of doing research about it. Basically, I
wouldn't be doing the actual carpet cleaning myself. Instead, I would
be funding and setting up the business and I would own it, but I
would be using a friend of mine to do the actual work of taking the
calls and doing the carpet cleaning. Once it is set up, I only expect
that he would be doing the carpet cleaning jobs part time, maybe 1
job every couple of weeks in the beginning, and then building up to
possibly 1 or 2 jobs a week. Also, this would ONLY be a carpet
cleaning business -- not a cleaning business in general, and not a
fire restoration business etc. -- just a guy with carpet cleaning
equipment who cleans carpets.
One place I have gotten some ideas about how to get started is at
http://carpetcleaningentrepreneur.com/ and
http://familyunlimitedopp.com/90-day-action-plan . I don't know who
this website person, but he does seem to provide a lot of
information. I also get the feeling that he sells something ("How To"
DVD's or website services or something), but I don't see anything on
any of his web pages that says what he sells or how to buy it. So,
maybe he is just providing free information about how to start a
carpet cleaning business.
I have a lot of questions, but one is from the videos that I saw. Is
it true that a good quality portable professional steam extraction
carpet cleaning machine is sufficient for a small carpet cleaning
business and it will do just as good (or almost as good) of a job as
a truck mounted machine?

Also, any other thoughts, suggestions, questions, or ideas about the
carpet cleaning business would be appreciated.

Thank you

Tegger wrote:
"Ron" wrote in :

I am seriously considering starting a small carpet cleaning business
and I am in the middle of doing research about it.


The very best research you could do is to get a job working for
somebody else's business, starting on the ground-floor doing
grunt-work of actually cleaning the carpets and getting customers.

I agree, and I have been thinking about that as a possible option.

That way you learn the ins-and-outs, what can go wrong, where the
money is made and where it's not, who the best suppliers are, who the
best customers are, what the best and cheapest equipment and products
are, what shortcuts exist and where, how to not get ripped off by the
client, how to sell yourself to clients who have their doors beaten
down by everybody who wants to clean their carpets, etc, etc, etc.

I agree with that too. One problem is that no one would want to hire my
person to work for them and learn how to do carpet cleaning from them and
then have him leave after a few weeks or less only to start my business in
the same area. And, I wouldn't want to scam them by not telling them what
the true story is. However, I may be able to make a deal with someone with
a carpet cleaning business that is further away and with whom we wouldn't
end up being in competition.

Plus, by starting with somebody else, you get to piggyback on the
other company's customer list.

That could actually be a problem since there are some legal issues involved.
It basically has to do with employees having a legal "duty of loyalty" to
their employer which includes not stealing their customer list. If the
company did figure that out, they could file legal action against the
individual and my company. It's probably not worth getting into all of that
here, but I do know how that works legally from my past business experiences
and from caselaw that involved other people's businesses in the same State.

. . . You must remember that in most jurisdictions no license is required
to
clean carpets, so there are no barriers to entry, and competition is
fierce. People are used to being rooked. When they find somebody who
does not rook them, they are astonished, and will usually be loyal to
the non- rooker, to the end.

Being an entrepreneur is NOT something you buy from somebody selling
entrepreneur-type stuff. It's dirty work, involving endless dull daily
details and endless learning and slogging. It's hard work, keeping the
customer happy even when having to say the word "yes" almost makes
you want to vomit. It's an endless and critical round of watching
your costs and your cash-flow (especially your cash-flow!), and
knowing how to price things.

I agree with that too.

That guy whose site you saw is making money from people like you who
don't see through his scheme. I'd save my money, if it were me.

I don't think that's true since I still don't see anywhere that he asks for
any money from me or anyone else. I have checked out other websites and
people do sell DVD's and "programs" on how to start your own carpet cleaning
business, how to clean carpets, etc. I haven't sent any of them any money,
and I doubt that I will. But, if I do see some really cheap (probably used)
carpet cleaning training DVD's on eBay, I may check them out. So far, I
don't see anything like that out there.

Maybe if your hired man can get a part time job in a nearby
city? Some friends can host for a few weeks, and have their
house cleaned, too? You might be on to something, with a job
in a nearby city.

Glad that some one his honorable enough not to steal
customer lists. I know of some Greeks in NYC who did just
that. Stole the vendor list, and the customer list, and went
after the customers and the vendors both. Being crooks to
they core, they also ran the vendor ragged, but didn't pay
them completely. Still owe me several hundred dollars, too.

Any person who repeatedly says "I would never lie to you" is
not to be trusted.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Ron" wrote in message
...
Tegger wrote:
"Ron" wrote in
:

I am seriously considering starting a small carpet
cleaning business
and I am in the middle of doing research about it.


The very best research you could do is to get a job
working for
somebody else's business, starting on the ground-floor
doing
grunt-work of actually cleaning the carpets and getting
customers.

I agree, and I have been thinking about that as a possible
option.

That way you learn the ins-and-outs, what can go wrong,
where the
money is made and where it's not, who the best suppliers
are, who the
best customers are, what the best and cheapest equipment
and products
are, what shortcuts exist and where, how to not get ripped
off by the
client, how to sell yourself to clients who have their
doors beaten
down by everybody who wants to clean their carpets, etc,
etc, etc.

I agree with that too. One problem is that no one would
want to hire my
person to work for them and learn how to do carpet cleaning
from them and
then have him leave after a few weeks or less only to start
my business in
the same area. And, I wouldn't want to scam them by not
telling them what
the true story is. However, I may be able to make a deal
with someone with
a carpet cleaning business that is further away and with
whom we wouldn't
end up being in competition.

Plus, by starting with somebody else, you get to piggyback
on the
other company's customer list.

That could actually be a problem since there are some legal
issues involved.
It basically has to do with employees having a legal "duty
of loyalty" to
their employer which includes not stealing their customer
list. If the
company did figure that out, they could file legal action
against the
individual and my company. It's probably not worth getting
into all of that
here, but I do know how that works legally from my past
business experiences
and from caselaw that involved other people's businesses in
the same State.

. . . You must remember that in most jurisdictions no
license is required
to
clean carpets, so there are no barriers to entry, and
competition is
fierce. People are used to being rooked. When they find
somebody who
does not rook them, they are astonished, and will usually
be loyal to
the non- rooker, to the end.

Being an entrepreneur is NOT something you buy from
somebody selling
entrepreneur-type stuff. It's dirty work, involving
endless dull daily
details and endless learning and slogging. It's hard work,
keeping the
customer happy even when having to say the word "yes"
almost makes
you want to vomit. It's an endless and critical round of
watching
your costs and your cash-flow (especially your
cash-flow!), and
knowing how to price things.

I agree with that too.

That guy whose site you saw is making money from people
like you who
don't see through his scheme. I'd save my money, if it
were me.

I don't think that's true since I still don't see anywhere
that he asks for
any money from me or anyone else. I have checked out other
websites and
people do sell DVD's and "programs" on how to start your own
carpet cleaning
business, how to clean carpets, etc. I haven't sent any of
them any money,
and I doubt that I will. But, if I do see some really cheap
(probably used)
carpet cleaning training DVD's on eBay, I may check them
out. So far, I
don't see anything like that out there.

Joe wrote:
On Nov 25, 11:19 am, "Ron" wrote:
I am seriously considering starting a small carpet cleaning business
and I am in the middle of doing research about it.

snip

Whoa there Dude...you have the cart way before the horse. You first
mistake is having a friend as an employee, never works, never will.

I didn't really explain this part in my original post. The person that I
have in mind already does a lot of work for me (and others), and is also my
friend. He is a self-employed contractor with his own tools, truck, etc.
and knows how to do a lot of different construction/contracting tasks. A
lot of what he does is small jobs for individual homeowners or property
owners, and he is familiar with dealing with customers in that way. In
fact, one of his recent jobs a week or so ago was to clean a carpet for a
condo owner who was getting his condo ready for a new tenant. In that case,
the condo owner just rented a carpet cleaning machine and paid my friend to
do the actual carpet cleaning with that machine. It was a special
circumstance where someone else who was supposed to clean the carpet didn't
show up, so the condo owner asked my friend to run the machine and do the
work. Both knew up front that my friend had never done that before, but
they just followed the directions on the machine and got it done.

Of course, that is not the same as marketing oneself as a professional
carpet cleaner. But the point is that if I set up the business, and I buy
the equipment and fund the business, I am sure that my friend could do the
actual work when needed. In a way, it would be one more in a list of
skilled functions that he could carry out for homeowners and property
owners. He would have the tools, the time, and the skill (once he learned
it) to do carpet cleaning one day a week or so just like he does other
one-day or half-day jobs for people.

Your next error is taking on anything without a well developed
business plan. You will need financing, plus all the ancillary
services that businesses must use, like legal, accounting, etc.

I am not a big fan of formal business plans. I am sure they have their
place in certain situations, especially situations where financing is needed
and the business person needs to sell financial backers and supporters on
the idea etc. But I have started and still own and run other businesses on
my own and I never needed to do a written business plan beforehand or after
it was up and running. I don't need any financing -- I have the money.
And, I already have the bookkeeping and accounting and other resources (such
as insurance, legal, licensing, entity formation, etc.) in place through my
other ongoing business interests.

Take a deep breath, check out some college level courses on business
development and learn how to form and present your plans to people who
will make the vital decisions with respect to your proposed operation.

I don't really need to take any college level courses on business
development since I already have a bachelor's degree and a master's degree,
and I have a lot of prior experience in business development. And,
fortunately, there is no one that I need to present my plans to who will be
making any vital decisions with respect to my proposed operation.

Nevertheless, I do appreciate your feedback and suggestions. I didn't
include all of the above in my original post so there would be no way for
you to know that I already have a lot of what you were suggesting that I
would need before going ahead with this idea.

From where you are now, the business sounds about as promising as
selling vacuum cleaners or encyclopedias door to door.

Interestingly, a LONG time ago, I actually did do door-to-door selling --
Fuller Brush Co. and Wearever cookware, for example. I wasn't very good at
either one, and neither one lasted very long. But I did grow up in a family
where door-to-door sales was part of our family background -- back when
door-to-door sales was actually a viable way to make a living.

Robert Macy wrote:
On Nov 26, 8:28 am, gpsman wrote:

Depends on the machine, of course, but a good "box extractor" will
easily outperform truck mounted units. A lot of suction and heat is
lost between the unit and the head. . . . ,
- gpsman

For our personal use, I own a Cobra. very happy with the ease of use
and effectiveness. Research that unit tells you a lot. Two power
cords, takes a LOT of power. Heats the water enough to burn you.
For me the mechanically removable spray nozzles are ok, but if you do
this a lot, you may want 'quick disconnect' spray nozzles.
From 'expert' cleaners:
1. Let the machines do the work.
2. Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. Then clean process once.
3. Carefully select/apply cleaner [we use a Brulins liquid product,
with built in anti mold/fungus]. Do periphery as a boundary first. If
cheap carpet, or wrong cleaner, you can end up ruining both, or the
underpad, turning it super brittle! The guy is right about quantity
of water. Think spray on remove instantly, no setting around, no
letting dribble down through everything. especially to a wood
flooring.
4. Rinse, rinse, rinse. Very important to remove ALL chemical
residues.
5. Extract to dry, dry, dry. It will be decent in a couple of hours,
especially if you set up those large floor fans to blow across.
6. BUY INSURANCE! If you break something inside someone's home, or
inside a business, and don't make good, your rep goes to zero!

All good advice, including the part about insurance. Thanks. I'll check
out the Cobra line along with the other suggestions.

I think the equipment is readily available at any local professional
janitorial supply house.

I do have a janitorial supply house right near me, and they do sell supplies
and equipment. I talked with the owner about two weeks ago before I did my
original post here.

I am in New Jersey (near Camden, NJ). Any chance that you or "gpsman" have
a carpet cleaing business anywhere near where I am located (meaning in New
Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, or Northern Delaware)?

Stormin Mormon wrote:
Maybe if your hired man can get a part time job in a nearby
city? Some friends can host for a few weeks, and have their
house cleaned, too? You might be on to something, with a job
in a nearby city.

I have actually been thinking about that as a possibility. I have a "friend
of a friend" who has a full-time "fire restoration, carpet cleaning, etc."
type of business in an adjacent State with trucks, full-time employees, etc.
One option may be to work something out with him where my person could work
as a helper/ride-along person for a week or two for free, basically just to
get first-hand experience in cleaning carpets for customers on a day-to-day
basis. The way that I would probably work it is that I would pay my person
for the time he put in there while learning the skills and a little about
how the business works with real customers, and I would pay the "friend of a
friend" some reasonable amount for allowing my person to ride along and get
some on-the-job training and experience as a rookie. And, since it would be
clear to the friend of a friend that I have no plans on doing any business
even in their State, let alone in their area, there wouldn't be an issue of
me or my person competing with them now or at any time in the future.

Glad that some one his honorable enough not to steal
customer lists. I know of some Greeks in NYC who did just
that. Stole the vendor list, and the customer list, and went
after the customers and the vendors both. Being crooks to
they core, they also ran the vendor ragged, but didn't pay
them completely. Still owe me several hundred dollars, too.

Any person who repeatedly says "I would never lie to you" is
not to be trusted.

On Nov 26, 4:02*pm, "Ron" wrote:
Joe wrote:
On Nov 25, 11:19 am, "Ron" wrote:
I am seriously considering starting a small carpet cleaning business
and I am in the middle of doing research about it.

snip

Whoa there Dude...you have the cart way before the horse. You first
mistake is having a friend as an employee, never works, never will.

I didn't really explain this part in my original post. *The person that I
have in mind already does a lot of work for me (and others), and is also my
friend. *He is a self-employed contractor with his own tools, truck, etc.
and knows how to do a lot of different construction/contracting tasks. *A
lot of what he does is small jobs for individual homeowners or property
owners, and he is familiar with dealing with customers in that way. *In
fact, one of his recent jobs a week or so ago was to clean a carpet for a
condo owner who was getting his condo ready for a new tenant. *In that case,
the condo owner just rented a carpet cleaning machine and paid my friend to
do the actual carpet cleaning with that machine. *It was a special
circumstance where someone else who was supposed to clean the carpet didn't
show up, so the condo owner asked my friend to run the machine and do the
work. *Both knew up front that my friend had never done that before, but
they just followed the directions on the machine and got it done.

Of course, that is not the same as marketing oneself as a professional
carpet cleaner. *But the point is that if I set up the business, and I buy
the equipment and fund the business, I am sure that my friend could do the
actual work when needed. *In a way, it would be one more in a list of
skilled functions that he could carry out for homeowners and property
owners. *He would have the tools, the time, and the skill (once he learned
it) to do carpet cleaning one day a week or so just like he does other
one-day or half-day jobs for people.

So what does your friend need you for? How do you make
any money, at least enoough to justify the headaches, when
he's doing one job a week, maybe work up to a couple?
If it's just some simple carpet cleaning eqpt like he rented
last time, he can do that himself. If it's a pro carpet cleaning
settup on a truck and you pay for it, how is that going to pay
for itself used once a week?

In the area of headaches, you better have liability insurance.
If you employee injures someone, you could be held responsible.
Bottom line, unless this amounts to more than a couple
jobs a week, I don't see how it could make enough money to
be worth the hassles.







Your next error is taking on anything without a well developed
business plan. You will need financing, plus all the ancillary
services that businesses must use, like legal, accounting, etc.

I am not a big fan of formal business plans. *I am sure they have their
place in certain situations, especially situations where financing is needed
and the business person needs to sell financial backers and supporters on
the idea etc. *But I have started and still own and run other businesses on
my own and I never needed to do a written business plan beforehand or after
it was up and running. *I don't need any financing -- I have the money.
And, I already have the bookkeeping and accounting and other resources (such
as insurance, legal, licensing, entity formation, etc.) in place through my
other ongoing business interests.

Take a deep breath, check out some college level courses on business
development and learn how to form and present your plans to people who
will make the vital decisions with respect to your proposed operation.

I don't really need to take any college level courses on business
development since I already have a bachelor's degree and a master's degree,
and I have a lot of prior experience in business development. *And,
fortunately, there is no one that I need to present my plans to who will be
making any vital decisions with respect to my proposed operation.

Nevertheless, I do appreciate your feedback and suggestions. *I didn't
include all of the above in my original post so there would be no way for
you to know that I already have a lot of what you were suggesting that I
would need before going ahead with this idea.

From where you are now, the business sounds about as promising as
selling vacuum cleaners or encyclopedias door to door.

Interestingly, a LONG time ago, I actually did do door-to-door selling --
Fuller Brush Co. and Wearever cookware, for example. *I wasn't very good at
either one, and neither one lasted very long. *But I did grow up in a family
where door-to-door sales was part of our family background -- back when
door-to-door sales was actually a viable way to make a living.

wrote:

So what does your friend need you for? How do you make
any money, at least enough to justify the headaches, when
he's doing one job a week, maybe work up to a couple?
If it's just some simple carpet cleaning eqpt like he rented
last time, he can do that himself. If it's a pro carpet cleaning
settup on a truck and you pay for it, how is that going to pay
for itself used once a week?

In the area of headaches, you better have liability insurance.
If you employee injures someone, you could be held responsible.
Bottom line, unless this amounts to more than a couple
jobs a week, I don't see how it could make enough money to
be worth the hassles.

These are all valid thoughts and questions.

My friend knows how to do the work he does (construction, repairs, etc.) but
doesn't have the skills needed to set up and run a regular business --
entity formation, accounting/bookkeeping, insurance, sales and income taxes,
invoicing, marketing, etc. etc. So, in a way, I would be helping him out by
setting up, owning, and operating the business and just having him do the
actual work. On the other hand, if I didn't know him and have him as an
available and reliable resource as the person who would do the work, I doubt
that I would want to go forward and set this up.

And, yes, the amount of return on my investment of time and money would be
limited. Still, I think that once I set it up it could succeed as a small
ongoing venture.

replying to Ron, Rayamada Cephus wrote:
Why Water won't flow from the wand

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