Carpet Cleaning business for sale! (ran out of funds)

[carracer1967]

Stick a fork in me; I'm done! I guess this business is just not a good fit for me. I am behind in all of my bills, and this stress is going to kill me. Many of the marketing strategies I have tried have returned zero %. I am out of money and out of time to make something happen. I know that things will probably pick up in the summer, problem is I will be homeless by then. It would be difficult to live in my van. LOL. I have lot's of stuff to sell quickly. Please contact me directly @ (704) 467-5937

John Wood

 

[aloha one]

Stick a fork in me; I'm done! I guess this business is just not a good fit for me. I am behind in all of my bills, and this stress is going to kill me. Many of the marketing strategies I have tried have returned zero %. I am out of money and out of time to make something happen. I know that things will probably pick up in the summer, problem is I will be homeless by then. It would be difficult to live in my van. LOL. I have lot's of stuff to sell quickly. Please contact me directly @ (704) 467-5937

John Wood

Super Sorry to hear that John..Rug Sucking isn't for everyone..Wish you All the Luck brother.

 

[raw74]

How long have you been cleaning carpets

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[carracer1967]

How long have you been cleaning carpets

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Part-time for 8 years. Went full time back in July of last year after loosing my job. I cashed in my retirement and 401K. I used the proceeds to buy some nice, brand new equipment. Did a good deal of advertising, none of which gave me a positive ROI. I have bled through all of my cash. I do enjoy cleaning carpets and running my own business. However, my wife deserves better than this. She has been supportive to a fault here lately, and I can not sit by and see us lose our house over this. I am going to get my CDL and hit the road. Jobs are plentiful in the freight business.

 

[swisspro]

Sorry John,

It’s understandable to feel anxious, even deflated, when the phone isn't ringing. Who wouldn't? But dwelling on the situation makes matters worse. A watched phone doesn't ring, and waiting for it to do so only makes for increased anxiety.And become I am behind in all of you bills.
Now you made a decision for your situation.
Become pro active make a list with what you have to sale and post it here so you can have some money coming in fast!
Good luck.

 

[raw74]

The only thing you did was clean carpets and upholstery

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[Citrox1]

Part-time for 8 years. Went full time back in July of last year after loosing my job. I cashed in my retirement and 401K. I used the proceeds to buy some nice, brand new equipment. Did a good deal of advertising, none of which gave me a positive ROI. I have bled through all of my cash. I do enjoy cleaning carpets and running my own business. However, my wife deserves better than this. She has been supportive to a fault here lately, and I can not sit by and see us lose our house over this. I am going to get my CDL and hit the road. Jobs are plentiful in the freight business.

If you cashed in your retirement/401K and bought new equipment, you shouldn't have any payments bleeding your resources, why not keep your rig and work the CC business part time, while getting your CDL and hauling freight?

 

[carracer1967]

I DO HAVE a van payment. 392/ month. Also, I will be out on the road for 3-4 weeks @ a time

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[raw74]

I asked because it's so much you can do in this industry. Don't get me wrong you will make good money driving rigs just a lot of time away from your wife unless you buy your own rig and then you get to choose your own route.You will get to do local runs until you been a driver for years. I know cause I once owned a rig.Its a lot to think about.

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[carracer1967]

A quick list of items.....
1. 2011 Chevy Van (1/2 ton w/a v-6) 15,000 miles on it
2.2014 Chem Tex 14hp panther slide in. Less than 50 hours (works great!) w/ a stainless steel recovery tank
3.3 air movers (purchased at Sam's Club last year)
4. Strong dry 20" CRB (for encap cleaning) bought new last August. Used only 6-7 times
5. SX-15 (used 1 time)
6. reels w/ 150' of each type of hose (vacuum & solution)
7. hydro force M200h portable
8. 2 wands, stair tool, standard upholstery tool
9. grandi groomer (both types)
10. 3- 2 gallon pump up-sprayers, 2 quart size pump up sprayer

Asking 30K for all.

Will post more as I remember what else I have

 

[Steamin' Seaman]

Sorry to hear your getting out of the cc biz.
Been a long road for me also, small rural areas are harder to get started IMO.
Since I started the biz I have seen 1 company go from 2 cleaning vans to 1.
Another closed his store/lease and working out of his house.
I wonder If I have had an effect on this?

 

[ColoradoCleaner]

I'm sorry about your tough situation. If we had known about this before it came to this point we could have helped...

What was your price point for 3 rooms?

 

[ColoradoCleaner]

@carracer1967

 

[aloha one]

Sorry to hear your getting out of the cc biz.
Been a long road for me also, small rural areas are harder to get started IMO.
Since I started the biz I have seen 1 company go from 2 cleaning vans to 1.
Another closed his store/lease and working out of his house.
I wonder If I have had an effect on this?

Good Words Buddy..

 

[estisc]

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[carracer1967]

I'm sorry about your tough situation. If we had known about this before it came to this point we could have helped...

What was your price point for 3 rooms?

Three rooms and hall for 99.00. Problem is, I could not get my phone to ring. Used flyers, Google (I am on the front page), Google places, adwords on google and bing and yahoo, Gift certificates for local teachers, ad in local paper and magazine, facebook as well.

 

[matt30577]

Three rooms and hall for 99.00. Problem is, I could not get my phone to ring. Used flyers, Google (I am on the front page), Google places, adwords on google and bing and yahoo, Gift certificates for local teachers, ad in local paper and magazine, facebook as well.

I'm sorry to hear the rough times John. How many competitors do you have? If you have alot, maybe you can network with them. Give them a call, and list the services that you do.


Example: I network with servpro. I tell them that I'll send them all my customers that have major water damage and fire damage, and they send me all the tile and grout jobs and their carpet jobs when they are too busy to mess with it. I just made one phone call to them, telling them that I'm tired of competing with the other businesses, and I wanted to start partnering with them. I do the same thing for 2 other businesses locally as well.

 

[1ST CHOICE CLEANING]

A quick list of items.....
1. 2011 Chevy Van (1/2 ton w/a v-6) 15,000 miles on it
2.2014 Chem Tex 14hp panther slide in. Less than 50 hours (works great!) w/ a stainless steel recovery tank
3.3 air movers (purchased at Sam's Club last year)
4. Strong dry 20" CRB (for encap cleaning) bought new last August. Used only 6-7 times
5. SX-15 (used 1 time)
6. reels w/ 150' of each type of hose (vacuum & solution)
7. hydro force M200h portable
8. 2 wands, stair tool, standard upholstery tool
9. grandi groomer (both types)
10. 3- 2 gallon pump up-sprayers, 2 quart size pump up sprayer

Asking 30K for all.

Will post more as I remember what else I have

Sorry to hear about this, I wish you the best of luck in what you do. Are you looking to sell it all in a set up or would you be willing to part it out? I may be interested in the CRB and SX-15 but not the whole package.

 

[Nomad74]

I'm so sad to see this thread. Good luck to you. Carpet cleaning is not a get rich quick vehicle by any means. I have found that there is a big cost to customer aquisition and have paid the price. Eddm, 5-around, BNI groups, handing out business cards like a drunk sailor, craigslist hacking, shmoozing Realtors, kissing babies, seo, website design and marketing, blogging, free bottles of spotter, upselling. You gotta do it all. Its a marathon and a 24 hr job. Its tough to break into a market where there are big players established. I find myself working extra hard to gain customer loyalty and set myself apart from the hacks. Its working, but I can never relax. While I am resting, my competition is out there working. I am a small fish and I don't know if I will make it in this biz, but I am still kicking for my bit of market share.

Good luck to you. I think we all understand your frustration. Sometimes you need to take one step back to move two steps forward. I of all people know this. I am steps from bankruptcy and losing all of my rental properties. CC'ing is saving my life right now.

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[MPR]

I understand your frustrations. I am just starting out after identical situation. I lost my job and couldnt find one similar to the one I lost for even close to the same income. I cashed in my retirement and partnered with my brother to start. It has been very slow going and the industry has changed drastically since I was in it 10 years ago. I have been scouring this site and others for information and advice to make my business succeed. I too am interested in the best method for advertising, training that includes hands on experience more so than what is offered from IICRC. I understand the purpose of those classes; however, I could read and regurgitate the information in the classes on a test from home, but want the experience of the professors and professionals so that I dont make the costly "experience learning" mistakes. I am also interested in information from those in the industry that have experience in any category. For example, what is the best way to start out, what customer should you focus on, what do you charge and in what manner (by linear foot for upholstery or by piece, by area or sq ft, ect) tile prices, add ons, ect. I had two professors at the IICRC lectures tell me to focus on the 50% of the public that doesnt care about the price shopper (which encompasses only 15% of the market and is what most people go after). How do you develop a customer base with that business model. I would like to specialize in upholstery, so where would I gain knowledge other than the hard knocks experience. I worked for a professional cleaning company for almost 5 years, but they had specific cleaning chemicals branded for each process, the solvent cleaning is not even utilized any more nor are the codes in the upholstery, so what chemicals work best...right now I have focused on bridgepoint chemicals because they seem to have the most support and information.