I have been mauling over starting a carpet cleaning business for around a year now and every time I google something, this forum is a top hit in the search results. I currently work in the construction trades, mostly painting but also do carpentry, floor installation, and kitchen/bath remodels. While working on a job I struck up a conversation with a cleaner which peeked my interest, especially with the amount of time he had on this job site. He was in and out of the house in under an hour, check in hand, and I talked to him for 25 mins of this time. I went back to building the deck stairs in the freezing drizzling rain.
I work by myself and am getting busy enough that I should hire some people, but I do not want to continue on this path. I currently work 8-10 hour days with travel. Then my nights and some weekends are filled with book keeping and writing estimates. I am looking for a change in pace and something new. I don't want to keep wasting 20 hours of my free time preparing estimates for a remodel that will be above the customers budget, meaning I did all that work for nothing or will spend more time with change orders. I also am looking to change my current situation with time on a job. As a contractor, my minimum time at a job site is one day, usually more. If the customer is a bad one, I might be stuck there everyday for 2 weeks. The appeal of carpet cleaning is that even if the customer is an evil person that is mean to everyone, I can smile and they are in my rear view in a few hours. I've worked hard over the past 10 years to gain a good reputation that has kept me busy by just word of mouth.
Like the title says, I am starting from scratch. I was already planning on buying a van this month to keep from having to unload my vehicle every night, like I do now with my truck. I was going the transit/promaster hi-roof route, but now I am rethinking that approach since I live in Indianapolis and we have temperatures below freezing in the winter. I'm guessing that I should park the van in the garage in the winter time.
I have ZERO experience cleaning carpets or hard surfaces, although I have installed several thousand sq feet of all kinds of flooring (not carpet though). So I have a lot to learn about the methods of cleaning, but should be able to use my contractor experience when talking with customers to gain their trust, talk pricing, and sell them on "me". I currently have 3 leads of local companies that will allow me to shadow them. I will work for free and learn, they will get free labor for a few weeks. I am thinking win win.
I am still in the planning stages, so if anyone wants to chime in with suggestions, I am all ears. I am still planning on attending a couple IICRC courses in the coming months like carpet cleaning technician and carpet repair. Couple of the roadblocks I am having are:
1: Machine- I am still learning the lingo. Truckmount, portable, wand, roto, etc. So I am not sure what I need and what a good starter set-up would include. I stopped by Bane Clene (local in Indianapolis) and talked to them about there systems. Sounds like from research I can get something a little more powerful for the price. I plan to buy used/reconditioned, especially if it comes with a warranty.
2. Budget- I have about $20k to work with, that will be for down payment of the vehicle, down payment of the truck mount, insurance, advertising, etc. I have good credit and plan to finance enough of the equipment so my monthly payment is low-ish. I know others have started with less, but where would the money be best spent to stay in the budget.
3. Operation- I know it will take some time to build a customer base. I want to launch the business by April. I will still take on painting and kitchen remodel jobs (the ones where I am the GC for and sub out most of the work) to keep revenue coming in. I think if I can get enough leeds to clean 2 days a week, construction for 4 other days, I can probably fully transition to carpet cleaning full time in a year. Then just refer people to my list of contractors to keep getting a referral fee and their referrals. Hopefully this is a realistic timetable?
4:Since I will still be doing a little construction while in the startup phase, I was planning on getting a higher roof "euro-style" van. That way I can make some shelves for my tools on one side and have room for a TM on the other. Anyone see any problems with those vans. Im not opposed to a chevy express, as long as their is enough room for my saws and hand tools with the TM and hoses mounted. Usually this space takes up most of my current truckbed. Also in a regular chevy express or gmc van, can you get 4x8 sheets of drywall in them with a truck mount and reels inside.
Those are just a few things that I kind of noted to myself that I am not sure on. I know I've missed much more. If there are any tips that community would like to pass out, things that you might have learned the hard way or wish you didn't buy right a way, please share. I am a total newbie to this profession, but not in business per se.
I truly appreciate the time anyone spent reading this and commenting,
I work by myself and am getting busy enough that I should hire some people, but I do not want to continue on this path. I currently work 8-10 hour days with travel. Then my nights and some weekends are filled with book keeping and writing estimates. I am looking for a change in pace and something new. I don't want to keep wasting 20 hours of my free time preparing estimates for a remodel that will be above the customers budget, meaning I did all that work for nothing or will spend more time with change orders. I also am looking to change my current situation with time on a job. As a contractor, my minimum time at a job site is one day, usually more. If the customer is a bad one, I might be stuck there everyday for 2 weeks. The appeal of carpet cleaning is that even if the customer is an evil person that is mean to everyone, I can smile and they are in my rear view in a few hours. I've worked hard over the past 10 years to gain a good reputation that has kept me busy by just word of mouth.
Like the title says, I am starting from scratch. I was already planning on buying a van this month to keep from having to unload my vehicle every night, like I do now with my truck. I was going the transit/promaster hi-roof route, but now I am rethinking that approach since I live in Indianapolis and we have temperatures below freezing in the winter. I'm guessing that I should park the van in the garage in the winter time.
I have ZERO experience cleaning carpets or hard surfaces, although I have installed several thousand sq feet of all kinds of flooring (not carpet though). So I have a lot to learn about the methods of cleaning, but should be able to use my contractor experience when talking with customers to gain their trust, talk pricing, and sell them on "me". I currently have 3 leads of local companies that will allow me to shadow them. I will work for free and learn, they will get free labor for a few weeks. I am thinking win win.
I am still in the planning stages, so if anyone wants to chime in with suggestions, I am all ears. I am still planning on attending a couple IICRC courses in the coming months like carpet cleaning technician and carpet repair. Couple of the roadblocks I am having are:
1: Machine- I am still learning the lingo. Truckmount, portable, wand, roto, etc. So I am not sure what I need and what a good starter set-up would include. I stopped by Bane Clene (local in Indianapolis) and talked to them about there systems. Sounds like from research I can get something a little more powerful for the price. I plan to buy used/reconditioned, especially if it comes with a warranty.
2. Budget- I have about $20k to work with, that will be for down payment of the vehicle, down payment of the truck mount, insurance, advertising, etc. I have good credit and plan to finance enough of the equipment so my monthly payment is low-ish. I know others have started with less, but where would the money be best spent to stay in the budget.
3. Operation- I know it will take some time to build a customer base. I want to launch the business by April. I will still take on painting and kitchen remodel jobs (the ones where I am the GC for and sub out most of the work) to keep revenue coming in. I think if I can get enough leeds to clean 2 days a week, construction for 4 other days, I can probably fully transition to carpet cleaning full time in a year. Then just refer people to my list of contractors to keep getting a referral fee and their referrals. Hopefully this is a realistic timetable?
4:Since I will still be doing a little construction while in the startup phase, I was planning on getting a higher roof "euro-style" van. That way I can make some shelves for my tools on one side and have room for a TM on the other. Anyone see any problems with those vans. Im not opposed to a chevy express, as long as their is enough room for my saws and hand tools with the TM and hoses mounted. Usually this space takes up most of my current truckbed. Also in a regular chevy express or gmc van, can you get 4x8 sheets of drywall in them with a truck mount and reels inside.
Those are just a few things that I kind of noted to myself that I am not sure on. I know I've missed much more. If there are any tips that community would like to pass out, things that you might have learned the hard way or wish you didn't buy right a way, please share. I am a total newbie to this profession, but not in business per se.
I truly appreciate the time anyone spent reading this and commenting,