If you have read any of my business guides it didn’t take long to see that I really value the proper use of the internet.  Today, if you are not taking advantage of a simple web site to promote your business, you are really missing the boat.

I always used my web address in advertising on my trucks, business cards and all types of advertising.  There is no doubt it brought me tons of business which I would never have seen without it.  My sites have developed into retail outlets in recent years but the main purpose was always to present a detailed description of my services.

I have to admit that years ago it was quite easy to get lost in the hidden costs of creating and publishing a web site but today things are much easier.  Most guys when starting a business are interested in getting their new equipment and getting to work.  Who wants to waste time trying to figure out the details of making a website.  After all, you have to find a web host who isn’t going to rip you off.  Then you have to either learn how to actually create a web site or hire someone.  Most new business owners are concerned of any “hidden costs” that will kill them before they can get into profit.  This is the point where most guys decide to place their website on the back burner so to speak as they go about trying to earn a living.

But the simple fact is that you should rate getting a website right up to buying your first business cards.  In fact, you should have the site before you buy those cards.  I cover all this in the carpet cleaning business plan on site but I know there are still guys who don’t buy into this at all.  Your website serves as a full business brochure and enables you to use less expensive means of advertising while sending interested people to your web address where you “sell your specific service.”

To make things easier for those just starting out, I’ve finally got some help available for a quick website to help promote your business.  If you want to do-it-yourself, I highly recommend hawkhost.com web hosting business.  I personally use them and their service is great and dependable and their costs are very low.

Now if you want a bit of help, I have started a basic web site service to help you get online.  All your total costs are presented upfront and you are guaranteed of getting your site online within a few days and not weeks or months as is the case with some large companies.

Whichever way your decide to go, just be sure to view your web site as the basis of any advertising for your new business.  You won’t be disappointed.

This is a question which comes up from time to time.  If you have read my carpet cleaning business guide, you know my best advice is never listen to a salesman or equipment distributor.  They’ll sell you everything and anything in stock and you’ll fill your garage in no time at all with useless tools.

Your selection of tools should be related directly to what services you provide.  For example, I provide low moisture carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning and hard surface cleaning of floors and counter tops.  When I first started out I would buy decent upright machines which were on sale and then replace them when they broke.  After a few years I changed my strategy and started buying the best equipment I could get my hands on (and afford).  For my business, I had to be ready for dry carpet and upholstery cleaning (vacuums), water extraction, carpet shampooing, tile and grout cleaning.  So my equipment fell within those categories.

So if you were to check my truck on any given day, you would find a ProTeam Upright vacuum.  This machine is very lightweight yet does a great job and holds up to abuse very well.  I’d have my small Eureka canister for furniture or mattress cleaning.  As a backup vacuum, I carried an older consumer type vacuum.  Only about 20% of my business at any given time was commercial but I would also have a Hoover backpack vacuum for commercial jobs and large homes.  Through the years I’ve found that backpack has helped me out of many jams.

I only use water extraction in “flooded” situations or for the occasional customer who desires this service.  But it is always a good investment to carry.  There are several options by Sanitaire which will do the job nicely.  I suggest being very careful here since you can spend a few thousand dollars on water extraction equipment which you’ll never use.

My main carpet cleaning machine is a Cimex floor shampooer and I do smaller jobs with a Challenger 1/2 HP oscillating machine.  I also have a cordless drill kit I use for steps and furniture cleaning.  In the past 5 years these two machines have been able to do 95% of all jobs with 100% customer satisfaction.  You can check out my business guide for details on how to make this system work for you.

Beyond the machines mentioned, I have a good variety of brushes and chemicals that make this work.  No magic here but with the equipment above you can surpass the business of those guys who spend $75,000 on truck mount systems.  I know since I’ve done it for years.

I hope this helps give newbies an idea of what is needed to do the job.

Recently I read an article about those guys who think using “bait and switch” tactics will keep them in the green.  It brought back many memories from competitors I’ve known over the years who thought this was the only way to compete.

I can’t tell you how many customers I’ve gained over the years from those type of operators.  Some of my favorites have been the $6 per room or the $79 ‘whole house special.  When they add up their “extra’s” the $6 room goes up to $79 and the ‘whole house special’ says maximum of two rooms of carpeting’.

I’ve found that in the majority of cases the home owner will accept most price increases over the advertised special, especially if they have taken time from work to be home for the scheduled cleaning.  The scam artists are well aware of this.   When you think about it, its just common sense.  When the operator plays his game and and walks away after the job making his inflated fee, he feels he has won another one.   But what these operators don’t appreciate is that same customer will look for someone else for their next cleaning.

For years I advertised that “I’ll fix the problems the big guys create” and reference ‘long drying times’, ‘returning spots’, ‘padded invoices’, ‘bait and switch scams’, and so on.  I never advertised a price and always promoted my personal service.  Every time I presented an estimate, it included everything.  You’ll make a lot of friends real fast if you take $10 off an estimate for some reason.  But never add to the estimate.

If you are new to the carpet cleaning business, don’t fall into the ‘bait and switch’ trap.  Yes, you’ll make some fast cash from inexperienced home owners, but you won’t last in this business.  Follow a good business plan and always focus on quality service and the business will grow.

After helping others start their businesses for over three years now, a very interesting thing happened to me the other day.

A buyer of my carpet cleaning business package contacted me and was unhappy since he couldn’t access some of the information on the CD.  Although I provide the information in several formats, this person didn’t have any word processor or any applicable software on his PC.  I did help him out by creating custom forms just for his business and supplied them in PDF format.  As most readers would know, adobe pdf readers are free online.

But then the new business owner complained he could not change anything since he couldn’t edit the PDF files.  Now I suspect he has taken my advice and spent some money on software but only time will tell.  But the entire problem made me seriously consider the situation of those starting a business today.

In very frank terms, if you are seriously going into business, you have to be prepared to spend some money on a trusted business plan, cleaning tools and equipment and computer software.  How will you ever followup with customers, make brochures, print ads and so on if you don’t have any basic software?

You might not consider it until after you read my business plan but advance preparation and the ability to print up advertising is very important if you want to have any customers.  So I’ve found a great deal on basic office software that anyone going into business should have.  Please take advantage of it, if you aren’t already prepared.

Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007

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Retail Price: $149.95

Amazon Price: $109.88

I frequently get inquiries from people interested in buying a franchise of my carpet cleaning business.  In fact, over the years I’ve had several offers to franchise my operations.  So needless to say, I’ve really considered the pros and cons of selling and buying a carpet cleaning franchise.

Lets look at the benefits of SELLING a business franchise to begin with.  If someone has a profitable carpet cleaning business and wants to expand his name on a national level, this is a win-win situation.  Other then legal fees, the owner simply has to commit his overall business plan to paper, write training articles and record some basic videos promoting his style of cleaning and he’ll have a basic franchise package.  The larger franchise operations usually provide reduced cost or free national advertising.  In most cases the franchise will develop a chain of businesses dependent upon him for cleaning products, equipment or both.  Plus, don’t forget the new franchise will usually be responsible for a certain percentage of his business sales each month as an on-going franchise fee.  As I said, a win-win situation for the franchise.

Now as for the new carpet cleaning franchise buyer.  The general benefits are that he gets a well-known name to market throughout his assigned geographic area.  He’ll get a business plan, training, advertising  information, products, equipment and a proven cleaning system.  In simple terms: its an entire business package.

But the reality of the situation is that this carpet cleaning franchise comes at a high cost.  Not all franchises are the same but consider some of the hidden costs that might be present.

The carpet cleaning franchise will have a business plan dedicated to that specific franchise.  It will promote that cleaning system, his cleaning products, his cleaning techniques and the franchise specific equipment to the full.  In most cases you will have to buy your supplies and equipment from the franchise at what they might refer to as “reduced pricing”.  It might very well be reduced from list price but in 9 of 10 times you’ll find buying any tools or supplies direct from distributors or manufacturers will save you much more.  But, you’ll be locked into the buying contract with the franchise.

Over the years I’ve had several guys object to my advice and buy franchise operations and without an exception, all have admitted their error after a couple years.  When you are starting out, many feel they will grow a business faster by the larger name recognition of using a franchise.  But even under ideal circumstances, paying a monthly fee for what ever reason, becomes a drag real fast.  The other problem seldom considered is that a franchise will direct you to specific equipment purchases.  Do you realize a truck mount water extractor and vehicle can run anywhere from $75,000 to $135,000.  Imagine just starting to pay that off and learning that better carpet cleaners today are using new machines and cleaning systems costing a few thousand dollars.  Worse yet, wait till your competition starts taking your jobs away by promoting low moisture cleaning for example.  At that point, what do you do with a truck costing you the price of a mortgage each month?

Okay, that is an extreme example but this has happened and is still happening.  Carpet cleaning technology has changed drastically in the past few years and all for the better.  When you are locked into certain equipment or business franchises, you are stuck.

I always encourage a person to remember why he or she wants to start a business.  You want to be independent, offer the best possible service and provide complete customer satisfaction.  You’ll find that is very difficult to achieve when operating a carpet cleaning franchise.  I suggest following a good carpet cleaning business plan which will explain the secrets behind this business and then buy equipment and provide services that are best for you and your clients.  Don’t worry about competing with big name franchise cleaners.  I’ve done it for decades and their standard level of service has steadily provided me with a good income.

This is the most often asked question I hear today.  I think its interesting that most of those asking the question aren’t concerned with the unemployment or the economy.  Their main concern is seeing the competition from those large chains and those who advertise constantly on TV.  After all that little “Yellow Truck” can be intimidating unless you know the truth about the business.

I always tell people what I’ve learned over the years about competition.  Those who advertise the most, especially with the lowest prices are never anything to worry about.  Actually they help the small guy by keeping the subject of carpet cleaning in the news.

The key is to specialize in something the large companies can’t offer.  That is service and quality work.  I can honestly say I’ve lived off the lousy craftsmanship which is the norm for the large contractors.  So the answer to the question is “Yes and NO”.

The answer is NO if you are content to work like the common contractors.  But the answer is definitely a YES if you follow a good business plan and open your mind to a new approach to the business.

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After receiving many basic questions on the subject of following a specific carpet cleaning business plan, it seems that I should take just a few sentences to explain what a business plan really is and isn’t.

First off, a business plan could also be referred to as a business guide.  When a person decides to start his own business, it is always good to take the time to write down certain details pertaining to the goals and planned activity of the business.  On the subject of carpet cleaning, an individual might already have chosen a specific type of cleaning he will perform, who his perspective customer is and what his primary equipment needs are.  Obviously the information in this type of business plan is going to be limited to the experience and general knowledge of the new business owner.  Now in most cases, his knowledge will be limited to whatever type of cleaning offered and tools used by his former employer.

The point to emphasize is the fact that this new business owner is going to be limited to his or her basic knowledge as one who is very limited in experience and influenced heavily by whoever taught him the trade of carpet cleaning.  In addition, his knowledge of the actual running of a business will be very limited because it is truly a rare thing if a small business owner shares his secrets with someone who might become his competition some day.  It just doesn’t happen that way in the real world.

Wouldn’t it be better if this new owner had the benefit of someone who was thoroughly familiar with the trade, the latest technology and trends of the industry, customer relationships, business building, dealing with competition and so on?  Better yet if this source’s knowledge were based on experience and not just on theory or other published information.

So while it is always a good practice to take note of one’s own thoughts of building his business, it is even a better practice to seek out advice of someone you can trust for additional help in areas where you would naturally lack experience.

We should also mention what a business plan “is not.”  A good business plan should present the author’s way of doing things, his sources of products and supplies, his advertising secrets and should explain why the author makes certain suggestions and so on.  But a good plan is not going to simply tell the reader to ‘do this.’  In other words it will provide direction and reasoning behind the decisions that were made by the author but provide various options to the reader.  There are hundreds of questions that arise when someone starts a business, this experienced source is going to help the reader make those decisions based upon his years of experience in the real world.  In essence a good business plan will serve as a step by step guide.

So the new business owner should seek a source that has decades of experience in the field of carpet cleaning.  It would be good to avoid anyone with just a couple years experience since it would be obvious that this source would not have much more experience then the new person starting out.  It naturally takes time to learn to deal with customers, trends in the economy, changes in advertising, changes in cleaning technology and so on.  It would also be good to find someone who is still active in the industry and is publishing information to deal with problems in 2010 and not those of a decade ago.  Look for specific information concerning various problems faced when trying to satisfy customers and make profits during a bad economy.

The idea is that learning from someone else’s experience can save one from making the same mistakes everyone makes.  A smart person can benefit from the errors made by others.  A good carpet cleaning business plan will save the new person from wasting thousands of dollars on equipment he’ll never use as well as wasting hundreds of hours doing office work if he can use someone else’s business forms, etc.

Lesson 1…Find a Good Carpet Cleaning Business Plan and you’ll save time and money!

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In today’s economy there are many people considering starting their own business.  It makes good sense since there is no longer any such thing as job security.  So after operating several small businesses through the years, I can say that carpet cleaning is probably one of the best home based businesses you could select.  One of the major benefits is the fact that anyone can start this business with a relatively small amount of capitol.  The best way to keep those expenses low is by controlling equipment and advertising costs from day one.

It is unfortunate that many who start a new business become wrapped up in creating cash flow and keeping busy when it is more important to control costs and create profit.  Now before you react negatively to that remark, this is achieved by limiting your startup costs and advertising expenses while you focus on more important aspects of setting up a small business.  But without guidance, the new business owner can easily go astray.

The most difficult part about this is when seeking advice on equipment and supply purchases, it is common for many to go to the manufacturer’s sales representatives for advice.  In a similar fashion, when considering advertising, most people normally seek out advertising reps.  This is not the best tactic when you consider these people earn a living from commissions on sales of these products.  Do you really thing they are out for your interests?

Under most circumstances, these characters will sell you the biggest and most expensive tools, supplies and advertising that they have to offer.  So within a brief period of time, the new business owner will have his garage full of equipment and supplies that will never be used.  In addition, he’ll be working to pay off monthly advertising costs instead of focusing on profit.  I’ve seen this happen many times over the years I’ve been in business.

From personal experience in the carpet cleaning business for decades, it would be a better tact to seek a good carpet cleaning business plan from someone trusted and active in the business.  While there is a wealth of info published on the web, it is a good idea to pay particular attention to background of the author of the information.  The bulk of the information pertaining to small business operation that is published online is the product of professional writers and not actual business owners.  Consequently, the bulk of free information will be out dated reprints of ideas that simply do not work.