18 year old ready for the Fastlane

[Esoteric Wealth]

Hey everybody, just wanted to introduce myself. Have been a lurker of this forum for quite some time now I think, since about October. I have not read the TMF yet, but I definitely will get to it really soon. No stranger to the Fastlane mindset however. Have really been struggling for the last couple months with what I'm gonna do business-wise.

I read a thread on here about carpet cleaning, and I have decided that I'm gonna start a dyer vent cleaning company because of it's low start up cost. I've also done a bit of research to see what kind of competition I can find in my area, and I'm not finding much, nothing on Craigslist. I have seen a few companies online in my general area but nothing that I feel to be dominating the market. I have seen a guy on here doing dryer vents so if anyone could point him in my direction that would be greatly appreciated.

I have no job right now, so am waiting on my tax refund of $450 to start it up which I think is plenty. Basically I want to create a very attractive, streamlined looking company, and market like crazy. Online and offline. Coupled with VERY good customer service. While at the same time create a system to do the very same to other mundane, service jobs. I want to get the legs up and running and then move onto creating other businesses.

I look at some of these service trucks for small businesses, and I see the crap logo and design (with probably not much of an aggressive marketing strategy), and I think, "Hell, if they're getting work, I can definitely get somewhere." I want to hit laundromats, community condominiums, as well as residential homes. I think I'd also get some leads from some of the local REIA's I go to.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and I really do look forward to spending some time interacting with you guys on this forum rather than just watching, you really all are a great group of people and have inspired me so much.

 

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[ZeroTo100]

Hey Richard,

Commercial break on the Super Bowl and figured I'd drop a message.

It's great that you already know what you want to do. I have a lot of business experiences (many, many failures) but I'm at that point in my journey on what to do next also - so you're already one step ahead of me in that regard lol.

If I were you, my first move would be finding your local competition and determining what they do best, their weaknesses, and how you might be able to gain some sort of competitive advantage over them. Study them for sure! You already know there's a market if you have competitors.

I noticed you mentioned getting into other businesses but you should really focus on 1 business first.

In terms of startup costs, you'll need a website which I'm guessing you'll do on your own. With just $450, you will surely be starting lean. I would work on some guirilla marketing campaigns. Also, I know SEO shouldn't be a major factor in your marketing (I'd do paid local ads with FB) but you may find some benefits with local SEO.

Best of luck,

Enjoy the game!

S

Hey everybody, just wanted to introduce myself. Have been a lurker of this forum for quite some time now I think, since about October. I have not read the TMF yet, but I definitely will get to it really soon. No stranger to the Fastlane mindset however. Have really been struggling for the last couple months with what I'm gonna do business-wise.
I read a thread on here about carpet cleaning, and I have decided that I'm gonna start a dyer vent cleaning company because of it's low start up cost. I've also done a bit of research to see what kind of competition I can find in my area, and I'm not finding much, nothing on Craigslist. I have seen a few companies online in my general area but nothing that I feel to be dominating the market. I have seen a guy on here doing dryer vents so if anyone could point him in my direction that would be greatly appreciated.
I have no job right now, so am waiting on my tax refund of $450 to start it up which I think is plenty. Basically I want to create a very attractive, streamlined looking company, and market like crazy. Online and offline. Coupled with VERY good customer service. While at the same time create a system to do the very same to other mundane, service jobs. I want to get the legs up and running and then move onto creating other businesses.
I look at some of these service trucks for small businesses, and I see the crap logo and design (with probably not much of an aggressive marketing strategy), and I think, "Hell, if they're getting work, I can definitely get somewhere." I want to hit laundromats, community condominiums, as well as residential homes. I think I'd also get some leads from some of the local REIA's I go to.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and I really do look forward to spending some time interacting with you guys on this forum rather than just watching, you really all are a great group of people and have inspired me so much.

 

[Aaron W]

Welcome!

Can't wait to see your dyer vent cleaning company destroying the markek.

 

[Esoteric Wealth]

Hey Richard,

Commercial break on the Super Bowl and figured I'd drop a message.

It's great that you already know what you want to do. I have a lot of business experiences (many, many failures) but I'm at that point in my journey on what to do next also - so you're already one step ahead of me in that regard lol.

If I were you, my first move would be finding your local competition and determining what they do best, their weaknesses, and how you might be able to gain some sort of competitive advantage over them. Study them for sure! You already know there's a market if you have competitors.

I noticed you mentioned getting into other businesses but you should really focus on 1 business first.

In terms of startup costs, you'll need a website which I'm guessing you'll do on your own. With just $450, you will surely be starting lean. I would work on some guirilla marketing campaigns. Also, I know SEO shouldn't be a major factor in your marketing (I'd do paid local ads with FB) but you may find some benefits with local SEO.

Best of luck,

Enjoy the game!

S

Thank you for the insight! Yes I will be creating my own website, I didn't think of paid local ads on FB but I will definitely be using that, so thank you for that. I will be looking into Google Adwords too. As well as putting listings on the main online business directories.

As for guerrilla marketing, I have a knack for filmmaking. I probably could make a video of some kind, I've done a fair bit of short films. Some of the videos I see these other companies post are low quality, badly filmed garbage.

 

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[Esoteric Wealth]

Welcome!

Can't wait to see your dyer vent cleaning company destroying the markek.

Thanks, man!

 

[jazb]

Oven cleaning is incredibly lucrative too (if you position yourself correctly)

 

[Esoteric Wealth]

Oven cleaning is incredibly lucrative too (if you position yourself correctly)

Wow, never have even given thought to that. It is a nuisance of a job, come to think of it. So there is a market. Could possibly couple it with grill cleaning. Along with using green cleaning solutions, would definitely attract people.

 

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[Vansita]

Id say put some spit on it by going door to door (unless there is snow) and offer a 25% off what you're thinking of charging, just to drum up some business, and give them a coupon to give someone else 25% off your service. Thats what Im doing starting Tuesday

 

[Esoteric Wealth]

Id say put some spit on it by going door to door (unless there is snow) and offer a 25% off what you're thinking of charging, just to drum up some business, and give them a coupon to give someone else 25% off your service. Thats what Im doing starting Tuesday

So you actually tell them you're giving them 25% off your services?

 

[Vansita]

Yeah, don't do how big retailers do it and give them "25% off" but really mark it up later, For example.. say your service costs you $10 worth of materials, and you have someone helping you for those two hours that you pay $10, the total cost is $30, but.. say you want to make a nice margin and find online people charge (say stanley steamer) $100 for that service. You should immediately already have made a price point for the same amount equal to say.. 80% of that, so should be charging 80 for the service, but than, give them a discount to say $60. They'll love you for it, especially if you tell them with your 25 % discount you're 40% cheaper than the competitors and are doing the price to make sure they refer you, because you don't have the big name... yet.. Also, pricing should always be flexible, as long as its profitable.

 

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[Esoteric Wealth]

Yeah, don't do how big retailers do it and give them "25% off" but really mark it up later, For example.. say your service costs you $10 worth of materials, and you have someone helping you for those two hours that you pay $10, the total cost is $30, but.. say you want to make a nice margin and find online people charge (say stanley steamer) $100 for that service. You should immediately already have made a price point for the same amount equal to say.. 80% of that, so should be charging 80 for the service, but than, give them a discount to say $60. They'll love you for it, especially if you tell them with your 25 % discount you're 40% cheaper than the competitors and are doing the price to make sure they refer you, because you don't have the big name... yet.. Also, pricing should always be flexible, as long as its profitable.

Hmm, I like the idea, good way to get my foot in the door, and eventually charge normal price with people having peace of mind that I've done the job before.

 

[The Racing Driver]

I read a thread on here about carpet cleaning, and I have decided that I'm gonna start a dyer vent cleaning company because of it's low start up cost. I've also done a bit of research to see what kind of competition I can find in my area, and I'm not finding much, nothing on Craigslist. I have seen a few companies online in my general area but nothing that I feel to be dominating the market. I have seen a guy on here doing dryer vents so if anyone could point him in my direction that would be greatly appreciated.

Awesome Richard ! Great to see you're making a start with whatever you've got. Instead of making BS excuses.

You say you want to start a dryer vent cleaning company. Good. Rephrase that into the benefit you'll provide the end user (I had to google dryer vent cleaning to understand). While low start up cost is good, that shouldn't be your main concern when starting a business.

@jazb mentioned oven cleaning as well. You never know how lucrative that could be. It sounds cheaper to start, and something you could sell more frequently. Go talk to people, and discover some more hidden needs & gaps out there. It could work wildly in your favour.

By the way, since you don't have a whole load to blow on marketing. I'd be glad to help you out with any website or local SEO advice. Reach out to me

 

[Esoteric Wealth]

Awesome Richard ! Great to see you're making a start with whatever you've got. Instead of making BS excuses.

You say you want to start a dryer vent cleaning company. Good. Rephrase that into the benefit you'll provide the end user (I had to google dryer vent cleaning to understand). While low start up cost is good, that shouldn't be your main concern when starting a business.

@jazb mentioned oven cleaning as well. You never know how lucrative that could be. It sounds cheaper to start, and something you could sell more frequently. Go talk to people, and discover some more hidden needs & gaps out there. It could work wildly in your favour.

By the way, since you don't have a whole load to blow on marketing. I'd be glad to help you out with any website or local SEO advice. Reach out to me

So what I should have said would be, "I want to help people avoid a fire caused by something as insignificant as lint, and lower their energy bill, by cleaning out their dryer vents."?

I don't really see any oven cleaning services around my area, with the exception of those that are included in an overall maid service. So I may do some talking around and see if it's something people would be interested in.

I've never made a website before so it's nice to see you willing to help out with some advice. I've done some research on it and it seems a bit daunting but I've seen so many people create one with no experience before, and I have no doubt I can do the same. Any idea on what web host I should use?

 

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[ZeroTo100]

So what I should have said would be, "I want to help people avoid a fire caused by something as insignificant as lint, and lower their energy bill, by cleaning out their dryer vents."?

I don't really see any oven cleaning services around my area, with the exception of those that are included in an overall maid service. So I may do some talking around and see if it's something people would be interested in.

I've never made a website before so it's nice to see you willing to help out with some advice. I've done some research on it and it seems a bit daunting but I've seen so many people create one with no experience before, and I have no doubt I can do the same. Any idea on what web host I should use?

I actually had this service done. Pretty much everyone in my development used the same company to service our dryer vents. By law, I think we had to get them serviced once every three years...There's another idea (find out who is on the board or when the board meetings come up for townhouse, condos, coop communities pitch them).

Additionally, I noticed the company that I use provides additional services. Remember the K.I.S.S. Method - Keep it simple stupid! I would focus on the following four areas as they seem to mesh well together.

Air Duct Cleaning

Chimney Cleaning

Dryer vent cleaning

Carpet & Upholstery

Other stuff...

Find a company that is doing what you want to do and use it as a role model. I can give you the domain of the company I just used to clean my dryer vents. Their site is pretty simple and on point. Spend the $40 and have your own dryer vents cleaned and get an invoice from them. Take notes on what you like or don't like. Seriously brother, if you want to do this you better get hungry or you'll get eaten alive by the companies already in the game. Make sure your copy and site design is better, your actual craftsmanship is better, your people and process are better, your customer service is better, and build an overall better service than what's in your area. Differentiate yourself. Use better quality materials. Find things that they aren't doing that you can do. Maybe they aren't offering warranties. That's an idea. Maybe they charge for inspections but you give them free. Do things that will build your reputation online and crush your competitors by earning their customers.

EARN YOUR COMPETITORS CUSTOMERS!

I can go on...Since you are starting super lean...Find out how these companies are ranking on the SERPS. Check out who is linking to them. Why are they showing up on google over you? Utilize those same authoritative domains by doing outreach. Normally it is a little easier to out rank local keywords so building yourself is definitely ideal. You have your work cut out. Ever think of bringing on a partner? Get one of your buddies to jump on board with you. Tell them you have done X amount of work and you're X far into the startup phase and you're looking for a partner. If you already have a deep enough start, you may be able to bring them on board for a high buy in. Obviously not a tremendous amount of money but maybe you can get one of your buddies to jump on board with you for 1 or 2k. You'll reduce your risk, have a partner, and more startup cash. You're a young guy and this won't be your last business - trust me. You'll be involved with a lot of ventures as you grow. Why not bring on someone smarter than you?

Best

Steve

 

[Esoteric Wealth]

I actually had this service done. Pretty much everyone in my development used the same company to service our dryer vents. By law, I think we had to get them serviced once every three years...There's another idea (find out who is on the board or when the board meetings come up for townhouse, condos, coop communities pitch them).

Additionally, I noticed the company that I use provides additional services. Remember the K.I.S.S. Method - Keep it simple stupid! I would focus on the following four areas as they seem to mesh well together.

Air Duct Cleaning

Chimney Cleaning

Dryer vent cleaning

Carpet & Upholstery

Other stuff...

Find a company that is doing what you want to do and use it as a role model. I can give you the domain of the company I just used to clean my dryer vents. Their site is pretty simple and on point. Spend the $40 and have your own dryer vents cleaned and get an invoice from them. Take notes on what you like or don't like. Seriously brother, if you want to do this you better get hungry or you'll get eaten alive by the companies already in the game. Make sure your copy and site design is better, your actual craftsmanship is better, your people and process are better, your customer service is better, and build an overall better service than what's in your area. Differentiate yourself. Use better quality materials. Find things that they aren't doing that you can do. Maybe they aren't offering warranties. That's an idea. Maybe they charge for inspections but you give them free. Do things that will build your reputation online and crush your competitors by earning their customers.

EARN YOUR COMPETITORS CUSTOMERS!

I can go on...Since you are starting super lean...Find out how these companies are ranking on the SERPS. Check out who is linking to them. Why are they showing up on google over you? Utilize those same authoritative domains by doing outreach. Normally it is a little easier to out rank local keywords so building yourself is definitely ideal. You have your work cut out. Ever think of bringing on a partner? Get one of your buddies to jump on board with you. Tell them you have done X amount of work and you're X far into the startup phase and you're looking for a partner. If you already have a deep enough start, you may be able to bring them on board for a high buy in. Obviously not a tremendous amount of money but maybe you can get one of your buddies to jump on board with you for 1 or 2k. You'll reduce your risk, have a partner, and more startup cash. You're a young guy and this won't be your last business - trust me. You'll be involved with a lot of ventures as you grow. Why not bring on someone smarter than you?

Best

Steve

I actually would like that domain, would be interesting to study some successfully used services outside of my area. I am an advocate of the K.I.S.S. principle as well. I found myself saying that to my dad just the other day, so it's funny that you mention it. I don't know of many chimneys down here in Florida, but the other three areas would mesh very well, I think. Wondering how I would go about that however... Start off as exclusively dryer vents and then reinvest profits to fund the other areas?

My dryer vent isn't worth getting cleaned because it's one foot long and the vent is literally right outside the wall of the dryer. Although I could probably stay at a friends house and get their dryer vent cleaned courtesy of me, while I observe and learn. Which is probably what I'm gonna end up doing now that I think of it.

First time I've ever heard about SERPS, though. Don't have very much experience at all with SEO but I'm learning as I go along. A lot of terms I'm not recognizing but I'm doing my best not to feel too overwhelmed and just go through it a piece at a time. I like the partner idea, but I just can't think of any friends who would be willing to join in. I'm really grateful for all this information, and I'm trying to soak in as much as possible and figure out a solid plan.

 

[RunWithIt]

I actually would like that domain, would be interesting to study some successfully used services outside of my area. I am an advocate of the K.I.S.S. principle as well. I found myself saying that to my dad just the other day, so it's funny that you mention it. I don't know of many chimneys down here in Florida, but the other three areas would mesh very well, I think. Wondering how I would go about that however... Start off as exclusively dryer vents and then reinvest profits to fund the other areas?

My dryer vent isn't worth getting cleaned because it's one foot long and the vent is literally right outside the wall of the dryer. Although I could probably stay at a friends house and get their dryer vent cleaned courtesy of me, while I observe and learn. Which is probably what I'm gonna end up doing now that I think of it.

First time I've ever heard about SERPS, though. Don't have very much experience at all with SEO but I'm learning as I go along. A lot of terms I'm not recognizing but I'm doing my best not to feel too overwhelmed and just go through it a piece at a time. I like the partner idea, but I just can't think of any friends who would be willing to join in. I'm really grateful for all this information, and I'm trying to soak in as much as possible and figure out a solid plan.

I also had to look this up to see what dryer vent cleaning was and now that I know I am putting it on my list of things to do this next weekend.

At 18 you are on the right track and I say push through and make it happen, I am able bodied and not lazy so I prefer to do all I can without paying for it, but had I been a single mother or older person im sure I would have called someone to provide this service.

Advertise Advertise Advertise!

The more people that know of this service the better.

 

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[amp0193]

Don't buy a brush system, they are garbage.

Get a skipper that you can attach to an air compressor... like this:

One of my first businesses was fixing/flipper washers/dryers. I did a few vent clean upsells.

I'd network with some appliance repair guys to get referral deals on vent cleaning.


Learn how to clean out the dryers themselves too, and add that as an upsell. It's not hard.

 

[Esoteric Wealth]

Don't buy a brush system, they are garbage.

Get a skipper that you can attach to an air compressor... like this:

One of my first businesses was fixing/flipper washers/dryers. I did a few vent clean upsells.

I'd network with some appliance repair guys to get referral deals on vent cleaning.


Learn how to clean out the dryers themselves too, and add that as an upsell. It's not hard.

Interesting.. haven't seen these before. Thoughts on why a brush system is garbage? Seems a bit harder to vacuum up all the lint with these air methods.

 

[amp0193]

Interesting.. haven't seen these before. Thoughts on why a brush system is garbage? Seems a bit harder to vacuum up all the lint with these air methods.

It's harder to vacuum up all the lint because it actually gets the lint out of the vent.

Brush systems take longer to set up, are much less effective, harder to use, can break inside the vent if you aren't careful.

http://heatsealequipment.com/dv1-bl...-blue-skipper-line/duct-cleaning/product.html

@mikeyjd do you have any thoughts on vent cleaning?

 

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[Guatavo]

Hi, I am Gustavo. New here

 

[Esoteric Wealth]

It's harder to vacuum up all the lint because it actually gets the lint out of the vent.

Brush systems take longer to set up, are much less effective, harder to use, can break inside the vent if you aren't careful.

http://heatsealequipment.com/dv1-bl...-blue-skipper-line/duct-cleaning/product.html

@mikeyjd do you have any thoughts on vent cleaning?

Hmm, I like it, and it could set me apart from the competition.