Starting a carpet cleaning business

[savefox]

Has anyone tried yelp ads? Is it worth it? I need to add something else to marketing strategy. Google alone is not generating enough leads. I'm thinking yelp, nextdoor, homeadvisor, thumbtack or something of that nature

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Parks]

Has anyone tried yelp ads? Is it worth it? I need to add something else to marketing strategy. Google alone is not generating enough leads. I'm thinking yelp, nextdoor, homeadvisor, thumbtack or something of that nature

I've heard nextdoor works very well. Especially if you can get the customer to post the referral instead of just ads. Probably worth $5-$10 off a job to get them.

I've actually shared this thread with gf. We're down in Salem and it seemed like something she could start on her own for fun and to get into business. Although I haven't been able to sell her on TMF and the rest of the forums yet.

 

[Andy Black]

Has anyone tried yelp ads? Is it worth it? I need to add something else to marketing strategy. Google alone is not generating enough leads. I'm thinking yelp, nextdoor, homeadvisor, thumbtack or something of that nature

Have you tried Facebook Ads? I don't do them but hear they can work well for carpet cleaning.

 

[savefox]

I've heard nextdoor works very well. Especially if you can get the customer to post the referral instead of just ads. Probably worth $5-$10 off a job to get them.

I've actually shared this thread with gf. We're down in Salem and it seemed like something she could start on her own for fun and to get into business. Although I haven't been able to sell her on TMF and the rest of the forums yet.

That's awesome. Salem is not that competitive as Portland. Feel free to dm me if you need any help. Just don't buy a truckmount

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Johnny boy]

Yeah I'll do that when I can.
Since I have no clue about websites and online backend, that stuff will take me another week. Also flyers have proven to be alright but it's starting to get expensive now.

The upsell thing is great. I am gonna look for a safe way to work on roofs, since that has a high barrier to entry and I can charge way more money for that.

Just don't do steep roofs.

Old person's house, rambler, brush off moss and blow out gutters, $400 for a couple hours, listen to some music and get a tan, head home.

Good cardio, I enjoyed doing it. And always paid in cash.

 

[savefox]

Have you tried Facebook Ads? I don't do them but hear they can work well for carpet cleaning.

Yes, honestly it was like talking to 4 year olds every time I tried it. I was targeting top 50% income women with pets and gardens and all I got was a bunch of "1 room how much" or "shampoo sofa I have 70 dollars" replies or something of that nature. So I guess I was doing something wrong

 

[savefox]

Best month so far, more than 10k in sales. I'm still buying a bunch of stuff for the business and had to pay quarterly taxes this month, so profit isn't that great. Best thing is I'm only working 2-5 hours per day 3-4 days a week, so there's still a lot of room to grow without having to hire employees. I'm still working at my job 2 days a week for some reason. I just keep delaying it. I think I can quit it now?

My job average went from $150 when I started to about $380 now. I'm no longer advertising cheap prices and specials trying to serve everyone. Instead, I focus on quality of work, customer service, 100% satisfaction guarantee, top quality cleaning products and so on.

I'll be hiring a virtual assistant from Philippines for $6 an hour to manage inbound calls, customer service and social media when I start getting more leads, so I could finally enjoy cleaning carpets without having to pick up the phone.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Paul David]

Yes, honestly it was like talking to 4 year olds every time I tried it. I was targeting top 50% income women with pets and gardens and all I got was a bunch of "1 room how much" or "shampoo sofa I have 70 dollars" replies or something of that nature. So I guess I was doing something wrong

Probably. I do Facebook ads for around 30 carpet cleaners. Most have been with me since before covid so I guess we do something right!

I have a new DIY Facebook ads program for carpet cleaners, its super cheap at £150/$170 a month. You can launch proven carpet cleaning ads in just 3 clicks without even going into Facebook also. You just pay Facebook for ad spend. Also you get access to our platform with helps bring in more jobs without ads. Hit me up if you'd like more info.

Congrats on growing!

 

[Johnny boy]

I'll be hiring a virtual assistant from Philippines for $6 an hour to manage inbound calls, customer service and social media when I start getting more leads,

Here's a good way to set it up:

Phone system: missed calls kick over to our answering service, voicenation. They have scripts and they say "our quoting manager is on another line but let me get your info and we will get you a quote right away". They have a web-form so when they fill out the customer info, it goes straight into our crm. We use hubspot but any crm can work since the form they fill out could be a jotform that uses zapier or make.com to automatically upload the lead into whichever system you want to use.

Then, the leads go in hubspot mixed in with everyone else, so it's all in one place.

It's 24/7. We have 0 missed sales calls. Call us at 2am for a damn lawn care quote. We can handle it.

We have an automation set up to send them a text that says we will reach out soon but in the meantime they can get an instant quote at this link and they can go on there and do the entire signup process remotely. Just another thing we do to make us the best company around at what we do.

Facebook ads that go to messenger have been great for us. It sends them an auto message that tells them to get an instant quote at this link, or call us, and it asks for their info. Then we follow up and put them in hubspot.

Customer service rep calls leads, schedules quotes or sends price info, moves lead into the "quote" list with one click, and then follows up unsigned quotes. All quotes that signup are automatically moved into "customer" list with API connections so her job is simple. This lets us signup a lot of people in a day so we can have a single person handling sales for 4 different locations and still get it done.

 

[savefox]

I'm getting a bunch of clicks on my google ads from India and all over the world even though the location setting is set on presence only. I'm gonna block the whole world except for my town and see if it helps!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

I'm getting a bunch of clicks on my google ads from India and all over the world even though the location setting is set on presence only. I'm gonna block the whole world except for my town and see if it helps!

View attachment 48609

The location setting should be the middle one. We sometimes exclude everywhere else too.

 

[savefox]

The location setting should be the middle one. We sometimes exclude everywhere else too.

Would you recommend using any fraud blocking software for Google ads?

 

[Andy Black]

Would you recommend using any fraud blocking software for Google ads?

We don't use any tbh. Google is pretty good at blocking fraudulent clicks, from the Google search engine anyway. I think most clicks from other networks are fraudulent... but then I'm a cynic.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[2legit2quit]

man this thread makes me so happy, im so happy reading this

 

[DreamBliss]

Here is a little video that will help you in your carpet cleaning:

View: https://youtu.be/klTlRr2ZgJE


My dad is a janitor and I found that for him. It helps us clean stains at a local school. We also used it to really clean up the carpet at a previous rental.

My only other tip is to make sure you have your taxes and paperwork together for being an "Independent Contractor."

 

[savefox]

Made $10k in May and quit my 30k a year job yesterday! Hit a new record of $1300 today from 5 jobs. Should I invest in a truck mount? Would you care what method of cleaning your carpet cleaner used? I'm using a $500 floor buffer and it cleans pretty well as long as the carpet is pretty clean to begin with, just doesn't look professional. Truck mounts are around $10-20k

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MitchC]

Made $10k in May and quit my 30k a year job yesterday! Hit a new record of $1300 today from 5 jobs. Should I invest in a truck mount? Would you care what method of cleaning your carpet cleaner used? I'm using a $500 floor buffer and it cleans pretty well as long as the carpet is pretty clean to begin with, just doesn't look professional. Truck mounts are around $10-20k

Pretty sure the guy who cleaned ours didn’t have one, I didn’t pay enough attention. I really don’t think anyone would care or even know what a truck mount is.

Has anyone said something?

Are your clients people who get them cleaned regularly or is it mostly 1 off jobs?

You’re getting paying clients and making money, unless it’s going to make jobs significantly easier and faster and mean you can get more done, I wouldn’t. Just keep your head down and keep stacking money.

I wouldn’t care if my lawn care guy used a hand mower or a ride on. Johnny seems to be big on using cheap mowers until they break and then buying new ones. You could probably take the same approach and scale that way.

10k is enough to buy another van and carpet cleaner and probably pay someone’s wages for a month.

Also if you are still looking for up sells, the guy who did our carpets upsold us cleaning our floor tiles, he just did the grout by hand with a grout brush and then run over the tiles with a machine. I was super happy with how they turned out.

Pressure washing could be another upsell. People that are in let’s get the carpets cleaned mode are probably also open to having a nice clean driveway and paths too.

 

[Fasted]

Made $10k in May and quit my 30k a year job yesterday! Hit a new record of $1300 today from 5 jobs. Should I invest in a truck mount? Would you care what method of cleaning your carpet cleaner used? I'm using a $500 floor buffer and it cleans pretty well as long as the carpet is pretty clean to begin with, just doesn't look professional. Truck mounts are around $10-20k

Dope! I’d aim to look more professional, probably not yet though £10-20k is no joke

 

[savefox]

Pretty sure the guy who cleaned ours didn’t have one, I didn’t pay enough attention. I really don’t think anyone would care or even know what a truck mount is.

Has anyone said something?

Are your clients people who get them cleaned regularly or is it mostly 1 off jobs?

You’re getting paying clients and making money, unless it’s going to make jobs significantly easier and faster and mean you can get more done, I wouldn’t. Just keep your head down and keep stacking money.

I wouldn’t care if my lawn care guy used a hand mower or a ride on. Johnny seems to be big on using cheap mowers until they break and then buying new ones. You could probably take the same approach and scale that way.

10k is enough to buy another van and carpet cleaner and probably pay someone’s wages for a month.

Also if you are still looking for up sells, the guy who did our carpets upsold us cleaning our floor tiles, he just did the grout by hand with a grout brush and then run over the tiles with a machine. I was super happy with how they turned out.

Pressure washing could be another upsell. People that are in let’s get the carpets cleaned mode are probably also open to having a nice clean driveway and paths too.

Some people ask if I have a truck mount when they call, but they usually have the dirtiest carpets and are price shoppers. Rich or middle class people usually don't care. I've only had 2 repeat customers yet, but I'm getting good reviews

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[savefox]

Dope! I’d aim to look more professional, probably not yet though £10-20k is no joke

That's for a used one. I got a quote for a brand new one and it was $40k

 

[savefox]

Pressure washing could be another upsell. People that are in let’s get the carpets cleaned mode are probably also open to having a nice clean driveway and paths too.

That's a good idea, I just went and bought a pressure washer. I will add pressure washing to my services and if it goes well, I'll probably create a pressure washing and soft washing company, because carpet cleaning and pressure washing sounds kind of weird together

 

[Parks]

Have you thought about getting a portable first? You could use it on the nasty rooms and still keep it quick and clean for VLM otherwise.

I also wonder what the time difference is with HWE vs VLM. Realistically HWE is priced about the same with VLM. The only thing is that VLM is way more effective for commercial buildings.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Spenny]

That's a good idea, I just went and bought a pressure washer. I will add pressure washing to my services and if it goes well, I'll probably create a pressure washing and soft washing company, because carpet cleaning and pressure washing sounds kind of weird together
View attachment 49160

Oooh what GPM is it? Did you get any nozzles to go along with it?

If you're doing drives & patios, you'll want a surface cleaner. Cuts washing time by loads. You'll also want to get a downstream injector or a spray pump (NOT BACKPACK TYPES) for sodium hypochlorite & surfactant mixes.

Fences, walls, decks & can cleaning are fantastic too, another great upsell. Even cars if you have a wide angle fan tip.

If you need any help on soft washing & pressuring washing drop me a DM, I've been doing a tonne of research into this stuff & plan on buying equipment soon.

 

[savefox]

Oooh what GPM is it? Did you get any nozzles to go along with it?

If you're doing drives & patios, you'll want a surface cleaner. Cuts washing time by loads. You'll also want to get a downstream injector or a spray pump (NOT BACKPACK TYPES) for sodium hypochlorite & surfactant mixes.

Fences, walls, decks & can cleaning are fantastic too, another great upsell. Even cars if you have a wide angle fan tip.

If you need any help on soft washing & pressuring washing drop me a DM, I've been doing a tonne of research into this stuff & plan on buying equipment soon.

It's 4gpm 4400 PSI. I think I have all the nozzles, but I don't even know which ones to use. I have a surface cleaner as well. The washer looks and smells pretty cool, like a brand new motorcycle

 

[Spenny]

It's 4gpm 4400 PSI. I think I have all the nozzles, but I don't even know which ones to use. I have a surface cleaner as well. The washer looks and smells pretty cool, like a brand new motorcycle

Each one will have a different fan tip. There will be one with a 0 degree - that is never used, it's too powerful. One will also maybe be used for chemical but the rest are just fan tips. You might want to look into a turbo nozzle, they're great for getting out bits of moss and crap between stone & doing edges.

When you start cleaning, be sure to tip up the surface cleaner to make sure that the pressure build up doesn't directly hit the driveway, you can get nasty lines from that. Never ever aim the pressure washer initially at the surface you're looking to clean.

Might wanna also look at the flow rate of your taps in your state, you'll need a buffer tank so that you can run at full capacity. You may also want to get a recirculation attachment so that the pump doesn't overheat when idle.

Edit: important to note that chemical does the heavy lifting for removing stuff, wether that be rust or algae.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[savefox]

Here's some stats for June. About $22000 in revenue, all the leads came from google ads and google local services ads. There was a couple of referrals as well. Doing the work while answering the phone and giving quotes every minute sucks especially when English is not your first language. I'll try using another answering service and if it doesn't work I'll probably hire a VA or something.

Apart from that, the business is running almost automatically. I haven't had to intervene with the ads this month, and they're still performing well. The booking software automatically sends email and text sequences to people who haven't booked, and they actually think I'm sending all those messages personally.

I'm one of the most expensive companies in the area. I don't know how people are paying $700-800 to have their carpets cleaned, but they are. The secret is in offering 3 packages. Most people will choose the middle one, which is already more expensive than what most companies offer, but some of them will choose the most expensive one. It takes only 20 minutes extra to do the third package and it doubles the profit

The goal is to have 2 vans working full time 6 days a week bringing in about $35-50k per month. I just need to double the lead flow somehow. I could probably open a couple more "locations" on google maps in a different parts of the city and run google local services ads from there as well, but it wouldn't be fair

 

[Fasted]

but it wouldn't be fair

oh yes it would be

you're killing it man

 

[perfectdownside]

Here's some stats for June. About $22000 in revenue, all the leads came from google ads and google local services ads. There was a couple of referrals as well. Doing the work while answering the phone and giving quotes every minute sucks especially when English is not your first language. I'll try using another answering service and if it doesn't work I'll probably hire a VA or something.

Apart from that, the business is running almost automatically. I haven't had to intervene with the ads this month, and they're still performing well. The booking software automatically sends email and text sequences to people who haven't booked, and they actually think I'm sending all those messages personally.

I'm one of the most expensive companies in the area. I don't know how people are paying $700-800 to have their carpets cleaned, but they are. The secret is in offering 3 packages. Most people will choose the middle one, which is already more expensive than what most companies offer, but some of them will choose the most expensive one. It takes only 20 minutes extra to do the third package and it doubles the profit

The goal is to have 2 vans working full time 6 days a week bringing in about $35-50k per month. I just need to double the lead flow somehow. I could probably open a couple more "locations" on google maps in a different parts of the city and run google local services ads from there as well, but it wouldn't be fairView attachment 49819View attachment 49821View attachment 49820

This has been a fantastic read: I started from your first post and read all your updates, fantastic work! Thank you for posting the updates, you really followed through.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[savefox]

Went through 4 virtual assistants in the last month and finally found the right person! Her English is better than mine with almost no accent and 5 years of sales and customer service experience. I'm paying her $6 an hour + $200 bonus every month if she books over 70% of inbound calls, which is like 2x the average salary in her country + she can work from home and be with her kids. She takes care of customer service, follow ups, content creation, social media and so on. Hire from the Philippines and don't be too cheap. $3 an hour VA weren't great at all.

The only problem is that I can only make about $25k in a single month by myself, so I need to scale somehow. The maximum I've made in a day was only $1600. Do I hire workers? Open another location? Franchise? I don't know if I can hire an employee yet, what if there will be too little work next week?

I'm super tired of cleaning carpets every day, but I can't imagine having someone do it for me and the schedule is not that stable just yet. Like 1 day is fully booked, the next day I only have 2 jobs. Should I wait until next year when I have more repeat customers? Or should I just find someone who can work part time?

 

[IceCreamKid]

Should I wait until next year when I have more repeat customers? Or should I just find someone who can work part time?

This is one of those situations where you have to search deep inside yourself because there's no "one size fits all" answer.

Do you want to deal with managing, hiring, firing, quality control, tough conversations, etc? This is an industry where things can get ugly if you make the wrong hire. One of my employees robbed a customer and I ended up getting sued for it. Not fun, but it's part of the game when you have a biz that requires employees to enter a client's home.

When I needed part time employees I found that the best ones were retired airline suitcase workers. They're reliable, work very hard(transporting suitcases all day is exhausting), and don't want a full-time income because they already have their pension. They just want some extra pocket money.

If you want to go the solo route but make more money, another option is to aggressively raise your prices. You have clients who are loyal to you regardless of price simply because you've earned their trust when entering their home.