The quality of your life is directly correlated to the quality of your questions. Don't worry man I still love you.
what is love?
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Free registration at the forum removes this block.The quality of your life is directly correlated to the quality of your questions. Don't worry man I still love you.
what is love?
The best way to evaluate competition is this: park outside of their warehouse and just watch. How many vans do they have? How many go out each day? When do they leave and come back?
Then call them up and make an appointment for a carpet cleaning. I'll go deeper into this when I have some time, but buying someone else's service/product can expose you to their entire marketing campaign which they've tested and optimized. I'm not saying to steal their marketing word for word, but use it as a baseline that you can work from.
You want to know the truth? EVERYONE has some type of limiting belief inside of them. People somehow have this perception that I am some invincible dude that plows through obstacles with ease. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
I am human. I feel fears just like you. I feel uncertainty just like you. The moment I “overcome” some limiting belief, I discover another one. Hah!
The major shift for me occurred when I changed my beliefs on what it means to be a man.
MOST MEN ARE FULL OF CRAP
Most will never admit that they need help. They’re full of crap. I was one of them.
If you were to ask me not too long ago what it means to be a man you would’ve heard stuff like, “bold, fearless, strong, blazing your own path like a beastly warrior, 100% zero F*cks given”.
In reality, I had this fearless outer shell but I was deeply insecure about how others perceived me. The simple thought of asking somebody else for help was painful for me because it meant that I was unable to achieve my goals on my own accord, which I interpreted as a sign of NOT being a real man. This is all BS. Ego. Pride. Bravado.
Then one day I had a 2 hour long talk with a guy I highly admired. Many of you are familiar with his name. He was running a $120k/mo SaaS biz in the real estate niche. This guy flipped everything around for me. He had all of the qualities that I perceived a real man has: strong, powerful, confident, successful, blazing his own path. BUT he also possessed many traits that I formerly perceived as beta male/weak: patient, loving, humble, willing to openly admit REAL flaws and personal failures to the world.
There are guys whose humility is their form of pride then there are guys who are genuinely humble. Who is this guy? How is he so different?
He introduced me to his biz partner. The partner was also the same way. I had never seen successful guys on that level being so ridiculously honest about their weaknesses, failures, hopes, and dreams. It was the most empowering thing I’ve ever witnessed. Somewhere along that line I subconsciously finally gave myself permission to act in a similar light.
I can think of a handful of men in my network who are ultra successful, but deep down they’re unhappy and aren’t asking for help because we live in some bullshit society that tells men that we’re weak if we talk about our deepest insecurities and failures.
We ALL need help once in a while. We ALL need somebody to lean on.
I don’t know anything about you, but I know me…and I’m just a regular guy who has his ups and downs like everybody else. I’m learning and growing everyday. I’m not who I was. The beginning of wisdom starts by saying “I don’t know”.
If success means having all the answers and having everything sorted out then I’m not successful and very much at peace with that.
1. Do you buy your cleaning products on large quantities or do you just go to your local Home Depot to get the stuff you need ?
2. There are many carpet cleaning machines... what would be the most ''universal'' one that could do most of the jobs ?
1. My cleaning solutions are a proprietary mixture made from multiple ingredients that I buy in large quantities to save money. I don't even tell the employees what's in that stuff. The primary cleaning agents in it are the acid from beets and carbonate salt. I also add hydrogen peroxide to act as an oxidizer for protein stains. HP makes the carpet really POP when it becomes bone dry. You have to be careful where you use HP though because it can bleach the carpet if used incorrectly.
Why did I choose to use a proprietary mixture instead of something that can be bought off the shelf? So that I can advertise that nobody has what I have to offer. Unique=special=higher perceived value=higher price=higher profit margins.
The stuff at Home Depot is consumer grade and doesn't really do a good job IMO. Rug Doctor is junk. Weak cleaning solution, low suction power, weak all around. You have to go to a carpet cleaning supply store in your area if you want to find stuff that makes the customer say WOW.
I wouldn't recommend buying in large quantities when starting out because you haven't even validated demand in your area yet. Your initial goal should be first to validate demand in your area. That would suck if you bought huge quantities of cleaning products and spent $50k on some fancy van then later realized that the market doesn't support what you have to offer.
2. 175 RPM floor buffer. You can probably get one used on Craigslist for $200. That machine will serve you well for 90% of the jobs. After you've built up a stack of cash, add a steam cleaning/HWE machine to your arsenal.
The golden duo is to use both a buffer and steam cleaning machine together. This allows you to charge more because it gives you a deeper, more thorough clean.
The older I get, the lazier I become. Back when I first started I would try to build my own systems from scratch. It would take FOREVER to get something that was streamlined and running like a well oiled machine. Now I just ask successful people what systems they use to automate their biz then find some way to apply that same methodology to mine.Very nice thread @IceCreamKid ...Speaking of systems...i struggle with that...i struggle "finding" a system, implemting it, following it...everything about "it" . .... How did you start that part ?
Yes and no. The USP is one of the most misunderstood concepts in business. Most people think it's a sentence that you'd put in an ad.So, your cleaning folrmula is your USP ?
For this specific niche, you don't need to validate demand. If there is already competition then it means the demand is there. Now all you have to do is study marketing so that you learn how to differentiate yourself like how I described in the Starbucks USP above.How did you validated demand for this particular service ?
I basically did a ton of lurking on the truckmount forums. I made sure to keep track of what the big guys were using in their cleaning solutions. Most of them would reveal only 1 part of their entire formula. They'd leave tiny breadcrumbs of info.How did you acquire the knowledge to make your own proprietary cleaning mix?
How does that process work when you know virtually nothing about carpet cleaning?
Nope because I'm not passionate enough about the industry.Are you thinking about franchising ? If not, why ?
Also another big thing having spoken multiple large real estate agencies is having a bundle of services. For example bundling property maintenance, bond and carpet cleaning into one company. They would much rather have one company they can work with that is reliable and does great work than multiple smaller companies.
Guys if you are looking to start a carpet cleaning biz, make sure to check the MSDS for the chemicals that you are using. Manufacturers are required by law to disclose the ingredients in their cleaning solutions and whether or not they are hazardous.I gave it up as I became allergic to the chemicals within 3-4 months and not long after that the company did a moonlight flit leaving a trail of bills in their wake (including a huge phone bill).
Damn. You definitely have the work ethic, my Rambo friend.I do remember it was hard graft and non-stop 10 hours a day with maybe a mars bar for lunch if I had time. Within weeks I lost any fat I had and they had nicknamed me Rambo as you had to apply so much pressure to the wand to get as much dirt and water out of the carpet as possible it was like doing an arm workouts 8 hours a day. I hope the machinery is better these days.
What has been the biggest problem you've had to deal with with this business?
You don't want to destroy your lungs just to make money. Not worth it.
A $300 job can literally be finished in 30 minutes with excellent results, but we try to extend it to $150/hr for theater purposes.
How did/do you train your staff?
Do you have someone that sets up the routes?
Have you thought about FB advertising at all since its still cheap compared to adwords?
Do you get any leads from your website? do you have separate phone numbers to track this stuff?
And how did you hire the person that takes incoming calls, do they do other tasks as well? Did you have to write a script for them?
sorry for so many questions im so curious
I have many marketing systems in place, but the major 2 are the direct marketing system(Every Door Direct Mail) and the referral marketing system.Do you rely mainly on direct marketing ( mail ?) or do you use adwords too ?
Do you hire a copy writer or do you do it yourself ?
I am expanding my services to the English speaking market in my area. Was thinking i should maybe hire a professional to write my ads.
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