Starting a carpet cleaning business

[savefox]

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.

Thank you for replying! Yes, I want to deal with real business problems like hiring and firing and organizing all the processes so the business can run without me working full time in it. When I hired my VA, it felt really good. It really motivated me to work harder because now I have a person who entirely depends on me to feed their kids and pay rent! Having more employees will motivate me even more.

My goal is to to have at least 2 crews working full time just like in your company by the end of next year. And then if the business can run without me, I will teach other people how to start a carpet cleaning business! Maybe even do it for them and only charge them when they make their first money. Just like Harmozi's gym launch, but carpet cleaning launch! I think I can scale that pretty good

If it wasn't for you and your threads, I would be still working at my low wage job with a 2 hour commute, so I'm forever grateful! And for MJ DeMarco, of course. And Johnyboy's thread was super helpful, too

 

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[Keith.Buhler]

That's great, you might want to get a few dozen customers this way to really know what your customer is like. 1 data point isn't enough to know.

Also, maybe you could raise the price to $120 and make the "discount" down to 110.

I used to clean carpets for a start-up and the "$100 intro price!" only attracted cheap clients. We were clearly the "Want cheap service? Choose US!" option.

Price communicates value. Saying "I will do it for $99 AND give you a discount!!!" screams cheap service / newbie / possibly desperate.

Raise the price to $150 (for one set of ads, one day) and then $119 (for another set, the next day) and do your own A/B testing. See if you don't ironically hook MORE fish with the bigger price because they want to know you're confident in yourself and can do a good job.

Also... most importantly... make sure you do a good job.

 

[Paul David]

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?View attachment 50906

Regarding the VA, how does she know how much to quote?

Or do you just have standard prices for certain number of rooms etc?

 

[savefox]

Regarding the VA, how does she know how much to quote?

Or do you just have standard prices for certain number of rooms etc?

I'm using Responsibid to give quotes, she just puts in the number or rooms/hallways/staircases and it returns 3 price options (standard cleaning, cleaning + pet odor treatment, cleaning + pet treatment + protector). And she offers the suitable option based on the customer's pain points that she learned during the conversation

 

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[MattR82]

Join some FB groups.

Truckmount Forums
Cleaners Connect

Those 2 are great, also The Clean Up is a great carpet cleaning group still small enough that there's zero negativity but big enough that there's some great content.

 

[perchboy]

Find an Uber driver for part time work. They’re already on the road all the time and have maximum flexibility with their hours

 

[savefox]

Before switching from mCPC to tCPA (October):

After (November):

Everything else is the same.
CPL doubled, lead volume went down, closing rate from those leads went from 50% to like 15%. Never listen to what google recommends

 

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[savefox]

Switched back to manual CPC in December and everything went back to normal.

Almost 200k just from google this year from 1 van working less than 20 hours a week on average. I'm also in top 3 on google maps in my city with over 100 5 star reviews and on the first page on search.


Next year I'll add Nextdoor, Facebook ads, Youtube and Tik Tok videos, and try Youtube ads for online marketing, and I'll create some sort of a referral system with other local business that service my ideal client. I'll stop by their office every week with a box of donuts and offer 15% of revenue for every referred customer.

Every customer from this year will get an automated reminder after 6, 9, 12 months to get their carpets cleaned again and a call from my VA.

I've been doing all this with $5k worth of equipment, but I'm getting a truckmounted extraction machine now that'll allow me to get better results, record better videos, upsell more, and clean tile and upholstery properly. I'll start advertising tile, upholstery and wood floor cleaning as well, so the average ticket should be a lot more next year! I love carpet cleaning. Maybe I should offer a course on how to start a carpet cleaning business or some kind of coaching! Or a marketing company for carpet cleaners?

To anyone who wants to start a home service business I would recommend "The 5 secrets of phenomenal business" by Howard Partridge

 

[Andy Black]

a marketing company for carpet cleaners?

Nail it for yourself and then scale by doing this, or creating a platform you own that sends leads to partner carpet cleaners?

A course on how to start a carpet cleaning business has a different market (the carpet cleaners not the consumers). Not saying it can't be done, just that you're currently succeeding by generating leads of consumers looking for carpet cleaners.

 

[savefox]

Nail it for yourself and then scale by doing this, or creating a platform you own that sends leads to partner carpet cleaners?

I heard a lot of complaints from carpet cleaners that agencies send them fake leads, and complaints from agencies that carpet cleaners can't close the leads that get sent to them, because they don't contact them in time, don't follow up etc and cancel the service eventually.

So I'm considering not only sending them leads but also closing them, following up using an automated system, and scheduling appointments with software that calculates distances between job sites and the time needed to complete a job. My VA does all of that for my company, and I'm sure she can do the same thing for at least 3 other companies at the same time. And I could scale by hiring more VAs

 

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[IceCreamKid]

Maybe I should offer a course on how to start a carpet cleaning business or some kind of coaching! Or a marketing company for carpet cleaners?

Idk what it is about our industry, but every time I see someone come out with a carpet cleaning mentoring course they get absolutely destroyed by the community. For some reason carpet cleaners don't like to pay anything above $0 when it comes to coaching/courses. Not saying it can't be done though.

I heard a lot of complaints from carpet cleaners that agencies send them fake leads, and complaints from agencies that carpet cleaners can't close the leads that get sent to them, because they don't contact them in time, don't follow up etc and cancel the service eventually.

I was a client of Ads Grow Business for a very brief time. They are one of the largest marketing companies for carpet cleaners despite the fact that their leads are either fake or the lowest quality ever. If you can be a detective and find out who their customers are, you can have a very effective rip and replace campaign.

There are a few other forum members who created 6-figure carpet cleaning businesses starting from my thread that I made 10 years ago. Lmk if you're interested in networking with them.

 

[Paul David]

I heard a lot of complaints from carpet cleaners that agencies send them fake leads, and complaints from agencies that carpet cleaners can't close the leads that get sent to them, because they don't contact them in time, don't follow up etc and cancel the service eventually.

So I'm considering not only sending them leads but also closing them, following up using an automated system, and scheduling appointments with software that calculates distances between job sites and the time needed to complete a job. My VA does all of that for my company, and I'm sure she can do the same thing for at least 3 other companies at the same time. And I could scale by hiring more VAs

I've had something similar to this in the past.

I'd run Facebook ads under my own carpet cleaning brand and find a carpet cleaner in each area to partner up with. I'd pay for the ads, and book the jobs with a team of VA's, the carpet cleaner simply did the job and paid me 30% commission after the job was done.

Easy to sign up carpet cleaners but the problem was that some cleaners didn't do the job properly and the complaints were against my brand not theirs, and some made excuses why they couldn't pay even though they'd been paid by the client.

Final nail in the coffin was covid when hundreds of booked jobs got cancelled and I was left with a large Facebook ads bill and no income to pay it.

Model is great on paper but in reality when you factor in human behaviour - not so good!

 

[Andy Black]

I've had something similar to this in the past.

I'd run Facebook ads under my own carpet cleaning brand and find a carpet cleaner in each area to partner up with. I'd pay for the ads, and book the jobs with a team of VA's, the carpet cleaner simply did the job and paid me 30% commission after the job was done.

Easy to sign up carpet cleaners but the problem was that some cleaners didn't do the job properly and the complaints were against my brand not theirs, and some made excuses why they couldn't pay even though they'd been paid by the client.

Final nail in the coffin was covid when hundreds of booked jobs got cancelled and I was left with a large Facebook ads bill and no income to pay it.

Model is great on paper but in reality when you factor in human behaviour - not so good!

Is it the niche maybe? Would the model work better for other industries?

 

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[Paul David]

Is it the niche maybe? Would the model work better for other industries?

I do have a pay per appointment model for laser clinics that works better. They pay for 10 appointments up front and we run the ads and book appointments in and they only count once they've arrived.

I'm much more comfortable with the Saas model, lower recurring revenue without worrying about how clients ads are performing hence why I'm pivoting - or trying to!

 

[Paul David]

Idk what it is about our industry, but every time I see someone come out with a carpet cleaning mentoring course they get absolutely destroyed by the community. For some reason carpet cleaners don't like to pay anything above $0 when it comes to coaching/courses. Not saying it can't be done though.


I was a client of Ads Grow Business for a very brief time. They are one of the largest marketing companies for carpet cleaners despite the fact that their leads are either fake or the lowest quality ever. If you can be a detective and find out who their customers are, you can have a very effective rip and replace campaign.

There are a few other forum members who created 6-figure carpet cleaning businesses starting from my thread that I made 10 years ago. Lmk if you're interested in networking with them.

I know John from AGB, to be fair to him he's done really well financially not heard about fake leads though. He's expensive though for what he does and I've gotten quite a few clients from him by offering a better service and cheaper price.

I'm a big fan of automation and things like automated reminders going out to rebook are great as @savefox said above.

 

[dydy943]

Switched back to manual CPC in December and everything went back to normal.
View attachment 53125
Almost 200k just from google this year from 1 van working less than 20 hours a week on average. I'm also in top 3 on google maps in my city with over 100 5 star reviews and on the first page on search.
View attachment 53126

Next year I'll add Nextdoor, Facebook ads, Youtube and Tik Tok videos, and try Youtube ads for online marketing, and I'll create some sort of a referral system with other local business that service my ideal client. I'll stop by their office every week with a box of donuts and offer 15% of revenue for every referred customer.

Every customer from this year will get an automated reminder after 6, 9, 12 months to get their carpets cleaned again and a call from my VA.

I've been doing all this with $5k worth of equipment, but I'm getting a truckmounted extraction machine now that'll allow me to get better results, record better videos, upsell more, and clean tile and upholstery properly. I'll start advertising tile, upholstery and wood floor cleaning as well, so the average ticket should be a lot more next year! I love carpet cleaning. Maybe I should offer a course on how to start a carpet cleaning business or some kind of coaching! Or a marketing company for carpet cleaners?

To anyone who wants to start a home service business I would recommend "The 5 secrets of phenomenal business" by Howard Partridge

In terms of profit how much would you say you get to take home ? 50%? A little bit more ?
How do you manage your business finances ? How much % are you keeping for chemicals and vans maintenance ?

I've been following your journey on this thread and i can't say anything more than congratulation and to keep the grind !

 

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[savefox]

In terms of profit how much would you say you get to take home ? 50%? A little bit more ?
How do you manage your business finances ? How much % are you keeping for chemicals and vans maintenance ?

I've been following your journey on this thread and i can't say anything more than congratulation and to keep the grind !

Hi! The profit margin is about 65%. Chemicals cost maybe 1-2% of the revenue, and I spent about $1000 on maintenance last year. The biggest cost was marketing, because I didn't have any repeat business and had to buy every customer. Hopefully this year I'll get more repeat customers. I've set up automatic SMS and email reminders and postcards with discounts on other services every 1,3,6, 9 and 12 months.

I'm also implementing a referral system, where every customer will get a 15% fee (check in the mail or a discount on future services) for referring someone.

I also want to offer them the option to subscribe to our services for a monthly fee and get a 30% discount on any services, along with additional benefits like priority scheduling, a lifetime spot remover and some other things.
For example, if the job is $350, I can give them a 30% discount on their first visit if they subscribe which brings the price down to $245. With the monthly fee of $9, even if they don't use us for the rest of the year, I'll get the $105 back in a year, and they'll just end up paying the same price as if there was no discount in the first place. But now if they need to get something cleaned, they'll be more likely to use us, because they're already subscribed and I can sell them carpet protector or pet treatment to offset the 30% discount and offer other services, so, the average ticket price won't decrease significantly.

 

[dydy943]

Thank you for all the details you've provided in your response.

Do you plan on hiring workers to do the actual job anytime soon while you focus on growing the business?

Also, as you mentioned, you are implementing a monthly recurrent payment system, which is great.

However, I'm wondering if the $9 monthly fee is your only subscription or if you will have a premium subscription as well (for a higher monthly fee)?

I saw it work for Lawn Care, but I'm having a hard time understanding how it could work for a carpet cleaning business, unless we stick to your particular model of a monthly fee = 30% off = two payments from the same customer at a 'discount' price.