[Danielson B]

Hello

I consider launching carpet cleaning as a side business activity. I'd like to cater for residential landlords, letting agencies and undemanding householders. I am prepared to invest up to £1,000 into this endeavour and offer the carpet cleaning along with window cleaning, oven cleaning and door/window sill painting.

Which method of carpet cleaning should I choose and what equipment should I buy?

I fully understand that I will receive plenty of criticism here as yet another aspirant to providing inferior carpet cleaning services. I will almost certainly be told that such inferior carpet cleaners are already ubiquitous and that they harm the carpet cleaning market by their unprofessionalism and their mismanagement of customers' expectations. It's all right. And I wholeheartedly and in advance apologise to anyone who my topic will annoy.

But if at least someone recalls their own modest beginnings on a shoestring budget and gives me some unorthodox advice, I will most appreciate it.

[julianb]

Get a second hand machine letting jobs normally cheap man made fibre so you may be able to pre spray and scrub then rinse off the crap sorry if I'm a bit brief

[scott johns]

hwe machine a least 2 vac and heater a dryer if you can as other post normally cheap carpets in rentals
so you should be fine most pros don't touch rentals

[Danielson B]

Get a second hand machine letting jobs normally cheap man made fibre so you may be able to pre spray and scrub then rinse off the crap sorry if I'm a bit brief

Cheers. Do you also recommend a hot water extraction machine?

[julianb]

Hot water good more suction good quite simple but if limited due to finances  bit of scrub helps on some carpets

[Danielson B]

hwe machine a least 2 vac and heater a dryer if you can as other post normally cheap carpets in rentals
so you should be fine most pros don't touch rentals

Cheers mate. So you recommend me

1. A second hand hot water extraction machine with twin or tripple vacuum motors
2. An extra heater
3. An extra dryer

Do I understand well?

And what makes and models would be best for me?

[Danielson B]

Hot water good more suction good quite simple but if limited due to finances  bit of scrub helps on some carpets

So if I can't get a cheap enough hwe machine with 2 or 3 vacuum motors plus extra heater,

I should buy some more simple hwe machine (i.e. with only 1 vacuum motor) an no extra heater

and to make up for the lower suction and lower temperature, I should scrub the carpets with some brush.

Is it what you say?

[Steve Chapman]

Letting agencies can be some of the most difficult customers to work for,  don't be fooled into thinking it will be easy work, and if you price too low you will making a loss..........

[Robin Ray]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but £1000 is not enough to set yourself up with any equipment worth buying. Also setting your sights at the lower end of the market as a core group of customers will attract the type of customer which will be the most demanding rather than the least demanding. Their demands will be lower and lower prices. You will end up working more and more  for less and less.

Your first port of call from a carpet cleaning perspective should be to go on a course. There you will learn what skills and equipment you need to get the job done correctly.

If you are in need of starting a business which is going to be simple and bring in cash fast window cleaning is the answer. It has very low start up costs and virtually no marketing costs and regardless of what anyone tells you can be as profitable as carpet cleaning. Every customer is a repeat customer so you only need to get them once. I have built and sold about 5 window cleaning rounds from scratch over the past 15 years so i know. To do this successfully you will need a minimum of £1500 though unless you want to work traditionally. If you ask on the window cleaning forum they will be able to tell you how to make a system and how to get the work.

Don't scrimp on training or equipment or you will be setting yourself up for heartache and failure.

[Danielson B]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but £1000 is not enough to set yourself up with any equipment worth buying. Also setting your sights at the lower end of the market as a core group of customers will attract the type of customer which will be the most demanding rather than the least demanding. Their demands will be lower and lower prices. You will end up working more and more  for less and less.

Your first port of call from a carpet cleaning perspective should be to go on a course. There you will learn what skills and equipment you need to get the job done correctly.

If you are in need of starting a business which is going to be simple and bring in cash fast window cleaning is the answer. It has very low start up costs and virtually no marketing costs and regardless of what anyone tells you can be as profitable as carpet cleaning. Every customer is a repeat customer so you only need to get them once. I have built and sold about 5 window cleaning rounds from scratch over the past 15 years so i know. To do this successfully you will need a minimum of £1500 though unless you want to work traditionally. If you ask on the window cleaning forum they will be able to tell you how to make a system and how to get the work.

Don't scrimp on training or equipment or you will be setting yourself up for heartache and failure.

Thank you, Robin Ray. I am a starting traditional window cleaner and my canvassing brings me customers only very slowly. But although my income is very low and is growing very slowly, I must still pay my bills and groceries. Therefore I am in a desperate need of another stream of income.

[Danielson B]

Letting agencies can be some of the most difficult customers to work for,  don't be fooled into thinking it will be easy work, and if you price too low you will making a loss..........

And residential landlords?

[Lewis Newby]

Landlords often worse then the agents tbh.

Biggest problem is getting work. If your not getting window customers,  what will you do different to get carpet customers?

Most agents will have had several reputable local cleaners in offerering thier service at some stage, it's not a new approach and may not bring as much work as your counting on

[Robin Ray]

I would concentrate on the window cleaning for now as setting up any other income stream will become a money drain until it is well established.

As for canvassing set your sights on middle class housing. Don't rely on leaflets alone. Knock on each and every door and introduce yourself, say you are the local window cleaner and ask them if they would be interested in having their windows cleaned if they say yes ask them if you can have a look at heir property and give them a price( do no cave in on the price otherwise you will be doing it forever) If they say no give them a flyer and say "if you change your mind in the future give me a call". Keep a note of not at homes and call back at another time. The best times for canvasing are early evenings, Saturday afternoon and Sundays however week days are good for elderly people. Make every time you are not working a canvasing day and you will soon be turning away work..... guaranteed.

I personally would insist they have their windows cleaned every month or two months otherwise you attract people who muck you around.

And just one more thing... To keep and build a customer base the most important things are 1, do a really good job 2, be punctual 3, be friendly and pleasant 4, dress respectably.

If you follow these things I guarantee you cant fail.

[Danielson B]

I can try to phone or sms the landlords in mornings, and I can put leaflets (snippets) with a longer list of services through the residential letterboxes during my afternoon canvassings.

[Robin Ray]

With windows it has to be face to face!

 Leaflets are good to leave as information with people or to put out before you knock so you have a point of reference.

[Danielson B]

I would concentrate on the window cleaning for now as setting up any other income stream will become a money drain until it is well established.

As for canvassing set your sights on middle class housing. Don't rely on leaflets alone. Knock on each and every door and introduce yourself, say you are the local window cleaner and ask them if they would be interested in having their windows cleaned if they say yes ask them if you can have a look at heir property and give them a price( do no cave in on the price otherwise you will be doing it forever) If they say no give them a flyer and say "if you change your mind in the future give me a call". Keep a note of not at homes and call back at another time. The best times for canvasing are early evenings, Saturday afternoon and Sundays however week days are good for elderly people. Make every time you are not working a canvasing day and you will soon be turning away work..... guaranteed.

I personally would insist they have their windows cleaned every month or two months otherwise you attract people who muck you around.

And just one more thing... To keep and build a customer base the most important things are 1, do a really good job 2, be punctual 3, be friendly and pleasant 4, dress respectably.

If you follow these things I guarantee you cant fail.

Thanks. I am already doing it more or less like that. But the middle class is the most difficult segment. Up to now, I've had more success with the working class and pensioners. And if the acquisitions go as slowly as up to now, I will finally get broke.

[Robin Ray]

Keep going .Its a bit like mining. It can be hard going moving tones of rubbish then you hit a seam of gold and it all becomes worthwhile. Let us know how you get on.

[Danielson B]

Keep going .Its a bit like mining. It can be hard going moving tones of rubbish then you hit a seam of gold and it all becomes worthwhile. Let us know how you get on.

Cheers for your encouragement.

[Deep Cleaning Solutions]

Setting up a carpet cleaning business on a very small budget can be done. I know this because I did it! I spent £600 on a Altec professional plus twin vac machine and a few hundred on chems and other bits and another few hundred on training so about a grand in total! The caveat is though that I worked full time in another 2 jobs for the first 6 months and then I had another weekend job for the next 6 months while i did the carpet cleaning at the same time. Only after a year did I decide to go into carpet cleaning full time.

If you are looking into going in to carpet cleaning to add extra income in your situation then I have bad news for you because it's just not going to happen. A carpet cleaning business will suck you dry in the first few years and is one if the most expensive business to run in the first few years and I remember spending hundreds if not thousands on advertising a month in my first years to try and get work in. The hard work paid off and after 3 years I was doing between 25 and 35 jobs a week on my own, making far more than I had ever had done in the past. Unfortunately I became ill after about 3 years and lost everything including my van, equipment, the lot and it almost cost me my marriage! After about a year of being ill I started from scratch again with absolutely nothing and I'm still not sure how I did it. I decided to build the business in another way. I got myself a part time worker for 3 days a week and the next few years where unbelievably hard but another 3 years later and  I have 3 workers doing all the work and I only spend £100 a month on marketing. I'm not really allowed to do much physical work by my doctor so I had no choice but to have staff doing the work but it seems to be working now. I'm not there yet but in another year of my hard work with marketing and website work I should be in a good place. I want to be in a position and I'm nearly there that all the commercial work pays for all of the bills and then the cash jobs are just spare money for me to enjoy and have fun I hope my little story has shown you how hard this business is to establish but also hopefully it's inspired you a little.

 My advice is to build the window cleaning business up. Add other services that cost little or no money to carry out like garden tidy ups or deep cleans. Once you have built up a customer base and have a living wage then buy your gear and get your training. Then you can push your carpet cleaning on to your existing clients and maybe stick a few adverts in the local free magazines along with a few flyers in between cleaning windows. The best and most cost affective form of advertising in my opinion is to have a website so that's something else you need to look at when you get more established. Anyway good look with your business and think very carefully about jumping into carpet cleaning without much of a budget because it's not a business to earn extra income it's a slow burner that will with time bring in a decent wage and the key to it is repeat customers!

[scott johns]

I agree with above just stick with windows and get your round in place then you can start to offer
different services,as already mentioned letting places landlords are not worth the effort as they
are normally trashed carpets I know we clean with a wand but no magic will bring them carpets
back to new. good luck a keep positive smile at everyone it works .

[Deep Cleaning Solutions]

I rarely work for landlords and letting agents anymore even though I used to do most in my area. They have 0% loyalty, even if you do a great job and letting agents live in they're own bizarre little bubble, especially when it comes to payment!

[Danielson B]

Add other services that cost little or no money to carry out like garden tidy ups or deep cleans.

Very impressive story, mate. Thank you very much for your reality check.

What do you exactly mean by "deep cleans"? What areas of home interior should I focus on? How should I formulate my sales proposition?

Any clarification from you or anyone else will be most appreciated.

[Danielson B]

And what about offering general domestic cleaning services, some very basic carpet and upholstery cleaning inclusive? Could some cheap Aquarius be an asset to someone, who just wants to gross over £1,000 per month until he builds up his 250-ish window cleaning customer base?

[Danielson B]

Well, there are many very cheap shampoo, and maybe even dry foam, cleaning machines out here on the market. I know that shampoo cleaning or dry foam cleaning are inferior methods of carpet cleaning. They may be superficial and a lot of dirt stays in the carpet. But if I offer carpet and upholstery shampooing very cheap as an extra within my general domestic cleaning services - and at the same time carefully manage my customers' expectations - it may help get the pennies rolling in to me in the short time. Or am I wrong?

[Kinver_Clean]

Concentrate on one thing. Get that right and then maybe move on to carpets. You cannot easily set up ccing on a little money. Marketing will take most of your grand.
A few years ago a friend and I got 270 window cleaning customers in just over 2 months. It was a good earner as we only went to posh areas a little out of town.
Miles of walking pushing leaflets.

[Danielson B]

Concentrate on one thing. Get that right and then maybe move on to carpets. You cannot easily set up ccing on a little money. Marketing will take most of your grand.
A few years ago a friend and I got 270 window cleaning customers in just over 2 months. It was a good earner as we only went to posh areas a little out of town.
Miles of walking pushing leaflets.

It was a great achievement. But I only got 17 window cleaning customers in my first month. Miles of walking and pushing of leaflets. Yes, I may improve my way of canvassing, and I may even get few leads from my customers won by canvassing (last but not least, because I already promise them incentives for it). But I don't expect a rocket growth of my window cleaning customer base - if not for any other reason, then because the more customers I will have, the less time will remain for my canvassing.  To get to the point, when I easily earn over £1,000 every month, I need circa 200 - 250 customers. If I do nothing else than window cleaning and canvassing, it may theoretically take me up to 2 years. But practically, it will take less then a year to me to lose my van, get eviction from my landlord and get into a debt of up to £10,000.

[Simon Gerrard]

Landlords and letting agents can be a real pain to work for. They want top quality and super cheap prices and they take a cut off your invoice. So to tenants leaving properties at the end of their tenancy.
A guy near me cleaned an eot a few years ago and  soaked the carpets which then began to smell. In the end he had to replace them at a cost of about £1,500 because he wasn't insured, so insurance is important, so is training btw.
Nothing is quite as simple as it first appears.

Simon

[Danielson B]

Landlords and letting agents can be a real pain to work for. They want top quality and super cheap prices and they take a cut off your invoice. So to tenants leaving properties at the end of their tenancy.
A guy near me cleaned an eot a few years ago and  soaked the carpets which then began to smell. In the end he had to replace them at a cost of about £1,500 because he wasn't insured, so insurance is important, so is training btw.
Nothing is quite as simple as it first appears.

Simon

And OAPs plus working and lower middle class householders?

[Radek Jablonski]

Did you consider floor tile cleaning?
1000 will be enough to do it professionaly.
Wet vac new cost around 300-400, used cheaper, slow speed rotary used you will get for around 200. Rest you have to spend on pads, brushes etc.
Good to get training to be able to go for vinyl floors etc.
You will make easy 5 per sqm.

[*Hector*]

Not very often I agree with Radek....  but I have to in this case 

Any Tom, Dick and Harry sets up as a carpet cleaner, as they see it as a huge source of income for very little work.... Sorry to poo on the parade... but the days of spending half a day putting leaflets out, and then getting 7 or 8 jobs from them, are well and truly over........ these days for carpet cleaning you will be very lucky (even at the low end of the market..) to get a return of 1 job per 1000 leaflets... I used to aim at the low end when I was using HWE... and had more trouble there than the high end big money jobs...

The niche of hard floor cleaning may just get you some money, but not as much as target leafleting an area for window cleaning, and then knock the doors within 2 days of the leaflets...
Do that and you could be getting 5 - 8 new customers per night, within 4 months a round is up and running.
With carpets and hard floors, each customer may come back in a year... but more likely 3 years...

For what it is worth... I think you should concentrate on 1 facet of cleaning and not try to be a jack of all trades... the money will come in quicker that way, and the outgoings will not be nearly as high...

[Danielson B]

Did you consider floor tile cleaning?
1000 will be enough to do it professionaly.
Wet vac new cost around 300-400, used cheaper, slow speed rotary used you will get for around 200. Rest you have to spend on pads, brushes etc.
Good to get training to be able to go for vinyl floors etc.
You will make easy 5 per sqm.

Great idea, Radek!

[Danielson B]

Not very often I agree with Radek....  but I have to in this case 

Any Tom, Dick and Harry sets up as a carpet cleaner, as they see it as a huge source of income for very little work.... Sorry to poo on the parade... but the days of spending half a day putting leaflets out, and then getting 7 or 8 jobs from them, are well and truly over........ these days for carpet cleaning you will be very lucky (even at the low end of the market..) to get a return of 1 job per 1000 leaflets... I used to aim at the low end when I was using HWE... and had more trouble there than the high end big money jobs...

The niche of hard floor cleaning may just get you some money, but not as much as target leafleting an area for window cleaning, and then knock the doors within 2 days of the leaflets...
Do that and you could be getting 5 - 8 new customers per night, within 4 months a round is up and running.
With carpets and hard floors, each customer may come back in a year... but more likely 3 years...

For what it is worth... I think you should concentrate on 1 facet of cleaning and not try to be a jack of all trades... the money will come in quicker that way, and the outgoings will not be nearly as high...

Very valuable points, Hector. Thank you for them. So I may put the hard floor cleaning, along with - say - general deep cleaning of household, on my leaflet as well...

[Simon Gerrard]

Hector,
What about me, you haven't agreed with me for ages

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Hi Danielson B

I'm going to stick my oar in if you don't mind.

I don't know much about you apart from you  being in the South West and not having too much money behind you. I also cannot comment as others have done about building businesses as I constructed mine in a totally different fashion and which isn't really relevant to you. So do think about what the others are saying. But I can see you are doing that already.....

What I would comment on though is that you appear from your posts to be keen, realistic and polite. Your posts are well constructed and easy to read as well so I'm guessing you find it fairly easy to communicate/talk to people/write in "proper English".

That being the case and you are also brave enough and dogged enough to knock on doors then you will have an advantage over other tradespeople.

In any interaction with the public be polite, dress well, turn up on time and ALWAYS carry out what you say you are going to do so that expectations are managed. (Ie under promise and over achieve.)

If you have the right temperament then you should be able to get away from competing purely on price. By listening to clients/prospective clients you will be able to find out what they consider important (and to be able to rank these considerations). After a little while you can start to control conversations, ask the prospective client what they want, and then be able to deliver it so that pricing doesn't become the be all and end all of whether you get the job.

For example for some clients aspects which are more important than price can include:

     turning up on time
    completing the job quickly (whilst not cutting corners)
    undertaking the job at a time that is most suitable for the client (even if that time is inconvenient for you) (You did want that      profitable job didn't you!)
    explaining what the job involves (so that the client gets a better appreciation of why you price the job the way that you do)
    breaking down an overall price so that the client understands how you came to the final figure)
   etc etc

Anyway, best of luck and I hope you reach critical mass of work, by whichever methods you choose to you before your money runs out.

Rog

[*Hector*]

Hector,
What about me, you haven't agreed with me for ages

myth off Simon...

 

[Danielson B]

Hi Danielson B

I'm going to stick my oar in if you don't mind.

I don't know much about you apart from you  being in the South West and not having too much money behind you. I also cannot comment as others have done about building businesses as I constructed mine in a totally different fashion and which isn't really relevant to you. So do think about what the others are saying. But I can see you are doing that already.....

What I would comment on though is that you appear from your posts to be keen, realistic and polite. Your posts are well constructed and easy to read as well so I'm guessing you find it fairly easy to communicate/talk to people/write in "proper English".

That being the case and you are also brave enough and dogged enough to knock on doors then you will have an advantage over other tradespeople.

In any interaction with the public be polite, dress well, turn up on time and ALWAYS carry out what you say you are going to do so that expectations are managed. (Ie under promise and over achieve.)

If you have the right temperament then you should be able to get away from competing purely on price. By listening to clients/prospective clients you will be able to find out what they consider important (and to be able to rank these considerations). After a little while you can start to control conversations, ask the prospective client what they want, and then be able to deliver it so that pricing doesn't become the be all and end all of whether you get the job.

For example for some clients aspects which are more important than price can include:

     turning up on time
    completing the job quickly (whilst not cutting corners)
    undertaking the job at a time that is most suitable for the client (even if that time is inconvenient for you) (You did want that      profitable job didn't you!)
    explaining what the job involves (so that the client gets a better appreciation of why you price the job the way that you do)
    breaking down an overall price so that the client understands how you came to the final figure)
   etc etc

Anyway, best of luck and I hope you reach critical mass of work, by whichever methods you choose to you before your money runs out.

Rog

Dear Rog

You can really boost one's confidence. I especially appreciate your remark about my English. But I've also got a strong East-European accent, which I consider a significant drawback in my canvassing efforts. It might be also a strong reason for me to do my best to be able to offer as many services as possible to anyone willing to talk to me over 20 sec 

Thanks for your encouragement anyway.

[Simon Gerrard]

Why don't you think of cleaning, upvc gutters, conservatories,  facicias drives,  paths and patios.

Simon

[Robin Ray]

There are canvasing services out there which will build a round for you if worry about canvassing. Having said that from my experience of eastern Europeans in general they seem a lot harder working than many English so I personally wouldn't view it as an obstacle.

[Danielson B]

Why don't you think of cleaning, upvc gutters, conservatories,  facicias drives,  paths and patios.

Simon

Of course I do. But within my first month of canvassing, I've been shown only one conservatory.

[Tadgh O Shea]

Hi Danielson B

I'm going to stick my oar in if you don't mind.

I don't know much about you apart from you  being in the South West and not having too much money behind you. I also cannot comment as others have done about building businesses as I constructed mine in a totally different fashion and which isn't really relevant to you. So do think about what the others are saying. But I can see you are doing that already.....

What I would comment on though is that you appear from your posts to be keen, realistic and polite. Your posts are well constructed and easy to read as well so I'm guessing you find it fairly easy to communicate/talk to people/write in "proper English".

That being the case and you are also brave enough and dogged enough to knock on doors then you will have an advantage over other tradespeople.

In any interaction with the public be polite, dress well, turn up on time and ALWAYS carry out what you say you are going to do so that expectations are managed. (Ie under promise and over achieve.)

If you have the right temperament then you should be able to get away from competing purely on price. By listening to clients/prospective clients you will be able to find out what they consider important (and to be able to rank these considerations). After a little while you can start to control conversations, ask the prospective client what they want, and then be able to deliver it so that pricing doesn't become the be all and end all of whether you get the job.

For example for some clients aspects which are more important than price can include:

     turning up on time
    completing the job quickly (whilst not cutting corners)
    undertaking the job at a time that is most suitable for the client (even if that time is inconvenient for you) (You did want that      profitable job didn't you!)
    explaining what the job involves (so that the client gets a better appreciation of why you price the job the way that you do)
    breaking down an overall price so that the client understands how you came to the final figure)
   etc etc

Anyway, best of luck and I hope you reach critical mass of work, by whichever methods you choose to you before your money runs out.

Rog

Dear Rog

You can really boost one's confidence. I especially appreciate your remark about my English. But I've also got a strong East-European accent, which I consider a significant drawback in my canvassing efforts. It might be also a strong reason for me to do my best to be able to offer as many services as possible to anyone willing to talk to me over 20 sec 

Thanks for your encouragement anyway.

Hi Danielson B,  yes you do seem to have the right attitude to go far in this industry, if your looking to offer as many services as possible which is a good idea, you don't require big budgets to earn good money in this industry trust me, send me an email to info@jskcleaning.ie and i will send you information under no obligation on ways of making good money from offering different types of cleaning services to your customers.  Tadgh

[Danielson B]

There are canvasing services out there which will build a round for you if worry about canvassing. Having said that from my experience of eastern Europeans in general they seem a lot harder working than many English so I personally wouldn't view it as an obstacle.

Well, yes. A window cleaner needn't necessarily be a family friend or confidant. But on the other hand, people normally don't get their windows cleaned by anyone who they don't particularly like either. They might give a priority to an East-European in recruitment for a menial factory or warehouse job, but they'll be much (or slightly) less keen to give them a job around their own households. Of course, unless the East-European is an attractive girl (or even an attractive young lad) or they live for instance in a restricted parking area, and no-one has given them any window cleaning offer for years...

In any case, personal likeability is a huge asset in canvassing of any kind. And my suspicion is that the less instant personal charisma and or sex appeal  you have, the more other skills you need to make up for it.

[David Deer]

I was interested in your story as that is how the guy I work with started. He did anything and everything (obviously a few years ago). Gardening, painting, cleaning, carpets, inside windows, ovens. You name it he did it. Being Polish didn't affect his ability to generate business as face to face contact reassured clients about his determination and professionalism.  He started with a bissel home carpet cleaner, a polti steamer and a couple of henry vacuum cleaners. Then he bought a rug doctor and got loads of work from landlords. But as time progressed and he grew the cost of doing business increased.  As he expanded his equipment range and invested in proper courses and machines the margins on tenancy cleans became unworkable. The market became flooded with 'man with a van' businesses using hired rug doctors and cheap unskilled labour. 5 bedroom Victorian houses which we could quote £3-400 for a deep clean are now being done for £150 all in.
Landlords don't want to pay and want everything done for as little as possible, They are not bothered about the quality of the clean and will then make you wait 2-3 months for payment. We only got the sh***y jobs the fly by nights couldn't handle and we soon stopped doing those. We do end of tenancies for tenants but not landlords.
Those halcyon days are over. Now the competition at the lowest end of the market is fierce and price is king, stuff the quality. Training, accreditations, memberships, insurance mean nothing. You have to be the cheapest; end of.
If I were starting and was young, chuffing fit and hard working then I would suggest builders cleans. Yes they are bl***y hard work, yes you have to do everything, yes they won't have finished in time, you will have to clean round several tradesman and you will be put under severe pressure. They take ages to pay but it is work!
Perhaps being eastern European is a plus as many migrant and seasonal workers are employed on housing construction and building sites. Word of mouth is king in this game. Speaking their language you can generate leads, gain contacts and more importantly get work (you might even offer them some). The cleans will employ all your skills from window cleaning to touching up, paint removal to steam cleaning.
 I and many others on here have worked really hard and moved on to high end cleaning because we have invested thousands in the latest equipment and comprehensive training. We do get upset with those quoting ridiculously low rates for jobs which serves to devalue what we do. But for yourself I don't doubt that you could just about get by with a basic set of tools to get you started.
A  second hand 4 bar steamer (like a polti) for around £100
A second hand carpet extractor (an old prochem or rug doctor) for around £250
Cloths and chemicals
Scrapers and brushes
A couple of decent tub vacuum cleaners (henry or similar)
Cheap van
Loads of advice
Yes these are bottom end, yes they are not the most professional items. However you are working in the lowest paid area of the market and so investment in better equipment is not viable.
We have to face the reality that prices and quality have shifted downwards. We simply avoid those jobs and stick to what we know and charge accordingly.

[Danielson B]

I was interested in your story as that is how the guy I work with started. He did anything and everything (obviously a few years ago). Gardening, painting, cleaning, carpets, inside windows, ovens. You name it he did it. Being Polish didn't affect his ability to generate business as face to face contact reassured clients about his determination and professionalism.  He started with a bissel home carpet cleaner, a polti steamer and a couple of henry vacuum cleaners. Then he bought a rug doctor and got loads of work from landlords. But as time progressed and he grew the cost of doing business increased.  As he expanded his equipment range and invested in proper courses and machines the margins on tenancy cleans became unworkable. The market became flooded with 'man with a van' businesses using hired rug doctors and cheap unskilled labour. 5 bedroom Victorian houses which we could quote £3-400 for a deep clean are now being done for £150 all in.
Landlords don't want to pay and want everything done for as little as possible, They are not bothered about the quality of the clean and will then make you wait 2-3 months for payment. We only got the sh***y jobs the fly by nights couldn't handle and we soon stopped doing those. We do end of tenancies for tenants but not landlords.
Those halcyon days are over. Now the competition at the lowest end of the market is fierce and price is king, stuff the quality. Training, accreditations, memberships, insurance mean nothing. You have to be the cheapest; end of.
If I were starting and was young, chuffing fit and hard working then I would suggest builders cleans. Yes they are bl***y hard work, yes you have to do everything, yes they won't have finished in time, you will have to clean round several tradesman and you will be put under severe pressure. They take ages to pay but it is work!
Perhaps being eastern European is a plus as many migrant and seasonal workers are employed on housing construction and building sites. Word of mouth is king in this game. Speaking their language you can generate leads, gain contacts and more importantly get work (you might even offer them some). The cleans will employ all your skills from window cleaning to touching up, paint removal to steam cleaning.
 I and many others on here have worked really hard and moved on to high end cleaning because we have invested thousands in the latest equipment and comprehensive training. We do get upset with those quoting ridiculously low rates for jobs which serves to devalue what we do. But for yourself I don't doubt that you could just about get by with a basic set of tools to get you started.
A  second hand 4 bar steamer (like a polti) for around £100
A second hand carpet extractor (an old prochem or rug doctor) for around £250
Cloths and chemicals
Scrapers and brushes
A couple of decent tub vacuum cleaners (henry or similar)
Cheap van
Loads of advice
Yes these are bottom end, yes they are not the most professional items. However you are working in the lowest paid area of the market and so investment in better equipment is not viable.
We have to face the reality that prices and quality have shifted downwards. We simply avoid those jobs and stick to what we know and charge accordingly.

God bless you for your sincere words, my friend. I hope I don't contaminate your market with my dirt cheap, inferior offer too long 

[Radek Jablonski]

There are canvasing services out there which will build a round for you if worry about canvassing. Having said that from my experience of eastern Europeans in general they seem a lot harder working than many English so I personally wouldn't view it as an obstacle.

Well, yes. A window cleaner needn't necessarily be a family friend or confidant. But on the other hand, people normally don't get their windows cleaned by anyone who they don't particularly like either. They might give a priority to an East-European in recruitment for a menial factory or warehouse job, but they'll be much (or slightly) less keen to give them a job around their own households. Of course, unless the East-European is an attractive girl (or even an attractive young lad) or they live for instance in a restricted parking area, and no-one has given them any window cleaning offer for years...

In any case, personal likeability is a huge asset in canvassing of any kind. And my suspicion is that the less instant personal charisma and or sex appeal  you have, the more other skills you need to make up for it.

Can not agree.
If easter european can speak english good enough and customer can have easy conversation, then being polish for example can give you more good then bad.
Polish myself and heard more comments like "you polish are much better and I always looking for one" then conversations stoped becouse sombody recognized my accent.
Dont know how is in UK but in Ireland EE people are respected as a tradesmans. Some are cheap some more expensive, just the same as Irish. I am more expensive then most of irish self employed people in my city and won many jobs charging more then Irish.

When we talk about canvasing then people just dont trust anyone at the door.

[Robin Ray]

 I hope I don't contaminate your market with my dirt cheap, inferior offer too long 
[/quote]

That's what many don't realize.... being dirt cheap doesn't hurt any one else apart from the person slogging doing the work for peanuts.

people que to buy the next iPhone, the latest BMW, new houses, food prepared by celebrity chefs etc..etc..  Customers worth having are concerned less about price but more about perceived value.

[Radek Jablonski]

So true Robin.

Family with posh house, 2 bmw on the drive might be the low end customer
Living on loans to show up to their friends and family but having no money for proper maintenance. You will find these houses dirty and messy.
Old custy is a best customer.
Most of my customers are living in the houses 250k-500k and more, with one good car and second one much older.
Tidy houses with people loving their live not money for show.

[Danielson B]

So true Robin.

Family with posh house, 2 bmw on the drive might be the low end customer
Living on loans to show up to their friends and family but having no money for proper maintenance. You will find these houses dirty and messy.
Old custy is a best customer.
Most of my customers are living in the houses 250k-500k and more, with one good car and second one much older.
Tidy houses with people loving their live not money for show.

Yes, there are many Scrooges among them who suck a lot. They will haggle about each penny, and at the end of the day they will tell you they don't need you at all.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Why not get a company to canvas for you? There used to be a company that advertised on here that canvassed on behalf of window cleaners to get customers and were successful, if you think your accent is off putting to potential customers these people will get customers for you, if (perhaps I'm not being politically correct) customers are aware of Eastern Europe gypsys which is very off putting to some then put on a uniform and be clean shaven sell yourself go a little extra to gain trust then you'll get more cups of tea than your bladder can handle.....and no peeing behind the bushes.

Shaun

[Danielson B]

Why not get a company to canvas for you? There used to be a company that advertised on here that canvassed on behalf of window cleaners to get customers and were successful, if you think your accent is off putting to potential customers these people will get customers for you, if (perhaps I'm not being politically correct) customers are aware of Eastern Europe gypsys which is very off putting to some then put on a uniform and be clean shaven sell yourself go a little extra to gain trust then you'll get more cups of tea than your bladder can handle.....and no peeing behind the bushes.

Shaun

Good point Shaun. I am a non-Gypsy Czech in a small city with many Czech and Slovak Gypsies.

Regarding the canvassers for hire, I have obviously thought about them, too. But they have also their limitations, like anyone or anything else. They cost a lot, and at the end of the day, they get you only leads at best, however solid the leads sometimes may be. So I consider their hiring a bit risky investment, too. I may be more keen to hire them when I have more money to spend. But I don't see them a promising way to spend myself out of my current lack of cash and growing debt.

[Danielson B]

Good morning folks

I've just reviewed the yesterday post on this thread and found out, that experienced carpet cleaners repeatedly recommend (at least) TWO vacuum cleaners into the carpet cleaning starting kit. To someone who knows the trade it may be obvious why, but not so to a layman. Please could anyone explain, why (at least) two vacuum cleaners, i.e. two machines of the same kind and purpose, are useful, or even necessary to any entrant into the carpet cleaning trade?

Any clarification will be most appreciated.

[Danielson B]

Are the vacuum cleaners needed two because each of them needs to be used at different stages or on different surfaces?

Or is each of them, given the way it's used in professional carpet cleaning, likely to break down at any moment?

Or is there any other reason why one vacuum cleaner is not enough?

Sorry, I haven't found the right answer anywhere else on the internet or in the literature I have...

[Robin Ray]

What is ment by two vacuum cleaners is a carpet cleaning machine with at least two vacuum motors in it. This is because machines with a single vacuum motor lacks in enough vacuum power to truly get a carpet clean and dry enough. It will also need a solution pump with at least 150 psi.

The fact remains though if you are struggling to get work window cleaning you will struggle even more to get it with any other service. Buying a machine of any kind will be a massive drain on your ailing finances.

What you need to do now is canvass.. canvass and then canvass some more...... then get some machinery.

[Robin Ray]

Just another thought..

I don't mean this in a racist or derogatory way at all as i have a friends from all over the world who speak with loads of different accents. However If you feel your accent is the biggest thing which is holding you back that may need to be the first thing you need to work on. Maybe you could go on a course to help you with it or maybe there are some books that could help. I also noticed this video on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL_OcLayJPg.

[cannon]

I haven't read all the replies so maybe someone has already suggested it but have you thought about oven cleaning? The returns are not as good as other services but the start up and ongoing costs are a lot lower and there is a massive demand for it.

[Danielson B]

@Robin Ray

Thank you for your clarification regarding the 2 vac issue.  As regards the accent, yes, training is possible. But its similar like window cleaning in builder's cleans - there is a law of diminishing results involved in it. It's easy to weaken your accent to certain level which is easy to understand by the standard British population, but from that point it's much more difficult to develop the West England's farmer speech. Not mentioning it also costs time and money 

[Danielson B]

Karl, thanks for your point. I've been offering the oven cleaning, along with window cleaning, on my snippet that I throw into the letter boxes for a month. Up to now, to no avail. And if I visit letting agencies, they tell me that the people working for them do everything - windows, carpets and ovens, and that even if I was able to do everything as well, I would only be at the end of a long queue anyway.

[Danielson B]

... and there is a massive demand for it.

But you might know some inconspicuous market segments for oven cleaning or some not so obvious, but highly effective, ways of advertising or promoting this service...

[cleantech]

There are canvasing services out there which will build a round for you if worry about canvassing. Having said that from my experience of eastern Europeans in general they seem a lot harder working than many English so I personally wouldn't view it as an obstacle.

Well, yes. A window cleaner needn't necessarily be a family friend or confidant. But on the other hand, people normally don't get their windows cleaned by anyone who they don't particularly like either. They might give a priority to an East-European in recruitment for a menial factory or warehouse job, but they'll be much (or slightly) less keen to give them a job around their own households. Of course, unless the East-European is an attractive girl (or even an attractive young lad) or they live for instance in a restricted parking area, and no-one has given them any window cleaning offer for years...

In any case, personal likeability is a huge asset in canvassing of any kind. And my suspicion is that the less instant personal charisma and or sex appeal  you have, the more other skills you need to make up for it.

Can not agree.
If easter european can speak english good enough and customer can have easy conversation, then being polish for example can give you more good then bad.
Polish myself and heard more comments like "you polish are much better and I always looking for one" then conversations stoped becouse sombody recognized my accent.
Dont know how is in UK but in Ireland EE people are respected as a tradesmans. Some are cheap some more expensive, just the same as Irish. I am more expensive then most of irish self employed people in my city and won many jobs charging more then Irish.

When we talk about canvasing then people just dont trust anyone at the door.

Funny stuff

[Danielson B]

I would definitely love to know my real cost per a customer acquired by even a legit (not scammy or dodgy)  outsourced canvassing business. But it's a question for a different section of this forum.

[Radek Jablonski]

There are canvasing services out there which will build a round for you if worry about canvassing. Having said that from my experience of eastern Europeans in general they seem a lot harder working than many English so I personally wouldn't view it as an obstacle.

Well, yes. A window cleaner needn't necessarily be a family friend or confidant. But on the other hand, people normally don't get their windows cleaned by anyone who they don't particularly like either. They might give a priority to an East-European in recruitment for a menial factory or warehouse job, but they'll be much (or slightly) less keen to give them a job around their own households. Of course, unless the East-European is an attractive girl (or even an attractive young lad) or they live for instance in a restricted parking area, and no-one has given them any window cleaning offer for years...

In any case, personal likeability is a huge asset in canvassing of any kind. And my suspicion is that the less instant personal charisma and or sex appeal  you have, the more other skills you need to make up for it.

Can not agree.
If easter european can speak english good enough and customer can have easy conversation, then being polish for example can give you more good then bad.
Polish myself and heard more comments like "you polish are much better and I always looking for one" then conversations stoped becouse sombody recognized my accent.
Dont know how is in UK but in Ireland EE people are respected as a tradesmans. Some are cheap some more expensive, just the same as Irish. I am more expensive then most of irish self employed people in my city and won many jobs charging more then Irish.

When we talk about canvasing then people just dont trust anyone at the door.

Funny stuff

Having no clue what you want to say

[Dave_Lee]

So basically, you wish to start up your own business as a carpet cleaner to run alongside window cleaning. However funds are extremely limited and income from window cleaning is not good. In other words, you have no money, but can find up to £1,000 to fund starting the carpet cleaning.
Well I could explain how I started with absolutely no money after leaving the army, in fact I left with a hire purchase debt. No gratuity and had the expense of moving into a rented house.
I could tell you how I got going, but it's a long miserable story and certainly not relevant today, as the things I did simply do not work as well as they did 35 years ago. Today there are pc's, the internet, mobile phones, etc, all of which didn't exist in those days.
However one thing I had which got me through and finally started the phone ringing after the first two years, and what could be your biggest asset, is 'Determination'. The will not just to succeed but more importantly, not to be beaten!
As they say " Where there's a will, there's a way."
Good luck.
Dave.