When I started nearly 28 years ago, in my area the majority of people didnt know you get your carpets professionally cleaned, the few that were aware were disappointed, with the then, rapidly resoiling shampoo systems that were used. The existing market was very small and you had to go out and inform them to get the work. They werent going to be looking for a service that they didnt know existed. Today its different, now they know, their problem now is which one to choose. I dont think its as hard to get going nowadays, even with the hard floors the existing market is massive. You have to pursue all avenues of marketing your service, especially in those early days, just sticking an ad in the paper isnt going to do it alone, and leaflets have to be good or they get binned and thay also have to be delivered.
Dave.