Gone are the days when you could fall into becoming a carpet cleaner.
It has to be done like any other business, find your market and market yourself to it.
The information is available the hard part is sifting through it and using the bits that are effective.
It is possible to get customers but to get them you have to appeal to them, they either like your web site/leaflets or you when they call or a combination of all. The skills in making a sucess in this industry is to appeal to the customer.
Customers like most things are instant, the web site/leaflet has to appeal immediately, when they call they want to speak to someone immediately not leave messages. There is work for a new starter but you have to be marketing and people savvy and always get to the phone. Carpet cleaning now is a business, the fact we clean carpets is irelevent, most sucessful carpet cleaners could run any type of business.
I dont know if it was always like that, hard graft and a good reputation may well have been enough in the past.
Id be interested to hear Peters views with what needs to be shaken up or how.
For me personly carpet cleaning is simply a means to an end , to make money, i looked at it tried it and realised it suited me and would deliver the money i wanted to earn in the time i wanted to devote to it. (which has initaly been a lot of time) now im up and running im hoping it wont dominate my life so much but have feeling i will always be glued to a diverted mobile phone.
Andrew's comments pretty much reflect the answer I would give.
I saw many people when I worked in the bank drift into self-employment having been made redundant and coming up with "a good idea".
The few times it worked just goes to show how often this approach won't work.
Then, as now, it's about having constructed a proper plan; and also planning a contingency; and sufficient capital to allow you to trade at a loss/break-even until such time as your reputation and repeat business starts to pay dividends.
I would probably think that Derek West (whatever else you may think of him) would fit into this category exceedingly well.
Roger