Well i do not see that telling people what you invested as bragging, i calculated what i would need to invest and have some set aside
just in case.
I invested about £13,000 i spent £4000 on a van simply because i was able to get a three year old Citroen dispatch with only 26000 miles on the clock which i thought was a bargain i
wanted a clean looking vehicle to display the graphics i have on my van wich cost £700 and has paid for itself many times over plus the van will see me good for several years.
None of this was to show off its about how i wanted my business to be displayed if i turn up outside a customers home in a rusty shed, i think it implies i will be at the lower end of the carpet cleaning spectrum and charge accordingly.
I had a professional design and optimise my website, we all bang on about customers not hiring machines when they should have hired a professional, well i can think of no better example than having this done by a professional, again this has been a worthwhile investment as it brings me a lot of work probably 50% when you think how much you can spend on leafleting and other forms of marketing it is dirt cheap to have a site designed and optimised.
I have been established about 18 months now and am happy with the progress i have made with it really starting to pick up recently, i have ploughed so much into marketing and new equipment to further build the business to ensure it continues to grow, of course you can start on very little but when you look in your van at all the stuff you have that you use on a daily basis it's a lot more than a machine, hose and wand.
My first goal when i started was to build my bank balance to a comfortable level where it could withstand a severe quite period or a breakdown of equipment etc, but its a balance between investment and saving, without a large investment you will not reap the rewards or it will take a lot longer, take leafleting for example it is very costly, and has been mentioned has to be done regularly, its alright doing it yourself but when business picks up you wont have the time, then the work you used to get from leaflets stops, the only way aroung this is finding a reliable person to deliver which is not easy and costly.
Last and not the least the driving force to make your business work for me was fear, the fear of the alternative.
All the best of luck, refuse to fail and you wont