[Sallysqueak]

Hi all

Not wanting to start a thread which has already been done here, but I can't seem to find an existing one, so please don't take offence at my very 'newbie' questions.

I'm at the very early stages of researching into whether carpet cleaning could be a viable business for me to set up. By that, I mean is it profitable enough. I wonder, could anyone give me any advice on the average profit margins of a job, or do you know of a business plan template for a one-woman set up?

The marketing doesn't worry me too much - I do it in my day job at the moment, and the business side is no issue, I've run my own business in the past. I'm just finding it difficult to get an idea of profitability after taking into account running a machine and its chemicals. All the articles I find online are very generic and I don't feel have been written by a person 'in the know'.

I don't intend at this stage to employ anyone to help me, so my plan is very simple. Just me, offering carpet cleaning services to both residential and commercial clients, including letting agents for a bit of regularity.

So, what do you think? A viable way of earning a decent income to replace my current full time job (which pays in the region of £20k+/year, or ridiculous to think I would manage to earn that amount of profit from this alone whilst working around 35 hours a week at it?

It would be great to hear some advice from people in the know

Thanks!

[John Kelly]

Drop me an email and I'll put you in touch with a girl in your situation 5 years ago and now has a very viable business with staff.

[Mike Halliday]

Some quick answers....

If you don't earn £20k after getting your marketing machine running then you are doing something wrong. It will take a bit of time maybe a year and you will waste some money on daft stuff  but £30k with 20k profit is easily accomplishable.

You will need a few grand to get started, don't start telling us you have a £1500 start up  budget   

[Sallysqueak]

Thanks both, sounds encouraging! Guess it's time to do some proper research and get a bit more clued up on tools needed etc 

I guess the best place to begin is reading through this forum, unless anyone has any other resources they can recommend?

Thanks, really appreciate the advice

[tim handley]

 Iwas in your position five years ago. Now im full time (very full)  and wishing id started up 20 years ago. Its not that easy, nothing is if its worth having, you need a good few bob to start up, and you need some marketing money. Id say   a good online presence is important and that costs money unless you are very pc savvy.  Also you need to spend a few bob on training.  Buts out there, work waiting for you if you do it right.......... Id say £5k is needed for a machine and some bits plus training and basic marketing...... assuming you have a van already........ then as you start earning you will re invest, upgrade kit etc etc.......

[Sallysqueak]

Thanks, that's really insightful

I can build my own website, and my day job is in digital marketing, so the online presence shouldn't be too much of an issue, which is a start.

Could anyone give me an idea of what the profit margins are like in this business? I mean, once you're all set up and running (not the cost of machinery etc). Once you're actually working, and after the costs of running the machine, using the chemicals etc, what kind of percentage of what you actually receive from the client do you get to keep as profit? I read somewhere as much as 60%, but that was a very generic article, so I'm not sure whether that's actually realistic.

Thanks again, excited to find out more!

[tim handley]

Profit margin will vary from operator to operator i guess, but its quite high.
Ill say one thing.. your day time job is digital marketing?       you have a massive head start over most folks......

[Sallysqueak]

Always good to know Yes I guess it'll come in handy with website creation, social media promotion, building a mailing list etc. I'm doing a course in copywriting too. Now I'm kind of completely torn, because I need to get out of employment for my own mental health! I was going down the route of freelance copywriting, but to be honest, this really, really appeals to me!

Where I work is very full of corporate bull, I hate that so much. I guess copywriting will be more of the same, but at least working for myself again (I used to be a self employed dog sitter of all things! haha). I really miss owning a service business... and I can imagine carpet cleaning is a pretty varied business, where you get to speak to 'normal' people (not corporate wafflers)... I really miss that! It also appeals to me having the time to just think my own thoughts. There is such a thing as having to do too much thinking at work I believe. Cleaning carpets could be quite therapeutic at times perhaps I'm guessing?

I really love giving good customer service too, it gives me a lot of satisfaction for some reason. But working for someone else just doesn't do it for me. It's not the same.

Decisions decisions...

[tim handley]

I get a hell of a lot of satisfaction from doing this job, the before and afters, the customer reaction,  generally its a very nice job compared to some of the crap ive put up with in the past. You can book work in as and when you please, be as busy as you please........  (assuming you have the work)!!!

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

As tim says its the buzz from a client who goes "wow!"

Also unlike corporate world you get paid ( normally) at the end of the job. So when you have a busy day you look at the pile of filthy lucre/ cheques/EFTPOS pile of receipts and no matter how tired you are its your turn to go "wow". Especially when you then compare it to the daily rate of your old corporate job.

I worked nearer to 80% return but its generally true that profitability goes up as you work out what works best/you increase your repeat business and getting better at how much work you can accomplish if you are pushed one day.

Of course there is always the flip side to this and indeed many start ups have failed before reaching their fifth anniversary.

So all I can say is I  wish you the best and hope you fall into the former category.

At least you have all the info on this forum which wasnt there when us old lags started.

Rog

[Dave_Lee]

Some good advice, all I can add is that you will need to be physically fit, this job can be hard work and heavy at times.
A good routine is essential and looks more professional than faffing about.
If you don't want to get involved with moving furniture you will need to stipulate that to prospective clients during the survey/quote.
Some people want everything moving, some not much if anything at all.
Don't start cheap thinking you can raise your prices when more established, the customers you have gained will remember what you charged them last time.

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Dave (above) raises some good points as well.

THe one I would like to focus on is the one about moving furniture. You will discover there are plenty of ways of getting around this without getting the client's back up. THe more situations you get into the better you will be able to deal/ deflect this problem.
What you don't want to do is get into the situation of having to refuse to move it or make out that the price is cheap because you aren't moving anything and to do so will cost more money.

As my strap line says " diplomacy is the art of letting other people have your way".

Rog

[benny d]

You will also need to be the fittest person in your road.
It's extremely hard physical work... For anybody.