[james roffey]

I am based in Southend on sea, Essex very stressed out in a dead end job at the moment, i know it wont be easy, particularly in these difficult times but i am looking to get started in carpet cleaning around March 2009, when i will be set up with enough finance to get equipment, Van, leaflets marketing package etc and make a real go at it,Booked up for NCCA  course in November and looking to get some equipment and extra training from Alltec who have been very helpful but cant do this until i buy the gear, so i have a few months to do research for marketing etc, where i have a problem is practical experience, i met Pierre from Art of clean at the Alltec open day he was really helpful and a nice bloke and offered to take me out on the van with him, i think i could learn a lot from him, the trouble is he is in Cambridge which is a bit of a trek from Southend although i will definately take him up on his offer as i believe this would be a very good oppotunity,  what i would like to know from all you guys who have been doing this for years what else can i do to that will be of practical use, i dont want to start out like a fish out of water or should i expect to learn on the job making mistakes i will just get a bad reputation.    thanks guys 

[Peter Dawson]

Hi James, I will be completing my second year in business in November. I spent several months as you are doing perparing. Good training is a must and keep on updating. Buy a good machine and take advantage of training offered by suppliers. Spend time looking at the forums to get a feel for the business problems and opertunities. You will learn on the job but if you have had good training and advice you should not make many mistakes.

Machines and chemicals are personnel choice and what works for you, do your research on the forums and visit any trade exhibitions. Ask suppliers for demonstrations.

Hope it goes well.

Peter Dawson
Beta Clean

[derek west]

ask yourself one question, why should a customer choose you over your competitors, if you can find a good answer to this question without it being,
 " your cheaper than anybody else" you will do well, oh and make sure you have funds to live off while your getting started, you'll need them, it wont happen overnight.
hope this helps
and good luck
derek

[Neil Grainger]

James,

What has pushed you in the direction of carpet cleaning because this Economic time is an unknown and guys that have been trading for a long time are struggling to make ends meet.

Its tough and if I knew then what I know now i would not be starting up in business at this time. If you have £80,000 in the bank to live on for 2-3 years and another £20,000 to spend on marketing each year you may have a chance but if you are doing it with no money please stay where you are and maybe just do it part time until you know what you are doing or have a client base that you can market to.

Kind Regards

Neil

[Joe H]

Good & sound advice Neil.

It is difficult at the moment, but having said that Sept has been unusually good for me.

Nevertheless, in this economic situation who knows where things are going to go.
People may not have the inclin to spend on new carpets and suites so one can ASSUME they will hang onto what they have and get them cleaned.
Some will - but some wont.

I agree with you that James, or anyone else coming into the industry, needs to think hard even if they have some monetary resources behind them (and they will need t).
Making a business grow is not easy, lots of learning curves and not only in the actual cleaning of carpets.
Training is a must but carpet cleaning training does not teach the other important points about marketing & advertising, how to handle different types of clients, accounts keeping etc etc etc.

[Straker Cleaning]

Most CCs that i have spoken to, are busy due to amount/quality of customers from length of time served or the amount of money they are spending on adverts/leaflets/websites etc ........... the part time option sounds like the best advice i would give in this financial climate 

The only thing in your favour is that you will find many good secondhand machines for sale BUT ASK WHY 

[Jeremy]

There's been some good advice given here. If you are determined to continue, I would suggest setting up a good referral program.

This will not cost huge amounts of money but it certainly saved my bacon. Do some research on the net with regard to referral schemes and come up with something that offers you and your client a win win.

I can give some pointers if you want to e-mail me.

Jeremy

[derek west]

jeremy
i wouldn't mind some advice on referal schemes, i've got a bit of a client base to work on sso wouldn't mind giving it a go.
heres my email if i'm not being to cheeky.
derek@affordablecleaners.co.uk
cheers
derek

[Doug Holloway]

Hi James

Are you a member of the Leigh Con ?

I am based in Leigh on Sea and have been for almost 20 years, it's not exactly rocking at present, but I travel quite a lot and keep busy.

Cheers
Doug

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

Jim

Got your email, of course we can meet for a beer, I will email you later.

It's a small world, Jim and I are members of the same club !

Cheers

Doug

[james roffey]

Jeremy, your referral scheme idea sounds interesting i could not locate your email address, all ideas would be welcomed.