Hey guys! New to the business so thank you ahead of time for answering all my entry level questions! I plan to start out slow and test the water but if I get quick steady results would spend on marketing/advertising and the equipment to run the business! But for now I'm plan to start out with a portable and do it in my spare time. (3 days a week+evenings) so currently I'm having door hangers made and fixing to purchase a machine. My question is what to expect?
•Is the return on investment as fast as one would think?
•are most costumers loyal or mainly a one time cleaning?
•what would you expect to make 3 days a week? 150 1000?
•at what point should I establish an LLC?
•is insurance a must right off the start? If so what's the average cost?
I know it's important to protect yourself but when?
•what is the most common type of community that purchase carpet service? Rich/middle class?
I have many more but that should get us started! Lol I really have done a lot of research on line.. google/forums but it is mostly contradicting so I figured I would just ask the guys that do it everyday.. thanks for your help!
Congrats at diving in and welcome to the board....
Return on investment....it can be ok, and you can make some money fairly well...but you can also loose it fast too. Establishing a client base takes time. Working part time is probably a good start...and go clean some relatives and friends to get more comfortable is a good suggestion.
Customers usually have carpets cleaned when they finally see....they are really dirty....so they can be loyal if you start out on the correct foot and make sure you have a good professional presentation out of their home, and of course while doing work for them in their homes....
Keep in mind, on loyalty...if they are using you....they were not loyal to the last cleaner...but they might have particular reasons to switch besides price.
With a portable, you are just going to have to add a bit more chemistry, and agitation, and take more time...but that's ok. I have seen a lot of great cleaners with portables, and I feel they have become even better cleaners when they switch up to maybe a truckmount.
Money you can make is going to depend on your area, and how you price things. Don't price to be the cheapest....establish a good fair market price, but also know what you are going to need to make money later if you want to leave your other job. It is more difficult to raise your prices later to support a full time job and not shell shock your client base later when you need to make more money.
LLC, that can happen at anytime...an accountant might help you...for now, most people probably start out as a Sole Proprietorship. But at Tax accountant is someone you want a conversation with to help you....
Insurance....YES! And sit down with a good honest insurance person who can help you. And some places, you won't get in the door to work if you don't have certain amounts of coverage.
Depending on your pricing is where you are more than likely to attract a certain type of clients....being cheap...expect cheap clients.
Also, before you invest in a lot of equipment, many of us would encourage you to do a ride along with another cleaner...or give carpet cleaning a try...you might find out it is not as fun, and even with good money...still not fun....then a bunch of these guys will be out to snatch up cheap equipment....
But again, welcome and I hope we can help you in some manner with an abundance of questions you are going to have...
Also, look at the top right for the search box...type in a question and you might find a lot of topics you are searching for that have been discussed here....
And Marty
@hogjowl is a lot nicer than he really comes off to be on these forums....but we don't want people to really know that
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