Shop to work from

[daniel@procarpet]

I'm getting tired of competing with the hordes of companies. I need to do something to separate myself from everyone else.
I had three calls today from the NET and I swear it felt like yellow pages city. Dave if you say anything about your bogus ass reviews I will be sick so don't do it. Back on topic I have located a goldmine location to run a business. The owners are now ready to sell. They will never get what they want. I think I am going to offer them 50k and make a go of it. I can pay cash and be done with it. That way I can implement things over time and continue my business model as is for the time being. My goal is to have a nice small multi truck company and dominate a particular area. I feel to do this I need to get some real presence in the area. Post cards and doing the same thing everyone else does is not what I want to do. I have so many great ideas. We'll see if they accept my offer. I would still need about 25k to make it nice and the way I want it so 75k total. Sounds like a good chunk of money but I feel it would be a great investment. If they accept my offer, the sky is the limit. IF not it's bd city. Honestly I would never even consider a commercial location except for this one spot. It has way too many perks and advantages. I just know I don't want to offer more than 50k. I don't want it that bad.

 

[Brian R]

Re: I feel stuck

Pics?

 

[Bob Foster]

Re: I feel stuck

Get certified as an inspector and make sure it includes the hard surface stuff.

Doors will open everywhere for you.

 

[Mikey P]

Re: I feel stuck

yeah, being an inspector must be worth at least 42K a year.. :roll: :roll:

 

[Bob Foster]

Re: I feel stuck

Inspectors get into jobs and higher end work that is referred to them. The work tends to be very lucrative beyond the inspection. The combination of the work and where it lead you to is worth a lot more than 42K a year.

These credentials will get people to seek you out. They are generally not price sensitive but results and quality sensitive. It will put you to the front of the line.

Shade matching, pile resets, re-cleans from the initial factory or distributor call result in many other referrals.

There are lots of problem hard service installations around laminates and a real demand for people that are qualified inspectors to deal with this.

If you get a chance PM Tony Wheelwright and he might be able to fill you in on the benefits of becoming an inspector and other very lucrative hidden specialties that there is good demand for. He's been doing it for years.

 

[Mikey P]

Re: I feel stuck

I've met too many of these inspectors at the bars in Vegas to believe that the career is any thing close to lucrative.


In Tony's case it was the sale of his well established business that let him retire.


and not a few hundred bucks here and there that he earned as he drove all over Canada playing with crayons to save a ungrateful mill a replacement.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Re: I feel stuck

I hate to disagree with you Bob but being an inspector isn't all it's cracked up to be. You're put in the middle and no one likes you, not the mill, not the store and especially not the customer.

Mills pay set amounts but expect ton's of documentation on your end. They will pay travel and good thing because they send you on all kinds of wild goose chases.

For the amount of training necessary and time invested, you'd be much better off putting your effort towards something with better return.

Had a local cleaner that has been an inspector for many years, he finally quit doing the work. He said it just wasn't worth his time.

 

[smastio]

Re: I feel stuck

Dan I am not sure about the whole inspector thing, but I did run across a pretty good article in the WSJ yesterday about what clients are looking for from Service Providers. I could help differentiate you either decision you make. Read it all, it's a good read...

The Wait-Time Misery Index...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... %3Darticle

 

[floorguy]

Re: I feel stuck

Dan I am not sure about the whole inspector thing, but I did run across a pretty good article in the WSJ yesterday about what clients are looking for from Service Providers. I could help differentiate you either decision you make. Read it all, it's a good read...

The Wait-Time Misery Index...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... %3Darticle

awww man BE ON TIME...that was it??? pfft Isnt that service 101.....if you are not going to be there on time call as soon as you know...so they can do something else...

hows about the reverse....you show up to a clients house or biz, yet they arent ready for you??? Then what.....now they possibly screwed up your whole days work....


here i was getting excited about the read...

 

[ACE]

Re: I feel stuck

Your doing something right if you have 50K cash.

 

[Ron Werner]

Re: I feel stuck

I agree, if you've 75K to invest in another busn, you're doing ok.

If you want to stop competing, just stop. You can't separate/distinguish your company from the others if you are "doing" what the other guys are doing.

Rather than investing in titles etc, market yourself as a specialist. ie the guy that was at Connections one year from Pros Choice marketed himself as the guy who could remove spots and stains. He "said" he was getting a couple hundred for a half hr job because he was fixing a problem.

Is this a rug cleaning plant you're looking at buying?

 

[Royal Man]

Re: I feel stuck

You want your company to stand out and then the first thing on your webside is:

How to avoid 6 carpet cleaning rip-offs. 8 costly misconceptions about carpet cleaning.... bla.. bla bla......................................?

That is some of the most over used #@^%# on the net.

How can you stand out when you say the same @#% as all the rest?


You might want to start with a USP.

It's just basic marketing 101 and something that should be planned out BEFORE you go into business.

 

[Brian R]

Re: I feel stuck

I thought nobody sees the website?

 

[Desk Jockey]

Re: I feel stuck

Personally I'd hedge my bet and see if they will lease before I'd blow the whole wad. Leasing while buidling up your business minimizes your investment and risk. Then if your business grows as you think it will you can negotiate purchase.

Why? Because just owning a building doesn't necessarily mean people will beat a path to your door, they may but they may not.

If they won't lease than be sure to check on property taxes on the building, property taxes can really eat up a chunk of change.

It doesn't make much sense to go to all the effort, if the increase in sales just goes towards paying property tax.

 

[Brian R]

Re: I feel stuck

I'm thinking I would listen to Rich or Ken.

 

[Chris A]

Re: I feel stuck

They will never get what they want. I think I am going to offer them 50k and make a go of it. I can pay cash and be done with it.

Bullshit. But aside from that, what makes you think that a shop would gain you any business, and even if it does, would the increase cover your increased nut of additional insurance, property taxes, utilities, etc. Why not take half that 50k and buy a nice gently used van, put a really nice wrap on it for 3ka and you'll probably gain as much biz as you would with a shop...

 

[daniel@procarpet]

Re: I feel stuck

Never mind.

Four guys own this place that rents for 1000 per month. So they make 250 per month when it is rented. They charge 250 per month for taxes as well so the rent is 1250. This place sat for 6 months last year and once again it sits empty because they don't want to spend the money to make it nice so someone could have a nice retail space or restaurant. The broker said they turned down a 90k dollar offer. Oh well. It's a 2k sq ft empty brick building in a great location but really the land is what costs the money. Oh well. I just know I'm not going to spend 100k plus another 50k on advertising, signs, repairs, and equipment. Sorry not happening. I'll just have to stay the course and continue to be a broke dick.

 

[Royal Man]

Re: I feel stuck

They will never get what they want. I think I am going to offer them 50k and make a go of it. I can pay cash and be done with it.

Bullshit. But aside from that, what makes you think that a shop would gain you any business, and even if it does, would the increase cover your increased nut of additional insurance, property taxes, utilities, etc. Why not take half that 50k and buy a nice gently used van, put a really nice wrap on it for 3ka and you'll probably gain as much biz as you would with a shop...

Chris is right.

Just having a shop won't give you any business.
Just more overhead.

Your business is on location not at your location.

(The only exception would be a dedicated rug shop)

 

[Desk Jockey]

Re: I feel stuck

Daniel you don't have to give up the dream, just keep look for another location. You never know you might find something better. ???

 

[Chris A]

Re: I feel stuck

Yeah but does he NEED a shop? Not too difficult to run a 1-2 truck business out of the house and if you have a garage, then your good for the occasional rug. Why take a 20k pay cut if you don't have to?

 

[Brian R]

Re: I feel stuck

Yeah but does he NEED a shop? Not too difficult to run a 1-2 truck business out of the house and if you have a garage, then your good for the occasional rug. Why take a 20k pay cut if you don't have to?

I concur

 

[joeynbgky]

Re: I feel stuck

Thats good. I did away with my shop I miss it at times

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk

 

[joeynbgky]

Re: I feel stuck

But dont miss the $650 a month electric bill
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk

 

[Brian R]

Re: I feel stuck

:shock:

 

[Jtuseo]

Re: I feel stuck

50K is not that much money, Everyone should save at min 10k a year. Good job my man keep saving. Save another 50K and then you can invest and start a real business. Im my opinion a carpet cleaning business as an o/o is just buying yourself a job. I have been saving every penny I can. I have a 5 year plan and then I am going to make a choice. Open a new type of business or reinvent into the carpet cleaning. I have 3 years left. If you keep it simple you can make a nice salary doing this as an o/o , but as an o/o you just do not make enough money to deal with all the headaches.

 

[Brian R]

Re: I feel stuck

50K is not that much money, Everyone should save at min 10k a year. Good job my man keep saving. Save another 50K and then you can invest and start a real business. Im my opinion a carpet cleaning business as an o/o is just buying yourself a job. I have been saving every penny I can. I have a 5 year plan and then I am going to make a choice. Open a new type of business or reinvent into the carpet cleaning. I have 3 years left. If you keep it simple you can make a nice salary doing this as an o/o , but as an o/o you just do not make enough money to deal with all the headaches.

Well said

 

[Steve Toburen]

Re: I feel stuck

Yeah but does he NEED a shop? Not too difficult to run a 1-2 truck business out of the house and if you have a garage, then your good for the occasional rug. Why take a 20k pay cut if you don't have to?

The true cost of a fixed location is not the rent/mortgage, utilities, taxes, etc. even though these all take a chunk off the bottom line. The big challenge is once you have a location open then you need to STAFF it. So now you are looking at an employee that may or may not be productively earning money OR tying yourself or a family member down.

There is much to be said for running out of your house.

Steve Toburen
www.SFS.JonDon.com

PS Daniel, if I wanted to break out of the O/O deal I'd set myself a goal of selling and organizing two new commercial contracts every single week and then having part-time employees using their own transportation run them with Cimexes. Jeff Cutshall does this in Kansas City (he owns five or six Cimexes) and all out of his 2 car garage. Their are a lot of options out there...

 

[Chris A]

Re: I feel stuck

50K is not that much money, Everyone should save at min 10k a year. Good job my man keep saving. Save another 50K and then you can invest and start a real business. Im my opinion a carpet cleaning business as an o/o is just buying yourself a job. I have been saving every penny I can. I have a 5 year plan and then I am going to make a choice. Open a new type of business or reinvent into the carpet cleaning. I have 3 years left. If you keep it simple you can make a nice salary doing this as an o/o , but as an o/o you just do not make enough money to deal with all the headaches.

I dunno, a lot of business owners I talk too seem like they make much less money than me with more hassles. What other business can a fiscally responsible 1 man band net in the extremely high 5 figure range without the headache of multiple employees, shop space, high fixed costs etc.

 

[Brian R]

Re: I feel stuck

50K is not that much money, Everyone should save at min 10k a year. Good job my man keep saving. Save another 50K and then you can invest and start a real business. Im my opinion a carpet cleaning business as an o/o is just buying yourself a job. I have been saving every penny I can. I have a 5 year plan and then I am going to make a choice. Open a new type of business or reinvent into the carpet cleaning. I have 3 years left. If you keep it simple you can make a nice salary doing this as an o/o , but as an o/o you just do not make enough money to deal with all the headaches.

I dunno, a lot of business owners I talk too seem like they make much less money than me with more hassles. What other business can a fiscally responsible 1 man band net in the extremely high 5 figure range without the headache of multiple employees, shop space, high fixed costs etc.

Should I PM you?? :mrgreen:

Not many...That's why Carpet Cleaning has always been a "go to" for me....and others.

The problem with carpet cleaning is when you want more ....It's hard to for guys to get there. Hense all the "get off the truck" sales from all the gurus.

When you get older...It's harder to make that same money and work those same jobs. As long as you can have something in place and save your money to actually have a retirement of sorts.....You'll be fine.

Problem is... Most guys are feast or famine. Spend that money when it comes in and act like it will KEEP coming in.

Over the last few years I've really been able to stockpile some money and that gives me the freedom to let the companies run themselves without too much worry....I can also do other things that I've mentioned to death.

So Carpet Cleaning has been..... and still is my friend.

 

[Connor]

Re: I feel stuck

You can always go the route of just hiring a bunch of hungry subs and starving them and taking half the money.