Considering this Industry

[WilliamJamesFPV]

Hi everyone — I’m new here and looking for some real-world perspective.

I live in the Miami area and I’m considering getting into carpet and tile cleaning, but I honestly have no clue what revenue and profit typically look like. My rough idea would be mostly residential carpet + tile (about 90%), and some light commercial (about 10%). Since Miami is so condo-heavy, I’d also be open to doing condos using a portable unit when needed.

I want to be upfront: I have zero experience and no training in this industry. I’ve only done online research so far, and I keep seeing people say you can do well in this business if you stick with it for a while — but I don’t know what “doing well” actually means in numbers.

A few questions I’m hoping experienced owners/operators can answer:

1. Revenue: What does average monthly and average annual revenue look like for a solo owner-operator doing mostly residential carpet + tile in a market like Miami?
2. Profit: What does average annual profit look like after chemicals, fuel, maintenance, insurance, marketing, etc.?
3. Hourly economics: What’s a realistic average job rate per hour (either billed per hour or what you net per hour on average)?
4. Equipment ROI: I’ve seen truck-mount setups that cost $30,000+. For those who run a truck mount, what kind of return on investment did you see (and roughly how long did it take to pay off)?
5. Aside from the numbers, I do have a question about prolonged use of the chemicals in the industry. I know there are detergents, solvents, etc... What is risk level (low. Medium, high) to prolonged use over a career? Has this been a concern for any of the guys in the industry? Why, or why not? Any known issues related to health concerns arisng from this job?

Thanks in advance — I’m here to learn.

William James