1 man jobs

I'm still in the planning stage of starting my carpet cleaning company and consider myself fortunate to have found this group. I have spent a good bit of time studing the portable machines and figure this is the best way for me to start out without going deep into debt on equipement.

Buy a rotovac as it will make up for performance of a truckmount as well as give you a professional look and excellent cleaning power.
Arrive on time
Pre vac even if they just vacuumed - buy a good vacuum.
Post groom
Use corner guards
Wear a shirt with your company name and your name and don't wear blue jeans
Have a clean van with good paint and your sign on it so people from across the street can clearly read you phone number and name front sides and back - open doors on a van often hide your signs so think of that when you get your van lettered.
Thank them for the business and follow up the day after to make sure everything came out good after complete dry
Get IICRC certified in carpet and upholstery
Use only good chemicals.
Make sure you support your local supplier and bug them every chance you can get for their advice.
Welcome aboard and good luck.

Nice advice from Piledriver.

I haven't had much of an issue with looking professional using a porty. I'd feel more professional with a tm, but that's just me. If you feel like a shlub, then you'll project that on your customer, and they'll feel uncomfortable. If you feel like a professional and project that, they'll see you as one. The electrical thing is only really an issue if you start tripping breakers repeatedly.

I've only ever used a portable. A lot of people say to only use 25' of hose, but I've never had a problem running 50' on my Ninja. I only run 50' feet if I feel it's necessary though. I think you'll find that a shorter hose is easier to manage--you just have to pull your porty around. 50' is a nice option when you don't want to haul that thing up a flight of stairs. With large back wheels, you can pull a porty upstairs, but it's not much fun.

Having a powered wand will help make up for the performance limitations of a portable unit. Rotovac, Rotovac 360, RX-20, etc. I use an RX-20, but I would've gotten the Rotovac 360 if it were available at the time.

Customers are really impressed with seemingly little things like corner guards and booties. Pay 10.00 for 50 pairs of booties and give your customer a pair when you finish the job. Even if they don't need to use them, they feel like you just solved a potential problem for them, and they didn't even have to ask.

I don't know if you're buying a van that will eventually house a tm. If not, a Ford Freestar cargo van is a very clean looking alternative to the more boxy styles out there.


Edited by Michael - 31/August/2006 at 1:38pm

Swing it over burt