[Paul Moss]

and another one bites the dust
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Phoenix-450i-Truckmount-Carpet-Cleaning-Machine-Van-Website-Extras-/221259142108

[Craigp]

Only 96 hrs, it's not as easy as people think it will be, people are always over optimistic that they'll suceed, slowly reality bites.

BWT Paul, thanks for the post on Shauns topic about removing air filter, my TM has been cutting out for over a year, tried loads of things new temp sensor ect. it was doing my head in.

Removed the air filter 'outer' part after reading your post, not done it since! it must have been choking the engine up.

[Paul Moss]

There pretty easy to fix. Be sure to get a new outer or give the old one a good wash out

[elliott cleaning]

As to giving the outer a wash - forget it.  Buy a new one - peanuts in terms of cost

[Paul Moss]

They arnt that easy to find.

[Craigp]

I'm going to leave it off, it's still got the inner the paper type that most engines have, does it need the outer? cars don't have the outer.

[Craigp]

The outer was quite oily so Im guessing that was the prob, so guess it could be cleaned with petrol. But I have binned it now, too late, ha

[Paul Moss]

Yep it does need the outer. Order a new set only about 15 quid, i cant find outers on their own any where.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I can't take the air filter off as it won't run with out it on LPG I've found out the route of the problem on mine, I bought a new demand pump and it faulty it has an intermittent fault so I've put the old one back on and it runs sweeter now.

Shaun

[Buckland]

I have already bought some stuff from Anthony and I really hope he gets a good price for the rest of his gear - a good bloke to do business with and I dont think he should just be dismissed as another one biting the dust!

I think it is worth noting that this appears to be someone with potential leaving our industry and its a great pity that he has not been able to make a go of it as I am sure he has done everything right in terms of getting some decent equipment and marketing his 'offer' in terms of creating a strong brand - in my opinion he has done everything right and deserved one day to be making a good living out of this set-up but it does not seem tha he is going to give it another go -- its always tempting when things get tough if you have another marketable skill to fall back on and the offer of a regular income to pay the mortgage and have a degree of certainty - anyway I dont have any answers I just thought when he started he had established a good brand and deserved to do well - it appears thats not always enough

[wynne jones]

Cashflow!

This is where it usually goes wrong. The first year you have to feed the family, pay the bills etc and you could be making a profit on every job but no cashflow and good night vienna. Most people buy a portable and trade up. The extra £12k could have saved it maybe. Food for thought if someone is thinking of starting out with a TM.

And don't forget its never the end. Just because you go under doesn't mean your life is over. You just have to recoup and move on. Most well known entrepreneurs worth billions have lost it all and come back. Never give up. 

[benny d]

If i remember correctly from the ebay page. He had a better job offer in IT.
So I think that for him, he has come out on top.

[Mike Halliday]

not a good advert to try and sell a bussiness and say you could'nt make it pay, better to say you had 'a better offer'

but i'm sure in this case he has been headhunted by Microsoft to manage its european division

putting aside health issues & acts of god only 2 reasons a carpet cleaners bussiness fails.... tooo cheap or tooo lazy..... (or both)

[Mike Halliday]

nope i'm lying, 3 reasons....

thinking the world owes them a living and they are too good or clever to walk the streets.

(just to add this is not a dig at Anthony, i wish him the best of luck in his new endevour .... just my observation about some people who try to make it in our bussiness)

[Craigp]

His marketing is good, clearly he's put alot of work into it, not sure the prices go with that marketing, he should be capitalising on that market message.

If he reads this, dump the 50%off prices and start pricing by the square foot!! 

[Paul Moss]

He is the 2nd trucky to go near me in the last 12 months.
Too many people think this job is easy and pays well when they read all the poop e on forums  And find out out 12 months later the real world.

[Jamie Pearson]

When I started in this business full time (20 years ago) a truck mount was sold to guys who needed to increase productivity so they could fit more into a day or because they had commercial contracts where it just made sense.

Alltec had a great way of selling there systems explaining how to increase prices to cast off the lower end of your customers to help fund the system upgrade and running costs.

It seems more and more that they are being bought as a USP in hope they can be used as a marketing tool against increased competition when the customer doesnt really care most of the time. Definitely not as much as other cleaners on forums with established businesses bigging up the benefits of their systems without explaining how they got to such a set up.

I know there are some that started out with TMs and have made it work but I am sure there are many that have failed in relation to that because of the initial outlay and lack of customers paying the price to cover the running costs.

The same could also be argued for portables start outs too, and even franchise purchasers.

At the end of the day it's the individual that makes the business not the kit.

[Nick Attwood]

Couldn’t agree more with Jamie’s comments! Personally was made redundant from a leading franchise with the non-competitive clause wavered so got myself a truckmount for £0.01p off ebay! Had only ever cleaned with a truckmount! now have a HM Spitfire that I paid £200 for so owes me nothing but would honestly retire if I had to work with a porty.

[Len Gribble]

I’m considering selling mine (not the van) and some contracts and a lot of leads (which could be done a half price and still make mega profits that’s free) 

[Buckland]

translation anyone?