[Johnny Brown]

Hi all

 Thanks for reading our first post!

 We are in the early stages of setting up our carpet cleaning and upholstery cleaning business, I just wanted to post a thread to ask people already in the industry a few questions.

 There is myself and my business partner, currently we are in full time employment (not in the industry already), however the plan is to work together part time to build up clientele to eventually make a move to full time with two vans.

 Ideally we would like to focus on both domestic and commercial jobs.

 Questions I would like to know are as follows:

 On average how many jobs a week would be realistic to estimate for one person?

 What is demand like for carpet cleaning for both domestic and commercial clients?

 We have looked at some machines online and have been given advice on the Airflex Storm / Airflex Pro / Jaguar and Jag Cub. Would all of these machines be adequate for newbies to the industry and achieve professional results? Also what would be best to fit into a Citreon Nemo van?

 Sebo BS36 Vac - is this something that would be worth investing in?

 Training - we know we need training, however I am conscious the NCCA training course is more theoretical and the cleansmart one is only 1 day. If we went on the Solutions Cleaning Course for 2 days, I'm assuming this will involve using their machines - would we still gain all the necessary knowledge needed to operate any type of carpet cleaning machine?

 Are there any training courses you can recommend to us and or things to do before "going live"?

 And finally - how many hours are people working we week on average?

 How do you plan your week so you manage to get the booked in jobs done?

 Commercial properties how many are you doing compared to Domestic properties - and who generally do you have contracts with?

 What sort of pricing is realistic for domestic and commercial jobs - per sq metre?

 Appreciate its a lot of information to read, any advice you can give us would be greatly appreciated.

 Thanks

 Johnny

[neil 47]

Hi all

 Thanks for reading our first post!

 We are in the early stages of setting up our carpet cleaning and upholstery cleaning business, I just wanted to post a thread to ask people already in the industry a few questions.

 There is myself and my business partner, currently we are in full time employment (not in the industry already), however the plan is to work together part time to build up clientele to eventually make a move to full time with two vans.

 Ideally we would like to focus on both domestic and commercial jobs.

 Questions I would like to know are as follows:

 On average how many jobs a week would be realistic to estimate for one person? Cheap end 20 to 30 high end 5 to 8

 What is demand like for carpet cleaning for both domestic and commercial clients? Depends how well u market

 We have looked at some machines online and have been given advice on the Airflex Storm / Airflex Pro / Jaguar and Jag Cub. Would all of these machines be adequate for newbies to the industry and achieve professional results? Also what would be best to fit into a Citreon Nemo van?
Cub is smallest next would be storm

 Sebo BS36 Vac - is this something that would be worth investing in?
Yes
 Training - we know we need training, however I am conscious the NCCA training course is more theoretical and the cleansmart one is only 1 day. If we went on the Solutions Cleaning Course for 2 days, I'm assuming this will involve using their machines - would we still gain all the necessary knowledge needed to operate any type of carpet cleaning machine? Go on the solutions

 Are there any training courses you can recommend to us and or things to do before "going live"? Learn about marketing and set up a website now

 And finally - how many hours are people working we week on average?
Low end 40 hrs high end 10 to 20 all depends how much u need
 How do you plan your week so you manage to get the booked in jobs done? That's a problem for the future as it will take you years to get there

 Commercial properties how many are you doing compared to Domestic properties - and who generally do you have contracts with? 80/20 domestic any commercial premises

 What sort of pricing is realistic for domestic and commercial jobs - per sq metre? £1:50 to £4:50

 Appreciate its a lot of information to read, any advice you can give us would be greatly appreciated.

 Thanks

 Johnny
[/quote]

[David Deer]

I would suggest you go on a carpet cleaning course first. If this does not answer all your questions you are either on the wrong course or you haven't asked  the instructor the right questions.
One day courses can be as effective if not more effective, as the quality of instruction is the deciding factor. So don't be dazzled by the offer of a weeks training which may not suit your needs. Contact all the training course facilities  and talk to them about their courses, the content and delivery. Number of attendees, past history and  the success and failures of their clients.
You'll get plenty of people on this site who will recommend their own favourites.  Also register on the solutions forum and  ask about their products and those from other manufacturers and  how their training compares with companies like prochem and cleansmart.   Get their view on machines from alltec, amtech, cleansmart, prochem and the many other suppliers throughout the UK.
One thing to remember is doing the work may be easy, but getting the work is hard !

[john martin]

I would suggest you go on a carpet cleaning course first. If this does not answer all your questions you are either on the wrong course or you haven't asked  the instructor the right questions.
One day courses can be as effective if not more effective, as the quality of instruction is the deciding factor. So don't be dazzled by the offer of a weeks training which may not suit your needs. Contact all the training course facilities  and talk to them about their courses, the content and delivery. Number of attendees, past history and  the success and failures of their clients.
You'll get plenty of people on this site who will recommend their own favourites.  Also register on the solutions forum and  ask about their products and those from other manufacturers and  how their training compares with companies like prochem and cleansmart.   Get their view on machines from alltec, amtech, cleansmart, prochem and the many other suppliers throughout the UK.
One thing to remember is doing the work may be easy, but getting the work is hard !

good lord , do you think hes going to get any objective views or info over there , lol

[David Deer]

If we went on the Solutions Cleaning Course for 2 days, I'm assuming this will involve using their machines - would we still gain all the necessary knowledge needed to operate any type of carpet cleaning machine?

good lord , do you think hes going to get any objective views or info over there , lol

lol 

[Mike Halliday]

Johnny your question was too overwhelming!! Should have started of smaller😊

Just to pull out a couple of questions (hopefully some one will pull a couple more to answer), I will take the easy ones

3 jobs a day is an easy target,  the hard bit will be getting the marketing in place to produce those 3 jobs. The demand for carpet cleaning is as high as your marketing creates, if you do little marketing you will think the demand is very low but if you constantly market the demand will be high. If there are carpet cleaners working in your area then there must be a demand for carpet cleaning your job will be to take jobs away from all the other carpet cleaners😉

The solutions forum ( cleantalk) is a excellent forum full of helpful, knowledgeable carpet cleaners. I would join and ask questions there as well, you can't get enough varied information, although the site is sponsored by a chemical supplier (so can be at times  biassed towards  their products) it is still a great site

[tim handley]

Johnny your question was too overwhelming!! Should have started of smaller😊

Just to pull out a couple of questions (hopefully some one will pull a couple more to answer), I will take the easy ones

3 jobs a day is an easy target,  the hard bit will be getting the marketing in place to produce those 3 jobs. The demand for carpet cleaning is as high as your marketing creates, if you do little marketing you will think the demand is very low but if you constantly market the demand will be high. If there are carpet cleaners working in your area then there must be a demand for carpet cleaning your job will be to take jobs away from all the other carpet cleaners😉

The solutions forum ( cleantalk) is a excellent forum full of helpful, knowledgeable carpet cleaners. I would join and ask questions there as well, you can't get enough varied information, although the site is sponsored by a chemical supplier (so can be at times  biassed towards  their products) it is still a great site

at times?

[neil 47]

Tim

It may be biased but as a new starter even if you followed all the biased information

You would end up with
A good powerful machine
Some of the best chems about
A intensive training course that is biased towards the company but they all are that way , but is still the only hands on course available.
I've never heard anyone who went on on it complain at anytime .
Access to a lot of well established carpet cleaners in the uk
Experience from two very knowledgeable trainers and a owner who has been there and done it .

He really should make it a subscription based forum .

The only thing it lacks is a marketing course which without you will fail even if your the best cc .

[John Kelly]

Johnny, lots of things to discuss there and you will get varying answers from many people. If you can guve me a ring sometime and I can talk you through the realities of starting up.  Link at bottom.

[gwrightson]

Johnny, lots of things to discuss there and you will get varying answers from many people. If you can guve me a ring sometime and I can talk you through the realities of starting up.  Link at bottom.

and knowing how John works ,could ask for better than that

Geoff

[DmitriKara]

"Rome was not built in a day", so the harder you work, the better job you do, the happier people are the more your business will grow! It's really as simple as that. Personally, I think it would be best if you could grow some experience with an established company, for that is the best way to steal know-how,  but that's up to you.

[tim handley]

Johnny, lots of things to discuss there and you will get varying answers from many people. If you can guve me a ring sometime and I can talk you through the realities of starting up.  Link at bottom.

and you will get top advice and help regarding machines and cleaning solutions from any  com pany you want to know about rather than just one particular company!