[Deep Cleaning Solutions]

Hi i am thinking of starting a carpet cleaning business.
At the moment i have a renault laguna estate and was thinking of using this.
Do you think it will be big enough for a cleaner and the other bits i will need.
Idealy i would like to use the estate for now,
as i need the extra seats to pick the kids up from school ect.
Then if i am doing ok in 6 months or so i could afford to buy a van aswell.
Cheers.

[Ian Rochester]

To carry the equipment you need then a van is essential, though when I first started off I had a trailer made and towed in along behind my car.

Worked like this for about a year before eventually buying a Peugeot Partner van, wish I'd bought the van from the start, much more professional.

You can pick up a decent second hand small van for around £2-3K

[Joe H]

I have worked from the back of Fiat Marea estates and a Mazda 6 estate (nice motor) and it is feasible.
What I found very beneficial was to have the load area flat. Some estates do dip down at the entry pont ie BMW which is an hinderance. Also a flat back tailgaate, some are angled too much so you loose potential space at the top.
Space wise, I got a CFR500 Perfect Heat in very easily, together with hoses, wand, bucket, cleaning fluids/powder, brush, cloths etc.
Can all get to be a bit of a squeeze but it works.
Recomend you get some magnetic signs for the outside of your van - even 1 job should pay for that.

How that matches in with your Laguna - you will know.
You will cope.
Of course if you went to a van, say Renault do a Laguna van - it would still be exactly the same as the estate except for windows.
So if/when you get a van it has to be for a reason ie more space, more professional looking etc
Without going to a larger van size such as a Transit, the Cit Dispatch, Fiat Scudo,Pugeot Expert is a very good sized van for its money.

[Gary Webber]

The only serious way to run a carpet cleaning business is from a van. If you go through the list of equipment needed you will need space for a vacuum cleaner, extraction m/c, rotary m/c?, hoses, wand, chemicals, towels, buckets etc.

it will also need to be of decent size. I would suggest something the size of Fiat Scudo size or greater. The worst thing would be to bu a vehicle and realise all your kit doesnt fit as you gradually increase you equipment.

Gary

[Wayne Dean]

Keyplus

In my opinion I would personally use your estate to minimize initial outlay especially with the way things are at the moment, I know many guys that have started out in carpet cleaning only to be out of business within 6 months. You have to remember that we are in one of the most competitive businesses and for a newbie to start out in the game nowadays is going to be a very bumpy experience, it's hard enough for us guys that have been in the industry for many years! Keep costs low or maybe spend more money and time on advertising and like you say assess where you are in 6-12 months then start thinking about that van!

I wish you all the best

Wayne

[nick p]

when i first started i had an estate car for about a year, then bought a small van got it sign written makes you feel more confident and looks more professional
i now drive a vito and with everything in there i could still do with a bigger van now

[Roy Edwards]

The amount of work you may get, having  a sign  written van sitting outside for all the custy's neighbours to see is worth every penny.

[M.Acorn]

I started out with a knackered old ford estate,i did remove the rear seats completley but found it was still really 2 small had the machine behind drivers seat ,as it would not fit in the back.Got hit by a car coming out of a side road,and it was written off so put the money twords my Astra van which i am finding is getting 2 small now with all the extra gear you accumalate

[Joe H]

The original question was.......

"At the moment i have a renault laguna estate and was thinking of using this.
Do you think it will be big enough for a cleaner and the other bits i will need?".


The answer is YES

[gwrightson]

and my answer is no!!

sorry to disagree with those who think an esate is big enough, i cannot imagine the hassle and clutter that comes with this, even with a limited amount of equpment.
geoff

[Mike Osbourne]

Get the kids to walk or give them the bus money.

Also women used to use the bus to get around or had an Austin 1100. Now they must have 3ltr 4x4s on the easy payment plans or divorce windfalls.

This is where the country started going wrong.

ps get a van

[Jim_77]

It depends on what kind of work philosophy you have.

If you absolutely must take 25 bits of hand kit around with you just in case you need them, you're going to need a decent sized van.  But if you manage to scrape by with just the bare essentials then it'll be fine.  Obviously the less kit you have the less able you are to deal with every eventuality, which may lead to corner-cutting.

There's a photo of someone's truckmount on another thread, installed in a SWB low roof transit.  It completely fills the load space, he can't even get his solution hose reel in there!  Throw stones at me if you like but that's bad planning.  Yes, there is some space left but it's not very useable space.  If you want whatever's at the back you have to move what's in front of it.

I know this problem well, because I prefer to be over-equipped rather than need something I haven't got half way through as job - what use is a tool if it's sitting at home in the garage?.  I run a Scudo with enough kit in it to fill a lorry

You value space more, the less of it you have.

One important point has already been mentioned, but this could save your life so I'll reiterate.  Estate cars are DANGEROUS to carry heavy objects such as extraction machines around in.  Imagine a head-on impact... The driving seat isn't going to afford you any sort of protection from flying machinery or tools, even a hand tool could seriously hurt you.

Vans have a steel bulkhead or at least a framework behind the seats, to cut this risk down.

A tidy, sign-written van looks infinitely more professional than a family car.

I'm not encouraging you to run out and get a van on HP and spend thousands but I definitely think it should be high on your priority list

[The Great One]

The original question was.......

"At the moment i have a renault laguna estate and was thinking of using this.
Do you think it will be big enough for a cleaner and the other bits i will need?".


The answer is YES

Joe is correct, that was the original question asked and Joe is also correct it is enough for now, as the business grows (IF) then you can move onto maybe a second hand van, if it grows more then look at a newer van.

You are just starting, do NOT spend money you don't have to, let the business pay for what you NEED, not what you want.

Ask yourself, do I NEED this X piece of equipment, only have equipment you NEED, move ahead slowly, go too fast and you could come up an expensive cropper.

Regards

Martin

[Mike Osbourne]

I asked exactly the same question when I started. I got a cheap van £2.5k.

However you can start with the car and when you get fed up after about a week, you can get a van.

The hidden loss of business due to looking like a fly by night is difficult to quantify.

[Tony Gill Carpet Smart]

GET A VAN      GET A VAN       GET A VAN

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[derek west]

my philosophy is think big, do a cash flow, business plan, do research in your area, work out how many jobs you need a week to break even, will this be feasible, its all hypethetical planning but it gives you an idea of what you need to achieve, my business was a year in the planning before i started.you really cant turn up in a car,your prices will have to reflect how you turn up, if one of the guys on this thread turned up in a nice sign written van and you turned up in a laguna estate, (nice car by the way) then you'd have to be a lot cheaper than the van guy to get the job, but to be honest as i'm not really a bargain hunter,(you get what you pay for person i am) i'd choose the van guy no matter how cheap you were, image and professionalism every time for me, then and only then would the price come into play.
i also agree with jim, your driving a death trap with all that machinery in the back of a car, is a few grand for a van worth risking your life,
buy a van and if it all goes tiits upyou can sell it as a complete business and probably get most of your money back.

[Joe H]

Actually, I used an estate car for a good few years before I got a van (which is still less then 12 months ago).

The customers I served then, I still serve now.

[derek west]

used to have one of them clinton. nice car in its day.

[Jim_77]

hahaha

BOOM BOOM

[AJB]

After 10 years and 4 vans, i have used for the last 4 years
a Citroen Synergie, 2 to be precise.

It's a lot cheaper than having a family car and a van, it's a quarter of
the cost to insure, it's faster, more comfortable, and customers much to
my disgust still call it a van. It's got magnetic signs on so people know
what i'm doing at a house.

It carries all the equipment i wish to carry, due to the perfect size for
my requirements, my Powrflite machine is so securely held in place that
nothing will move it, this includes a dozy woman trying to write the first
one off. My last van which was written off by a skip lorry, was reduced in value
by the insurance company by £200 because it was sign written!!

In the 10 years of sign written vans i never had one job which was attrubuted
to anyone seeing the van and calling the number, several people would approach
me when cleaning, and they still do to the same extent.

Use the car for 12 months at least, then assess the situation, i know loads of
people who have packed it in within the first year, get by with what you must have
and worry about what you would like, if and when the business is successful.