"How to start a carpet cleaning business"

http://www.iversonsoftware.com/success/p3319.htm - http://www.iversonsoftware.com/success/p3319.htm

  I think this guy has soome good general ideas, but his plan requires more of a mastery of BS than of carpet cleaning. 

It is a good article for a very ambitious person to get the general idea for carpet cleaning.

However I have a short attention span and it went on and on and on 

Oh but Tom

That way has been the start up of many carpet cleaning businesses, maybe not the renting part but starting with a portable most cleaners have gone that route and built from there.

It really all depends on what you can afford and the type of equipment you want to start with. One step at a time.

Not knocking Padman's man system but on some of his post it appears that for some jobs you would have to use up to 100 pads.

Even if you cut this in half it would be a high cost for one job considering the cost of each pad that you would have to purchase. What I'm saying is how would this machine be used for residential, how would you get into the corners.

I know it sounds good for commercial jobs but I feel steam cleaning is still the better way, it would be less expensive. Just thinking out Loud!!!

  Without any further information, I would do the corners by hand with one of the pads.  Unless the corners happen to be trashed, I can't see it taking long at all.  We're only talking about a couple square feet in each room. 

  Adwa, also the pads are reusable, so its not like you have to buy 100 more pads for each 100 pad job.  Each pad can be used at least 80 times, and you only use the same pad one time on a single job so...for 80 jobs, your cost per pad is 6 cents, your cost per 100 pads is 6 dollars.  

  Also, from what I've read, a 100 pad job is a "big one", and the average residential job takes about 20 pads.  Going by that, a 20 day working month with 5 jobs a day (which I'd be very happy getting) equals $120. a month in pads.  My credit isn't spectacular so I don't see getting a lease or a loan on a tm/van for less than $120.0 a month.  And also, I am of the beleif that a business should have the least amount of debt as possible. 

  I would love to see the whole formula worked out though by someone who has actually worked with the OP system.   

Well, you guys are the experts...

Like I've always said, I want to work with the OP until I have enough to buy a TM, then use both.  The advantages of a TM seem to go way beyond carpet cleaning.  To be honest, I can think of a literaly dozens of jobs I've had in the past where a TM would have been ideal. 

That learning curve your talking about Doug, is one reason why the OP seems best to start with. 

We have an OP and the time we use it most is not when you would imagine.

our favourite time to use the OP is after HWE with a dry pad. When the carpet was trashed to start it just sucks up the remaining (filthy) moisture in the carpet and that prevents wicking too.

I always find it odd that some people  forget that the moisture thats left in the carpet is the same colour as the water in the waste tank.

I never thought of moisture left behind in that way, amazing.

Your my favorite teacher Lee, when next I see you I'm going to give you a big shinny Apple. 

WOW!  Isn't that special. Mr. Steamer and Lee are just like 2 peas in a pod. Absence makes makes the heart grow fonder?

Adwa, good advice you gave TomR

PadMan has me convinced as long as you are willing to use sufficient pads on each job. My opinion is that if you cleaned a heavily soiled restaurant you would go through too many pads and take too long to do. Why not steam extract? That I know works. (Time is money)

Now after extraction go over it once quickly with the pad. Now you should have a happy customer and what appears to be a sparkling clean carpet. The only concern I see with many of my customers is that if they shot all their pads on a restaurant the night before, they could be up the rest of the night washing pads at the laundromat at 5-6 dollars a load. Or cleaning the next day with soiled pads. Thats called redeposition. But then it has been said that evenness is cleanliness to the eyes of many customers.

Mr. Steamer:  when reality hits extra time and material does not always mean more money in the real world.  But than again I don't chase down dirty resturants, sometimes they find us but we charge the same for them as residential.  We don't like to loose our sleep for $.25 a sq. ft.  But than again I am in a different market.