My SOLUS 500R story

A 175 rpm machine is a very valuable tool for commercial carpet. You will use it once you realize the limitations of your equipment. We use one on some nasty jobs in conjunction with our tm's.

It definitely sounds like you have the calculated your cost factor. Very important to know that.

Cmaster: I would have purchased a TM if money wasn't an object. Bigger has got to be better, right?   But fortunately my portable is doing a good job for my customers. And it's all about how much they are willing to spend, especially businesses that have tight budgets.

In a way I got lucky. I recognize that. The beauty about working with military housing is they replace carpets every 5 or 6 years.   If my services can extend their carpet life to a 6-7 year replacement schedule they save big bucks. And that sir, is my goal.

You bet Time is money. They are one in the same. Google Randy Pausch - Time Management (lecture from NOV 2007 given at University of Virginia). Thats how I operate. In doing my research of standard practices within this business I couldn't find a Standard Unit larger than a square foot. When you're dealing with a million square feet or higher it needs to be condensed. So in my business model I determined that 1000 square feet would equal one unit. And I based my costs per unit. That enabled me to set up a program calculator to monitor inventory levels, units remaining, and accurately track cleaning costs used per job.   Annually, the minimum number of units needed is 75 to remain in business. 650 is my sole operating range. Anything higher than that would require an employee at 12 dollars per hour. I am currently at 540 (with a 100 +/- fudge factor) under 2 contracts. I guess this is where my enthusiasm comes from.

MBCC wrote: The Navy taught me a lot. And failure wasn't a subject. You missed the point of my post. It was to share a success story to encourage others. I don't have a beef with your TM. But they do costs a lot and cost more to operate than a portable machine. I could have put myself in debt buying a TM. But I chose to buy a portable that cleans on par with a TM. That might throw you a bit. But the reality is your TM pushes more water and extracts well. My portable pushes less water and extracts well. The fact that a TM pushes more water doesn't make it better. Proper application of High traffic solution as a pre-spray and use of spotters works excellent with 500 psi Hot water extraction.   And customers don't see a difference in performance. So why wouldn't you use a machine that is cheaper to operate? I know you have put many years under your belt in this business. And you are commenting on experience. I can respect that. But don't fall in that trap of thinking your way is the only way. You will lose every time... especially with technology advances.    And the reason I might sound like a salesman is because I truly love my machine and can attest to it's results. I have seen what a TM can do and to be honest couldn't see any difference with the end result. And the reason you are losing jobs by price is because your operating costs are higher. You really think anyone can under price 9.9 Cents a square foot? How much are you charging?

Edited by cmaster - 25/May/2008 at 10:47am

Sir Yes Sir

Edited by Ken_Is_OK - 25/May/2008 at 7:09am

Well la dee f**king da smart ass. WTF do I care about your previous profession. It has nothing to do with this one. You know how to get things done in the navy. This ain't the navy dumbass

So you've been in business less than 2 months and you've never cleaned with a truckmount???