Starting and Building a Business

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   Hi All!  FIrst time poster here. Forty years in carpet cleaning. Just relaxing on a rainy day here and started surfing so here I am. 

My take on marketing- after 40 years of my own company. I sold my business in Nashville back in 2000. Just restarted a new company down here in Birmingham this year with a young partner. 

I have never- ever spent money on flyers, mailouts, or ads except the one line yellow page ad. In 10 months here in B'ham the competition is already asking: "How the hell are you getting your business?" 

First of all- I do maybe 1% residential. Residential clients only get their carpets cleaned every 18 months to 2 years on an average. I target commercial work. We work steady every month all years long. And we grow every month all year long. I have annual contracts with regional customers. With one van and three guys we are covering from the Gulf Coast to Kentucky each and every month. We frequent our commercial customers each month and demand keys and alarm codes to each location. Bottom line is that with almost zero marketing budget in ten months we are now servicing over 100 customers each month. Our average invoice is over $200.00. We know what we are doing and do our work when no one is around. We are able to accomplish our tasks in a timely and profitable manner. I personally sold each account that we service. Our largest customer signed our contract and I have never been in their corporate office nor have they met me face to face. The deal was done all via phone, fax and email.

Persistance, determination and a love of what you do are key. Know your market, Know your work, and love to clean carpet- it shows in your voice. Carry your biz cards in your pocket everywhere you go. If you go to church make certain they know what you are doing. I have never networked in the industry- never joined any community clubs or played golf with anyone to get any biz I ever got. My sales approach is simple, to the point and laiden with confidence. I waste no ones time including my own. My confidence is easily heard by the potential client and that alone brings them to me. I know what the market is paying in my market areas and I am competative within a few dollars. 

All the fine folks I know who specialize in residential and apartments starve all winter. My mail box is filled with checks all year round.... And my marketing budget as I said is almost zero.

By the way- I never give anything away for my work- no freebies. I charge fair prices and provide consistant quality work. 

My approach to this business had me doing over a million dollars a year in 2000. I promise that within 3 years I will again be doing over a million a year in this new venture- all with almost zero dollars in marketing budget.

Let me add this: Yes if you choose residential as your market you will need a huge marketing budget to get started. Marketing to homeonwers is a whole different story than to commerical. I made my choice 40 years ago that I wanted good year round income with the least amount of outgo as possible. A homeowner is normally a lot more demanding than a commerical account. And as one can expect they will stand over you and detail your work along the way as they remind you of thier fine furniture and nice lamps that they do not want damaged. In commercial work they are more result oriented and ususally are more than happy to turn you lose due to their having more important issues to deal with. I personally find the commerical aspect of the business much more rewarding and profitable. 

Edited by medcleanco - 19/October/2006 at 9:02pm

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Starting and Building a Business