Starting and Building a Business

Thanks Jeff.. I'll check it out..

I hear what your saying man but why do you think the Manufacturer's said that?

Maybay, if you're still reading here is a good forum for housecleaners (and carpet cleaners......)

I limit my advertsing to coupons only. 

Printed 3 up on a page, paper cutter turns a full color sheet into a low cost series of 3 individual coupons.  These are attached to the prospect's door jam, out of site from the street so my competition never knows which neighborhood I am working.  Taped to the door jam using scotch tape dispenser model H103 with 2 clicks of the trigger and then thumb the cutter making the tape pieces short enough and uniformly even (see picture of handheld dispenser at http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/home_office/home/product_information/tape_dispensers/). 

Referrals and repeat business amounts to half of my jobs and the coupons make up the difference.  Have the business card holder on the van and it works as a conversation piece, nothing more. 

Coupons are cheap, directly targeting desired neighborhoods and effective for me (1 call for every 56 coupon average with a printing cost of approximately $.05 US for full color professionally printed.  I leave room on mine so I have an area to place a label containing the current special. 

I invite you to download the coupon sheet at http://www.babysafecc.com/25515.pdf to see the visual quality and hope it gives you an idea or two guys.

And, here are the bullet points that educate the prospect about what makes us different:

Why Use Baby Safe For Your Carpet Cleaning?
 

Most Cleaners Use A Standard Bag Vacuum

• Suction level drops due to clogged bag.

• Small particulates escape into the room and settle back after cleaning.

• Often the edges of carpets are ignored.

• Many cleaners skip this required step completely, causing carpets to retain in-soluble soils.

We Use a Bagless Hepafilter Dry Soil Extraction System

• Suction level remains constantly high.

• Nothing escapes into the room due to hepa filtration.

• All edges and corners are vacuumed for a complete dry extraction.

• We meet guidelines for complete extraction of in-soluble soils.

Most Cleaners Use Harmful Toxic Chemicals

• Wrong ph Destroys stain resistant fibers.

• Harmful for the environment.

• Cancer causing carcinogens.

• Makes carpet dirtier faster due to residue.

We Use DfE Green Earth Friendly Chemicals

• Meets high GREEN standards from EPA.

• Neutral ph is safe for carpets.

• Carpet remains soft to touch.

• Any remnant dirt and residue vacuums away thanks to encapsulation.

Most Cleaners Use A Manual Agitation Rake

• Grooming rake combs pre-spray if used.

• Offers little penetration into fibers.

• Does nothing for deep down pre-treatment.

• Many cleaners skip this required step completely.

We Use High Powered Agitation To Break Up Dirt And Drive Solvents Down

• Machine places 75 lbs of pressure over area being agitated.

• Brush forces chemicals into fibers.

• Chemicals are pushed down to backing where dirt hides.

• Truly breaks up dirt for easy extraction.

Most Cleaners Use Truckmount Extractors

• More power than needed and can destroy backing.

• Large carbon footprint from fossil fuels.

• Contributes to Global Warming.

We Use Environmentally Friendly Portable Extractors

• Uses primarily hydro-electric and geo-thermal power.

• Smallest carbon footprint easily offset by tree plantings.

• 2000 W heater is no threat to Global Warming.

Most Cleaners Use A Manual Extraction Wand

• Only cleans from 2 directions (back and forth) with a couple of cleaning passes.

• Relies on the strength and energy of the worker

• Leaves many tough stains and shadowing in the carpet

We Use the Rotovac Powerwand^®

• Cleans from all directions with hundreds of cleaning passes

• High torque motors do not get tired so the quality is consistent throughout the entire job

• Restores matted traffic areas and removes tough stains and shadowing that the manual wand leaves behind

• Your satisfaction is Guaranteed

Most Cleaners Clean and Leave Wet

• More interested in getting to the next job.

• Provide no way of speeding up the drying time.

• Offer no FREE recommendations for proper carpet care.

We Use Air Movers to Speed Dry Your Carpets

• 3500 CFM fans leave carpets virtually dry.

• Prevents browning and wicking.

• Review and FREE recommendations of proper carpet care.

• FREE grooming rake (certain conditions apply).

461-7210

Knowing your service is superior is one thing, being able to diseminate that vital information to the buyer can make or break a business.  As Joe Polish said, we are not in the business of carpet cleaning, we are in the business of MARKETING a carpet cleaning service.  We can train younger people how to properly clean carpets OUR way.  

splash_$$$_dash wrote: Move to a big city of at least 5 million people, then you can not fail. Spend your money on adverstsing. GET IN, SPLASH SOME WATER AROUND, CHARGE FOR THE CHERRY DEODORIZER, CHARGE HUGE FOR THE STAIN GARD, GET YER CASH AND RUN LIKE HELL

this is what i plan on doing !!!!!!!!!!

Cool idea taking an idle truck and turn it into a well placed billboard.  Also works to put it in a nice neighborhood shopping center.  Parking in front of a Starbucks with the business card holder full of cards works too and you can have a cup while you cell phone rings from women calling while ordering their coffee.