Starting a Commercial Carpet Cleaning Business
Commercial businesses with wall-to-wall carpeting experience much more traffic than the carpet in a home, so frequent cleaning is a necessity. A commercial carpet cleaning business is a highly viable venture that can result in a quick return on investment. It’s also flexible enough to start on a part-time basis.
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Instructions
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Start off small. Starting small allows you to monitor and control the growth of your business. The equipment you’ll eventually need can be expensive, so you can either buy your own carpet cleaner or rent one for a day from a local home improvement center when you have jobs. Starting out small gives you a chance to get your business up and running. You can slowly gain momentum and set aside the funds necessary to buy your own equipment and supplies down the road.
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Find customers. As a commercial carpet cleaner, you’ll need to contact commercial establishments that can use your services. Office buildings, hospitals, banks, schools, convention centers, hotels, nursing homes, apartment complexes and any other commercial establishment with wall-to-wall carpeting can use your services.
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Purchase the necessary equipment and supplies. The main pieces of equipment you’ll need to buy are carpet cleaning machines. There two types of machines used for cleaning jobs: truck mounted utility systems and freestanding machines (similar to the carpet cleaning machines that you rent). Freestanding machines are less expensive and can be purchased for under three thousand dollars. The truck mounted machines are more costly. You’ll need to purchase the system along with a vehicle. This can run anywhere from $19,000 to $25,000 on the low end.
You can order industrial strength cleaning fluid from places like cleanfreak.com, or environmentally friendly cleaning solution form cleanitsupply.com.
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Market and advertise. There are many ways to promote your commercial carpet cleaning business. You can distribute business flyers to local banks, offices, schools, medical facilities, etc. You can also send out a special direct mail package that includes an introductory letter and brochure.
Create a business website explaining your services. Include an “about us” page, a menu of services, client testimonials and a contact page that includes your company name, phone number and mailing address. Make sure to list your services in online business directories.
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Plan for growth. A carpet cleaning business can keep you busy with so many customers you can barely keep up with your appointments. It’s a good idea to start off with at least one employee if possible. It will reduce the amount of time it takes to handle each job, which can allow you to handle more jobs and make more than you could working alone. If you decide to start out alone, be sure to establish a plan for growing and for adding staff so that you can take on even more clients.
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References
- Photo Credit vacuum cleaner image by vb_photo from Fotolia.com
