Carpet cleaning like any other business is a challenging one to start but with COVID-19 still presiding over us, businesses and homeowners are maintaining stringent cleaning and sanitation protocols which could benefit those who are in the cleaning industry.
If you have just started with a carpet cleaning business, you must be looking for tips and rules to sail over the initial period. Remember, the only way you could gain traction is by using quality equipment from the first order itself.
Apart from that, one cannot undermine the power of networking, on-point marketing approach, etc. while trying to establish yourself in this market. Here are five tips that could help you sail over the initial years of the carpet cleaning business.
- Get training: The cleaning business doesn’t just involve driving around with a vacuum in your trunk, it is more than that. It requires you to be an expert in the cleaning business and if you don’t have sufficient knowledge of which cleaning chemical is required for a certain kind of carpet, you will have a hard time succeeding in a market dominated by experts. Buy carpet steam cleaners and other cleaning equipment and other cleaning equipment from a supplier that alongside provides on-site training and can teach you techniques on how to clean a carpet and upholstery effectively. Apart from this, get in touch with someone who is in the carpet cleaning business already and ride around with them for a day to understand daily operations.
- Have enough cash reserve: As mentioned above, carpet cleaning is a tricky business and your profits heavily depend on how fast you could get clients. To ensure you don’t end up asking capital from others, figure out an amount you need for day-to-day business expenses such as cleaning chemicals, marketing, etc., and have 90 days expenses in reserve. This will help you greatly in low-business days and also give you enough time to establish regular cash flow.
- Choose a client base and then accordingly buy cleaning equipment: Your client base will decide what kind of cleaning supplies you need to have. Hence decide whether you will provide cleaning services to residential or commercial or both. While you are deciding on the same, think about how you are going to get your first client. Understand your neighborhood and its needs before drafting a marketing plan. Experts recommend starting with a free carpet cleaning service to certain people from where you expect to land a huge project.
- Know basic accounting skills: You thought carpet cleaning business only means having a piece of knowledge about different equipment’s available in the market? Well, you need the know-how of basic accounting to be able to send estimates and invoices to your clients to have an organized and profitable business.
- Little gestures will go a long way: As much as the carpet cleaning business runs on the kind of quality equipment you use, your friendliness and politeness behavior is what will help you to stand out from the rest. You can show your seriousness towards your client by cleaning small rugs at the entrance or sweeping floors after each cleaning without charging an extra fee.
Building a successful carpet cleaning business during the covid-19 crisis can be challenging but this is where you have to think out of the box. Remember, with every challenge lies an opportunity. These are the basic few tips you should keep in mind while starting your business.
Of course, you will add your points once you start. To stand out from your competition, you can offer a money-back guarantee to instill confidence in the mind of customers about your services. You can also try calling your customers in between to ask when they would like to get the carpet cleaned again. There are endless ways to gain your client’s trust.
