Start a Professional Carpet Cleaning Business

Most people have carpets and all carpets need occasional cleaning.  That’s twice I’ve stated the obvious, and there’s a third common fact still to come, namely that few people actually enjoy cleaning their own carpets.  And that pretty much goes for carpets in the family home as much as in small shops and offices, also fancy hotels and apartments.  All of which means there’s always plenty of business around for more people to start their own professional carpet cleaning service.

Carpets are expensive and in times of recession or when the economy dips, most people try to make expensive goods last longer before having to replace them.  So where people might once have ignored grime on carpets and just replaced their flooring, you’ll find people cleaning their carpets more often to make them last longer.

Carpet cleaning is an easy enough task and virtually anyone can do it, even without expensive high tech cleaning equipment and costly chemical cleaners.  But generally people prefer to pay others to do the job, mainly because wet carpets are uncomfortable to walk on and sit upon, and it can take several hours for carpets to dry after cleaning.  So if people take the day off work to clean their own carpets at home, they’ll be hanging around for several hours trying to avoid walking on carpets until they dry out.

The problem is solved by having someone else clean the carpets in the early morning, while the owners are out or at work, and for carpets to dry out during late morning and afternoon, and be fresh and ready to use when the owner returns.

All you really need to run the business is detergent and elbow grease!  If your capital runs to a special all-purpose cleaning machine that will save time and energy for you, and also means you can serve more clients in the same working hours.

Depending on how fast you work, and how good a job you do, you can make two hundred pounds plus each day from this business.  But working too fast can mean making mistakes or overlooking dirty patches, and getting a bad reputation with clients.  Do a good job and you’ll get to cut your advertising bill as a result of satisfied clients making regular bookings, and recommending you to relatives and friends.

Until that day comes, have some pamphlets and business cards printed to advertise your service in entrance halls in blocks and flats, and for distributing door to door in residential and business neighbourhoods.  Have a web site created so prospective clients can download a pdf file highlighting what service you offer and how much you charge.   Once you’re in profit consider advertising in Yellow Pages, but remember to have your telephone answering machine turned on so you can catch up on calls from prospective clients when you return home.

Depending on how well and quickly you progress you might consider adding other cleaning services to your range of activities, such as upholstery and rug cleaning, window and wall cleaning, and so on.

As your business grows hire other people to do all or some of the work for you, leaving you to focus on customer service and drumming up new business from current and past clients.

While you’re still quite new you’ll get by with carrying cleaning materials in the family car or in a small van.  Once you grow from cleaning small houses and offices to specialising in entire blocks of flats or hotels, you’ll need a large van or truck, or maybe a fleet of vehicles for all the people you’ll have working for you once your business really takes off.