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Carpet Cleaning Start Up Business
Advantages...Right Niche...Equipment

Curious to see the advantages and proper niche for your carpet cleaning start up business?

What's the best and least expensive equipment to purchase or lease for your carpet cleaning service?

These strategies impact your carpet cleaning business big time.

To ensure your profitability you need to get the basics right the "first" time around.

There are huge advantages to starting a carpet cleaning start up business.

• Low Entry Costs: your motivation and work ethic drives your entrepreneurial spirit for success. Purchasing your cleaning equipment of choice is the only capital expenditure you'll make.
• Ideal Home Business: No store front is required. No staffing, no phone answering service, no sign on a building, no extra light, heat and air conditioning costs and no employees. This enhances the opportunity for immediate profit in your carpet cleaning start up business.
• Ideal One Person/Family Business: Work your own hours, minimal travel time (usually off rush hour) to customers, real job security, pay yourself handsomely for each hour devoted to your business and, of course, be your own boss appeal to many folks.
• Earn a Solid Respectable Income: Your carpet cleaning business returns high hourly earnings. A normal residential carpet cleaning service usually cleans about 750 sq. ft. to 1,000 sq. ft. per residence. This translates into $250 to $350 per job. Even averaging only 2 jobs per day means a minimum of $2,500 per week.

Choosing the Perfect Niche

The VERY FIRST THING you must do before you spend any money on your carpet cleaning start up business is to research every competitor in the market place you want to serve.

Here's what you want to know:

• What is their market: Do they mainly compete on price with lots of coupons? Are their ads upscale with the focus on quality of their service or the benefits of using their carpet cleaning service? (There is a huge difference between quality and benefits).
• In what method of carpet cleaning do they specialize? Is it steam extraction, dry extraction or dry moisture cleaning?
• How is their service delivered: Is their service truck-based or do they use mobile carpet cleaning equipment?
• What are their services/pricing: Call them. Get their brochure. Visit their website.
• Do they have a website: Is it any good? When you type in the subject line the words, "carpet cleaning (your home town)" do they pop up? Is the site informative? How could you do your website better?

With this info you're now in a position to determine your marketplace niche.

Generally, there is more money to be made with upscale clientele than with doing business on mostly the price of your service.

How you determine how each of your competitors is positioning themselves--are they discount players or upscale--will help you select the proper niche for you.

How to Choose the Right Equipment

The Carpet and Rug Institute recommends using the steam extraction method of carpet cleaning with such machines producing a minimum of 180 degree temperature at the end of the hose with the cleaning tool.

In recent years the equipment used in carpet cleaning services has gotten more efficient, environmentally friendly, more technically advanced and lower in price.

The carpet cleaning industry seems to be shifting away from the trucked-based hot water extraction method and the dry extraction method to what is called "dry moisture or dry steam cleaning."

Moderately costing and the most effective dry steam cleaning machines are now mobile. They can fit in a small van and taken to the job. They may be rolled up steps and plug into a 110 volt outlet.

For an excellent mobile dry steam carpet-cleaning machine, its cost will be around $4,000 or so. Don't be afraid to seek out a used one. Cleaning nozzles and cleaning supplies will run approximately another $500 TO $750.

Another option is leasing. It's less up front money. Generally, after the leasing period (usually 4 years) the equipment is yours.

How do dry steam machines work?

Superheated at around 375 degrees, they convert water into 96% steam vapor, which is very efficient and very dry.

For example, 8 ounces of water will last nearly 8 minutes as superheated dry steam vapor.

And because of the dry heat, cleaning is very, very thorough.

Multiple manufactures make dry steam cleaning machines.

They all essentially say theirs is the best.

The best way for you to match your carpet cleaning start up business needs to the right machine is to log on and participate in a carpet cleaning forum .

I am wishing you all the best in your efforts. I thank you for visiting Carpet Cleaning Start Up Business.

Helpful Professional Resources

Carpet and Rug Institute

Low Moisture Carpet Cleaning Association

Additional Small Business Ideas