Well I’m facing a big decision in my life.  I’m the oldest in my family and my parents are close to 80 years old.  So I see the need coming up to be closer to them for care-giving, etc.  They are located in rural Missouri and the town where they live has about 3000 people who live there. If I continue to clean carpets I’d have to service a wide area.  I’m right now in suburban Chicago with the luxury of over a million people easily accessible.  Do you feel I can survive running a rural carpet cleaning business?

Undecided in Naperville

Not to get off subject, Undecided, but what will happen to your current business/family in Chicago if you focus on this anticipated care-giving mission?  It is commendable to take care of your parents.  You will always treasure the time and care you shower on them. I know I did with my “Dad time”.

BUT does this family care and support have to include you “upending” your entire life/family/business career moving?  What about your wife/kids? Should they be yanked out of their life? I’m just saying to think “outside of the box” here.  I find that often the children of an aging couple are too eager to “pull the trigger” on care-giving when in fact a few minor adjustments may let your parents soldier on for years on their own.  (Which is probably what they want to do anyway!)

Also if you have brothers and sisters and you are facing a care giving situation it is imperative that you call a family conference and right from the git-go make clear that while as the oldest you are happy to “coordinate” the care you are NOT going to do all of it. It needs to be viewed as a shared venture from the very start. Been there- done that!

Now finally to your original question re: “surviving as a rural carpet cleaner”. A lot depends on the commercial and business base in the area. Our total population was right at 30,000 people in a very isolated area. So I have had a LOT of experience in surviving in a small market.  Of course, our county was in a major tourist/ski area.  This meant that there was more business plus it was a four season resort town.

In fact, we not only “survived”- we prospered!  By aggressively targeting both the commercial and restoration sides AND providing Value Added service to our residential clients we grossed over 1.3 million yearly with a very nice net profit!

BUT I sometimes reflect what we would have made in a large market base IF we had poured the same work and attention into it. Can you be successful in a small market? Sure. But it IS more work and with a much smaller margin for error. Or you may need to dramatically scale back your lifestyle and expectations. (Which is not a necessarily bad thing!)

Actually your question on “prospering in a small market” makes me think I should start working on a Special Report!  Stay tuned and meanwhile keep dipping into the resources we already have for you here!

Best wishes!

Steve Toburen

I know that a lot of us have been picking your brain lately about commercial work and I find that most of your responses really resonate with me. Is there anything that you can point me to in the way of a compensation package for a commercial sales rep.  I have taken on the challenge of creating this type of position and I am not comfortable paying for someone to work without producing results.  I have haphazardly started this position by agreeing to a salary with a draw.

It didn’t take long to start seeing some real caveats that I need to work out. Such as:

1. Compensation: I want to support him while he works to get this division of the company off the ground but I want to move towards full commission.

2. Information: Technology makes it easy to store client info on a phone. I want him to have the info at his finger tips but protect my investment in obtaining this info. Whats the best way to secure the info. Non-compete contracts are difficult to enforce at best.

Thanks in advance

Trying to Improve in Topeka

You are smart to be thinking about this stuff now, Trying.  (Actually BEFORE you started the arrangement would have been better but let’s move forward!)

First, just a general observation re: outside salespeople in the commercial carpet cleaning field.  The vast majority of these arrangements are a complete and total DISASTER!  Why?  Let me count the ways along with a few ideas on how to avoid the problems:

The average cleaning industry outside sales person quickly becomes a “Loose Cannon” in three ways:

1. Wasting your time and money. Especially if you have him or her on a regular draw salespeople will often start inventing “busy work” (I call this stuff  “Displacement Activities”) that is much more comfortable than facing the daily rejection of “cold calls”.

SOLUTION: Hold your salespeople feet to the fire by adding accountability every day.  Set a reasonable goal on how many new documented contacts you expect them to make every week. (Hint:  During your initial meeting setting up this arrangement get the new salesperson to come up with their own goal. Usually this goal will be absurdly high so right away you generously lop off 10 to 20 percent and you will look like a generous hero.)  Hold people to this goal with a brief daily meeting.  But actually abusing your generosity with a regular draw is the least of your sales person challenges.  A MUCH bigger problem is  …

2. Screwing up potentially good accounts through a generally bumbling approach.

SOLUTION: Insist on follow up.  Have a “route book” where your sales person has to log in each contact with every prospect AND what their next step is going to be PLUS when they are going to do it.  Then review these jobs by flipping through the route book on at least a weekly basis.

NOTE: I suggest a 10 minute early morning meeting as in “So whatcha got PLANNED for today?” and then an every Friday “Let’s sit down and analyze things” meeting. So now your sales person will have these daily and weekly “deadline meetings” hanging over them.  So maybe they’ll get out there and PUSH instead of whiling away the afternoon shooting pool and drinking beer.  (Actually that sounds pretty good!)

3. Under pricing jobs. The sales person’s temptation is to price each bid so low that you automatically get the contract.  So of course their gross sales look great. BUT meanwhile you may be losing money on every job!  This is bad enough on a one-time job but horrible if you are locked in to a long term contract.

SOLUTION: Tie their commission to the profitability of the job.  (Of course, this means you will have to actually know if you are making a PROFIT or not but that is for another article!)

NOTE: Given all three very real problems above I’m going to stick to my guns and say for 95% of the carpet cleaning business owners out there (up to let’s say 20 employees or so) your “highest and best use” is being your own outside salesperson!  If you do then make your time count by following my “How to Sell Commercial Work” Special Report. I’ll also mention if you want to clean up in commercial you really need to add encapsulation cleaning.

Now Trying, your second question appears at first glance to be about technology.  (Bad news.  I’m not a “techy” person!  Sorry!)  However, my guess is you are more concerned about security and especially what to do if the salesperson walks on you.  (Or worse gets hired by your competitor or goes into business for themselves.)

Now the conventional wisdom on non-compete contracts is that they are unenforceable.  That is normally true in low level positions like technicians.  But when you are sharing privileged, confidential information with an employee a judge tends to view this much more seriously.  Consult an attorney on this.

But an even better way to protect yourself is to have a close, trusting relationship with your commercial accounts along with running an efficient operation that lets you give low prices and still make a profit.  That way IF your past salesperson starts soliciting your accounts your client will a) be offended at the lack of loyalty by your ex-employee and b) will be comforted by the new company not being to substantially under-cut your pricing.

And of course the third way to prevent employee defections is to both a) hire good people and b) treat them so well they would be crazy to leave.  (I know this is harder to do than say!)

Now I know what you are thinking, Trying.  This sounds like a lot of work!  I agree!  In fact, doing it right with a sales person is actually MORE work than the owner just scheduling my suggested Dedicated Sales Morning once per week and just doing it themselves.

The temptation, Trying, is to just hire a warm body and sit back with a contented sigh now that someone else instead of you can suffer the abuse and rejection of the commercial market place.  BIG MISTAKE! Once again, in hiring outside sales people I urge you to either do it right or do it yourself!

Steve

PS: Another comment re: Goal Directed Behavior.  Right now you should be analyzing WHY you are hiring a sales person and WHERE you want them to focus their efforts.  For example, do you want long term, regular commercial contracts?  (Who doesn’t!)  Then pay a bonus when a PROFITABLE long term contract is landed.

HINT:  Pay the bonus out monthly over the first year which both protects you if the account leaves plus motivates the sales person to stay with you to keep getting paid! (Be sure to run this arrangement by your local attorney.)

Firstly I would like to say thank you for all the great resources on your SFS site! I have just started my carpet cleaning journey and this information is very helpful!

I was wondering if you would be able to answer a question. I have been struggling to work out how much to charge.  (“Per square metre” is what is used here in the UK.) Is there a formula to work this out?

Once again thank you and Happy New Year from London!

Thank you, Happy, for the kind words.  It makes us feel great to help new folks entering the business.  (Even if you are “across the pond” where Jon-Don probably isn’t going to sell you much stuff!)  And don’t forget we have a special “Just Starting Out?” section if you are new to the industry.

Of course no matter how many years someone has in business the eternal question   is: “How much should I charge?”  And of course the easy answer is, “As much as you can!”

After all, I tell every SFS class:  “There is no virtue in poverty”! and my favorite saying, “All things being equal- it is better to have money than not have money!”  But I digress …

Happy, here are a few philosophical thoughts on pricing.  I’m hopeful we can get Chuck Violand (our resident expert in pricing) to chime in later this Spring on how to set prices and maybe even share some worksheets with us.  Sooo …

1. Know your true cost of doing business- Most cleaners don’t have a clue.  That is why a general price for a country (or even a city) is totally meaningless.  There is no “Magic Number” since every cleaner has different marketing costs. (Or they can use the free marketing Bill Yeadon writes about in his Hub Marketing Special Report!) Each company also has different fixed costs such as equipment leases or loans.  But simply put you must come up with a monthly total of every single cost you face.
2. Know your production rate- Once again, most cleaners don’t have a clue!  How can you assign a “price per metre” when you don’t know how long it will take you to process it?  (For help on this check out our Production/Pricing Analysis Log. Don’t worry- the download is free!) Religiously fill this Production Log out (even for your residential jobs) over a period of several months and you will learn exactly how many square meters you can clean per hour in any given scenario.  Then …
3. Pull the numbers together- Listen closely here, Happy.  Pricing is just a function of costs you must pay (including yourself!) and time plus quantity.  Sooo…
4. Calculate your True Cost of Doing Business (TCDB)- As in add up all your overhead/replacement fund for equipment/desired profit and include extra for “Murphy’s Law” because bad things happen to good carpet cleaners!   Now you have a rough monthly Gross Income Amount you should produce.  (If you include ALL your costs and charges you will be amazed at how high it is.)
5. Calculate how much you will work- Figure reasonably how many days/ hours per month (HPM) you can clean. Err on the low side here and allow for time off with the family, equipment breakdowns, slow work times, etc.
6. Divide and conquer- OK, down in the trenches time!
   1. Here’s the formula:  Take your monthly TCDB and divide by your HPM which in turn gives you your all-important Income Per Hour (IPH).  This is your “nut” as in how much gross income you must generate per hour of work.  NOTE:  It is good to also generate your “nut” per day and per week and TRACK IT.  I love surprises but being “surprised” at the end of the month by not having the money to make a lease payment it never fun!
   2. So now you know your “nut” per day and per hour. (If nothing else this will add the all-important “sense of urgency” to your daily routine.)  Now for “how much to charge” …
7. This is the easy part- When pricing any job (especially commercial) just calculate A) how long it will take you (refer to your Production Log for an accurate estimate) and then B) multiply your time required to do the job by your IPH and then C) divide the square meters by this amount which in turn will D) give you your cost per square metre!

Now you have a simple formula that lets you feel in control of pricing any single job.  Of course, just being on top of your pricing will not make the phone ring, Happy!  To do that you will need to get the word out but that is the subject for a different post!

Best wishes and let me know how you are doing!

Steve

PS  Happy, I assume they have heard about something called “encapsulation cleaning” in the United Kingdom?  If so, I would urge you to check out Jeff Cutshall’s Special Reports on how to build Commercial Maintenance Routes using part time employees in their own vehicles.

I have a one truck company with zero employees and I am very proud of it.  I don’t want (or even need) to do 5 or more jobs a day.  And I don’t want to work more than 5 days a week. (I’ve got three little boys under the age of ten in the house!)

I have been thinking of attending SFS but don’t see how it would apply to my situation. I just don’t want to “get big” with all the headaches that come attached. I just want to make enough to be comfortable, take care of my family and introduce them to the joys of travel!  So what would SFS do for me in this situation?

Florida Cleaner/ Family Man

Dear Florida,

First, Florida, congratulation on having defined your priorities AND for sticking to your guns.  I see far too many cleaners sort of limping through life, unsure of where they want to go OR how they are going to get there!  And yes, I agree that family always trumps business!

BUT last time I checked, growing families like to eat/ buy clothes/ have a roof over their head and even maybe go to college down the road.  All this takes money and a lot of it coming in consistently.  And while I know you are violently “anti-rich” as an owner-operator you are in a precarious position with all these pending obligations.

No matter what your personal definition of success is- at SFS we teach concepts  that will set you apart from virtually all other cleaners.  Implementing this approach will make a big difference in how your customer perceives the value you provide AND therefore let you charge more!  (Charging more is a good thing!)

My favorite SFS concept is that of the “Cheerleader Customer”. SFS teaches you the true lifetime value of a lifetime Customer Cheerleader.  (Hint:  It is well into five figures!)  We also teach HOW to Make the Cheerleader and give you a written, systematic infrastructure to developing these delighted clients.  The result?  A perpetual stream of repeat and new referral business with virtually ZERO money invested in marketing!

Frankly, Florida, the “Make the Cheerleader” philosophy is ideal for the owner operator.  It allows you to drastically decrease advertising expenditures thus putting more money in your pocket.  (You will also be able to free more time up for travel!)

But wait- there’s more!  Setting yourself apart allows you to charge more as well.  Why?  Because Cheerleaders are delighted to pay you “more than the going rate”.  Plus people referred by Cheerleader also expect to pay a premium price- so let them!

So Florida, even if you have NO intention of growing larger, SFS will help you do a better job, have much better customer relations, and create a much, much better and enjoyable work experience for you and your customers.

If after attending SFS you choose to stay small that is great.  In fact, quite a few of our SFS graduates make a conscious decision to stay small.  They use what they learned at SFS to dramatically raise their prices and take-home profit.  Works for me!

Steve Toburen

PS If you do decide to stay small it is even more important that you learn how to deliver Value Added Service so you can command premium prices to fund that comfy retirement!

I am a new commercial rep for one of your SFS member companies. My boss has attended SFS and during a meeting he said to get your opinion of what you think about the below letter to go to commercial clients. Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter.

Rarin’ to Go in Kansas City

Here’s the letter.  (I’m very proud of it.)

I would like to welcome you to the world of “Problem Free” floor care. Here at Triple A Cleaning we want our clients to be truly successful. To aid you in your success we have put together a “Problem Free” floor maintenance program.

This involves a personalized evaluation of your needs, a custom construction of your worry free program, and pre-scheduled appointments. This is so you don’t have to worry about the “who and when” of getting your floors maintained. All you have is the comfort of knowing that you no longer need to be concerned about how the floors look, or what kind of germs are hanging out in your carpets.

I would like to invite you to go to our website to read over what others have had to say about the service they have received, and how you and your business would benefit from your “problem free” relationship with Triple A.

Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter, and we look forward to the opportunity to serve you and your business.

Sincerely

Triple A Cleaning

Hi Rarin’,

Tell your boss I said hi.  I’ve attached a modified version of your letter.  I can see you put a lot of work into it.  Sorry to rain on your parade BUT …

Remember that people are super busy right now and their attention span is almost zero.  So ya gotta get to the point and especially so with unsolicited mailings.

NOTE:  I highly recommend a 30 year old book that is more pertinent than ever- “On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Non-Fiction” by William Zinsser.  It is like 9 bucks at Amazon.

For example, Rarin’, my version below is 192 words versus your 198.  More to the point, I jump in first with their “point of pain” and how you can help them.  (With prospects it is all about them- people are selfish!)

Test this letter by mailing to a good commercial list and then be sure to call them.  I’ll be interested in your response. (Expect LOTS of rejection and “So who are you with again?” replies!)

One hint we used in our business was to focus on one market sector at a time.  So we would sell one week only to restaurants, then the next week to real estate offices, then doctor’s offices, etc.  We found we “got in the groove” that way.

Let me know how these ideas work for you and be sure to use our SFS Commercial Carpet Analysis form to help structure that first important consultation.

Steve Toburen

PS  Numerous surveys have found the information in your “PS” sticks with customers more than any other part of your letter.  So be sure to put an important sales point in the PS.  In my example below I point the prospect toward my “review page” on my website plus offer to demo their worst area- FREE!

Here’s my edited letter and don’t forget to download my free Special Report on “How to Sell Commercial Carpet Cleaning”.

Are you tired of constant floor maintenance headaches at ____________?  Unreliable help, constant scheduling problems  and dirty, dingy floors?  Even worse, YOU get the blame!  Ouch!

Make your cleaning challenges go away forever with Triple A’s “Problem Free” floor maintenance program.  With “Problem Free” you receive a free “Commercial Carpet Analysis” of your traffic/soiling issues along with professional solutions.  (This in depth analysis will be valuable whether you use our services or not!)

We’ll also develop a customized proposal including economical pre-scheduled appointments. Now you won’t have to worry about the “who and when” of floor cleaning!

I’ll give you a call next week to schedule your personal Commercial Carpet Analysis. Or of course you can call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx or email me at xxx@xxxxx.com  (I reply to emails within the hour- guaranteed!)

Sincerely,

 

PS  Read what our commercial clients say about Triple A’s “Problem Free” Floor Maintenance Program HERE.  (Insert link to your “customer review” page.)  Keeping the floors beautiful at ______________ will not be our first rodeo!  In fact, you pick your worst area and we’ll clean it for free- we love to strut our stuff!

My partner and I have a question.  We’re just starting out and trying to decide on our staffing.  When you ran your business did you send your employees on the truck solo or in a 2 person crew?  If 2 people on a truck, was it always that way or just depending on the schedule and size of the job?  Thanks for any help you can give us and we are thinking about attending Strategies for Success some day!

Starting Out in Tampa

Thanks for writing in, Starting. You are smart to be “starting with the end in mind” as in thinking about your business model/logistics. This is not to say you will not have to make the inevitable mid-course corrections in your business. You will. But it is good to be thinking about what you (and your partner) want. NOTE:  Speaking of “beginning with the end in mind” it is essential that you and your partner have a signed, legal “buy-sell” agreement before you start your company.  Or even better you really should analyze if you would be better off as a “lone wolf”! Most partnerships eventually crash and burn!  Sorry to rain on your parade!

But I digress!  So- one or two people on a crew?  Simple- it all depends!  For example, we would typically do a “mix-or-match”.  At the time I sold my company we usually ran three trucks full time with one more as a backup.  (Four total vans.)  So we usually would schedule two two-person crews per day and one single person truck. The tech working alone would run small rental clean-ups and spotting and “Stay Beautiful” open area six-month cleanings. It is tough to have definite rules but this arrangement seemed to strike a good balance.

I will say if the drive-time doesn’t kill you, two techs on a truck have many advantages in A) avoiding employee burn-out, B) more time to sell-up and C) better production. Plus a big bonus is a better perception of security for the (usually female) customer by not being alone with a solo stranger in her home.

Steve Toburen

PS: We almost always ran two people on commercial work. Between the intense physical work, the lonely and late night hours and some very real security issues I strongly recommend two techs on commercial jobs.  (Even with two people don’t forget to have a completed Job Profile for every single regular contract account you have.  After all, who knows when both of your techs might go AWOL at the same time!)

PPS: If you are a new business and want to “do it right” from the git-go, you (and your partner if you are sure you decide to continue together) should come to SFS BEFORE starting your business. For example, Jon Fields attended Strategies for Success before he ever even touched a scrub wand. Did it help? Let’s let Jon tell his own story.

Thanks to attending SFS (and implementing Value Added Service) my business has exploded over the last two years.  But now I’m hitting the wall with keeping our vans repaired and stocked.  My techs are exhausted when they come in and just want to go home.  So they refill their main stuff like the emulsifier (sometimes!) and then sneak away. Meanwhile, ongoing mechanical problems and the little stuff like clean entrance mats and our FREE Spotter for Life bottles aren’t getting replaced.  Is there a checklist in the SFS manuals (or on the SFS website) that we can give to the technicians so they can check the truck and restock all the equipment, chemicals, etc?

All Worn Out in Portland

Dear Worn Out,

First, congratulations on your growth.  It makes your SFS team “proud as punch” to be a big part of your success.  But as you are learning, growth (and especially rapid growth) brings other issues- such as staying on top of truck maintenance and restocking.

When I was an owner-operator my truck was METICULOUS! After all, it was MINE!  And my future (and my family’s financial welfare) depended on it functioning well.  But then I hired employees and I learned that even the best employee- DIDN’T REALLY CARE!  Employees tend to have short horizons.  In fact, if you do find a worker that takes the long view they will ether become your manager OR your competition!

So the short answer is we do have a simple Daily Maintenance Checklist in the SFS Operations Manual.  However, it will need to be customized to your operation simply because each company is so very different.  You can download it by going to the SFS Members Only “Blue Door Access” area (look in the Equipment systems).

For our readers who aren’t SFS members (and if you aren’t you really should be!) here’s some items to include in a checklist:

Cleaning of van and equipment:

• Wash van (special attention to wheels, tires and ledge in front of truck mount.)
• Clean interior, throw away trash and especially clean front dash.  Wash windshield inside and out.
• Dump waste tank and clean filters.
• Add disinfectant/deodorizer to waste tank.
• Clean “Clear View” filter.
• Clean rotary extraction cleaning head (special attention to underneath cleaning of head). Also hook up to truck mount and turn on to check no tips are clogged.
• Clean and polish scrub wand.  Hook up and check spray pattern of tip.
• Check vac and solution hoses and clean if necessary.
• Wipe down truck mount and vacuum tank. (Special attention to instrument panel and other “customer visible” areas.)
• Wipe down pressure sprayers.
• Clean out spotting kit.

Restocking of all chemicals and supplies:

• Refill all chemicals.  (Check amount in inventory.  Need to re-order?)
• Check and refill spotter kit.
• Restock “block bin” and furniture tab holder.
• Restock entrance “walk off” mats (Large bath mats) and Free Lifetime spotter bottles. (Minimum of 10 each on each van.)

Truck and equipment maintenance:

• Check all fluids in van.  (Oil, water, battery, windshield fluid, air in tires.)
• Check truck mount fluid levels. (Oil, pump oil, etc.)
• Lubricate blower.
• Check all belt tensions.
• Lubricate rotary extraction tool.
• Oil pressure pump sprayers w/ super lube.

So work these points into a restocking checklist that your employees mark off and then turn in at the end of the day. Adding structure and  “Employee Accountability” to your company is always a good thing.

HOWEVER, Worn Out, here’s the problem with any checklist.  Very quickly your tired and demotivated techs will just zoom through things, check everything off “click-click-click” on the checklist and they are out of there.  I fought this too.  Then I got smart in my 3 ½ truck mount company.  (One van was a backup.)

The best idea I ever had on techs restocking trucks was … give up! Say what?? That’s right- I recognized I was fighting a losing battle. Once again, your techs are tired and want a cold beer when they come in – the very last thing they want to do is go through a boring check list.

So we had our techs pull any broken or damaged equipment off the truck and turn in their Production Day Sheet with the repairs needed written down (along with their checks for the day attached) and they were OFF the clock!  It was Miller Time!

Meanwhile, I hired a high school kid to come in around 7 PM or so to do general restocking and repairs.  I paid him better than he could get at McDonald’s to go through every van, restock them and clean them up perfect. (He also learned to do minor mechanical repairs such as rebuild cleaning wand valves and work on sprayers, etc.)  The kid loved the work instead of the techs resenting it and did a much better job.

Even better, the high school kid was working for a 1/3 of what I was paying my techs. With all the cleaning work we did, my employees were invariably pushed  into overtime so in effect they were restocking our vans at time and a half!

Seriously, Worn Out, think on this idea and let me know what you decide.

Steve Toburen

PS  “Big Billy” Yeadon reminded me that our good friend and SFS member John Mapes (of My Flooring Warranty fame) does the same thing with a separate “restocker” in his cleaning company and it works perfectly for him. The techs feel like NASCAR drivers because they get in their vans and go to work. When they are done they step out and go home.

I don’t want to hire a tech due to all the costs and pain in the backside in general. But I also want to expand my company into some new areas. An acquaintance has approached me with the desire to work part-time in precisely the areas I want to expand into. (Specifically late-night commercial cleaning.) Since I don’t want to have him as an employee, I was thinking about having him join me as a “minority partner” and then we split the profits. This seems like a simple way to achieve my business growth without taking on the cost/headache of an employee.  What are your thoughts?

Ready to grow in Boise

Good to hear from you Ready. And I applaud your desire to expand and diversify your company into commercial cleaning. It can provide a real boost in the slow season and positive cash flow year-round is always a good thing. I also “feel your pain” regarding the challenges hiring and managing employees involves. So what should you do?

Here is my straight talk on partnerships, regardless of how you structure it. For every “good” business partnership out there (Nick and John Paolella of Jon-Don have had a great one for over 30 years!) I see 1,000 disasters. So simply put DON’T DO IT!

You may feel that by making your “acquaintance” a partner you are avoiding the hassles of paying insurance, workman’s comp., etc.  However, by making him a “partner” you will also sacrifice a portion of ALL your equity including the exponential growth of your business over the following years.

Even worse, Ready, do you really want to introduce the risk of day-to-day disagreement over the direction and management the business takes? I gotta say after considering the true expense to you of taking on a partner paying taxes and insurance for an employee starts looking really cheap!

There are always better alternatives to taking on a partner.  Consider the following:

Most people go into a partnership because they are lacking one of three things- 1) money, 2) skills or 3) emotional support. (Or they may be lacking all three things in which case the logical question is, “Should they be going into this business in the first place?) Let’s examine each of these needs:

1) Lack of money- Never take on a partner to fund your business. After all, that is why God created banks! (Or wealthy and loving relatives!)  Borrow money and pay the interest on the loan. No matter how high the interest is, it will be infinitely less than splitting the pie in half when selling the company years down the road. Never give up equity and never give up control to save a few bucks in interest.

2)  Lack of skills- Never enter a partnership just to acquire skills. Either educate yourself (carpet cleaning is not exactly rocket science) or hire someone who does know what they are doing. Pay them very well for their knowledge. The high salary they will earn will be infinitely cheaper for you than giving up half of your company AND it’s future sales price.

3) Lack of emotional support- Of course, the initial appeal of a partnership is not just about money and work. The emotional attraction of a supportive partner, someone to back you up and share the load, is very tempting. However, there are alternative ways to find emotional and practical support that do not carry the legal and financial baggage of a partnership. Your attorney, CPA or banker often will happily buy into your dream and become more than just advisers. Develop relationships within local business networks, industry trade associations and yes, even with some of your quality competitors.

And of course, don’t overlook the “partner” you may already have, your spouse. Now there is someone who has a vested interest in your joint success!

Respectfully submitted,

Steve Toburen

PS  On the subject of “emotional support” don’t forget that your Jon-Don rep is always available. And everyone here on the SFS site is happy to be a “shoulder to cry on”.  Plus you might check out the different industry discussion forums where you will find other people just like you working away “down in the trenches”.

I discovered this SFS website last year and have become a daily visitor. It has been a huge help in how I do business.

I want to attend SFS but the daily parade of problems keeps me from investing the time and money to do so. However, I keep seeing references to becoming a “SFS member”. Can you tell me how I sign up for “membership”, how much it costs and then how much I have to pay per year to keep on getting the benefits of
SFS membership?

And thanks so much for this website!

Just Wondering in South Dakota

Dear Wondering,

Thank you so much for your daily support. We try to add in resources to this SFS site almost every day. I feel it really is a treasure trove of information. And yes, you honestly should attend our Strategies for Success seminar- whatever it takes!

Jon-Don really does subscribe to the old fashioned idea of getting down in the trenches and actually helping our customers become successful. That is why we call our entire customer support program “Partners for Success”. And that is why almost our entire SFS site is open and totally free to every cleaner. (And wanna-be cleaners too!)

Now if you want to download the free Special Reports and/or any of our Practical Paperwork forms you need to fill out a very simple, one-time-only site registration form. You will choose your own username and password plus type in your email and business zip code. Then choose the “Remember Me” box at log in and you will be logged in every time you come to this site.

NOTE:  Why do we ask for your business zip code? Because every Tuesday I send you our SFS QuickTIP- just one little idea to implement in your company. We include in this email a “resources box” alerting you to upcoming educational opportunities at your nearest Jon-Don store. But let me emphasize you will never be spammed from your QuickTIPS signup and we will only send you the one QuickTIPS weekly email- nothing more. (Check out our archive of QuickTIPS.)

Now to become (and stay) a full-fledged SFS “Member for Life” you will need to pay … (drum roll please!) NOTHING! That’s right- nothing! The ONLY way to become a SFS member is to invest five days of your life and attend Strategies for Success. (Which by the way you can attend for free!)

Once you attend SFS, Wondering, then you automatically become a SFS Member for Life and this privilege is free, free, free!  We don’t even require that you maintain any buying level with Jon-Don. (Even though Papa Nick Paollela says he sure appreciates any business you choose to send his way!)

At the SFS seminar you receive over 1,200 pages of systems and procedures of a Business Infrastructure to make our SFS concepts a reality in your business. Even better, you get all of these systems in digital format so you can customize this “business in a box” to fit your company.

But wait- there’s more!  As a SFS Member you also get MORE systems and procedures four times a year plus Big Billy Yeadon and I consult for free with all of our members. (Of course, just like you did Wondering, anyone can write my “Steve’s Bleeding Hearts Club” advice column and I’ll do my level best to help you for free!)

So in a nutshell, Wondering, you can’t “pay” to become a SFS member. You must “invest” five days of your life and attend a Strategies for Success seminar. And then you automatically become a SFS Member for Life for FREE and we’ll happily serve you forever! (By the way, here’s the 2012 SFS schedule.)

Meanwhile, many of our SFS concepts and even a lot of our systems and procedures are on this website and yep- you guessed it- they are all free. At Jon-Don we really do want to be your “Partner for Success”!

Steve Toburen

NOTE: I hate the “suck you in to a seminar with lots of glib promises and then make you pay-more-to-learn-more high pressure garbage” so common out there in this industry today. When you attend SFS you’ll find everything is included and everyone is treated like a king! There are no special clubs, levels or special privileges to pay for. I promise!

I took the SFS class in March of 2010 and really enjoyed it. I am now just getting around to starting my own commercial carpet cleaning business. My partner and I just purchased a Cimex and so we are looking to get started soon.  I have also read the Reports on “Setting Up Encapsulation Routes” from Jeff Cutshall. So my big question is where we should start?  Obviously we want to lock up some accounts and contracts. We were thinking movie theaters, restaurants and hotels.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Getting Started in Phoenix

Good to hear from you, Getting.  And you can’t go wrong with Jeff’s stuff.  He knows what he is doing.  I’d also recommend you download my Commercial Carpet Analysis Form. This will help you structure your initial sales call in the form of an interview.

Now re: starting out the biggest thing is to JUST DO IT.  My son calls this initial indecision “paralysis by analysis” and so it can be.  Some of my best accounts I got just by “stopping in on a whim”.

On the other hand, it is always better to have a PLAN. I recommend setting up a set time schedule where you will do face-to-face sales calls each week.  (Without a cast iron schedule the dreaded “Displacement Activities” come into play where you are seduced away from your real priorities with “busy work” that you enjoy more!)

Once you have determined your target markets (the movie theaters, restaurants and hotels you mention are all great for encapsulation!) you must formulate an attack.  Some will say to send an elaborate mail campaign to soften up your prospects.  The problem?  99% of these expensive pieces will immediately go into your prospect’s “round file”!

Since you are just starting out you don’t have the luxury of time on your side.  (Do ANY of us have “time on our side”?  Really?)  You need work right away from commercial work!  Here are a few ideas:

1) Reach out to janitorial services. Especially with a Cimex you can remove the headache of commercial carpet cleaning from them by taking the work over completely and yet in many cases they can still make 30 to 40% profit right off the top.  You may get rejected but IF you get in with a few large companies this is steady cash flow and that is what it is all about in the beginning.

2) Go for the locally owned and managed companies.  Find sympathetic ears among local businesses, some of whom you may already patronize.  Sure, you should have a Dedicated Sales Morning (more about this later) but I got many of my accounts by never leaving home without a pocketful of business cards.  I would hand these out everywhere.  You just never know!

3. Get the “Law of Large Numbers” on your side. Most carpet cleaners make five, ten or twenty sales calls and then give up.  OR they sell a few jobs and then give up because they are “busy”.  You on the other hand are going to set a goal of how many new sales contacts you make every week and then NEVER STOP!  In my Special Report on Selling Commercial Cleaning I suggest for an existing business making 20 new contacts a week.  You likely will need to set your sights higher.  Track your calls and don’t stop- ever.

4.  Practice your “pitch”. The first two minutes are the scariest.  So rehearse out loud what you are going to say.  Dress up, smile and look your prospect in the eye.  People need your services- you are there to help them.

5.  Embrace rejection. Getting rejected is just part of the process.  So thank people for their time, leave your card and move on to the next prospect you have mapped out.  (Be sure to always list out your sales calls ahead of time.  This way you won’t be tempted to get side-tracked!)

6. Never give just one price. I always gave the prospect options for several different contract cleaning schedules.  The money in this business is made from regular accounts, not the one time cleanings.

Best wishes and let me know how you are doing,

Steve Toburen