Cleaners and restorers can learn a lot about how to run their operations from the legendary Walt Disney. After 55 years, Disney continues to be the most visited place in America. As with so many other things in life, it is focus on the little things that makes the difference …
Are you enjoying the lifestyle benefits of living in the countryside? GREAT! This small town carpet cleaner asks, “Can I build a ‘real business’ in a market base of only 30,000 people?” Steve shares how he did it …
College can be a wonderful gift and a great opportunity. OR it can be a four, five or six year party that wastes time and money. After reading a New York Times article Steve reflects on today’s cleaning workforce …
Chuck Violand sums up his recent posts comparing your carpet cleaning and/or restoration business to different types of sailing vessels with a few reminders for you, the captain of the boat. Chuck’s thoughts could mean the difference between a successful voyage or the disastrous “shipwreck” of your business …
Do you know where your employees are … right now?! Do you think you should know? Steve feels adding “Employee Accountability” to your company is essential. One way to gently “hold your employee’s feet to the fire” is to start tracking your vehicles with a GPS online service. Steve is asking for your “been there- done that” experiences …
We all love to point the finger at other people’s mistakes. Steve just re-discovered a doozy that put a real “dummy” in a wheel chair for life. Why? Because he refused to learn anything from a previous boneheaded blunder. And then we come back to you …
It has been well said, “The fish rots from the head down”. And so it is both with the captain of a ship and YOU heading up your cleaning business. As the owner or manager you should look deep within you BEFORE you transition into a larger business model. If you don’t, just like a ship captain that is “over his head” you may be putting innocent lives at risk! Listen to Chuck …
As carpet cleaning or restoration operation owners we love to bellyache about how “you can’t find good people anymore”! But as Chuck Violand explains, could it be that the fickle finger of guilt points more at us as small business owners and our abdication of our responsibilities as the skipper to develop our crew? Read on …
What do Rock & Roll, Toto, and Facebook have to do with your cleaning business? Value conscious customers!! Big Billy Yeadon advises carpet cleaners to keep an eye on their company image in this new economic climate. So how and what are you contributing to your community?
What type of employees do you want? Easy, you say, “The very best!” Not so fast here. Chuck Violand shares how the size of your company will determine the profile of the employee you want to go “sailing” with you on some very choppy cleaning business seas!
How do you sum up life in one paragraph? Does it even remotely involve your truck mount, pre-spray, cleaning solution or other cleaning equipment? We sure hope not! Brian Dyson of Coca Cola has done a very nice job of helping everyone (carpet cleaning and restoration professionals included) keep focused on the really important things in life …
A prospective Denver carpet cleaner has caught the “entrepreneurial cleaning bug” but his wife just isn’t excited about this new development. Steve timidly ventures into the “family counseling” field with some hard-learned wisdom from his own experience in cleaning up …
Do you like your job? Do your techs and office staff like their jobs? Do you know OR are you afraid to ask them? Insights to both their and your motivations can give some engaging and maybe even frightening answers …
You may be “just a carpet cleaner” but have you ever been accused of being “a blue-sky person”? Do you recall information better when it is explained in story form? Have you noticed that one of your child’s favorite sayings is “Mommy, read me a story?” If your head is nodding up and down, you are going to love this book.
SFS is all about the “Emotional Dynamics” of working in the “residential environment”. However, all these good feelings only go so far and eventually you have to get some work done! Make the most of your cleaning / restoration time with this idea.