how to start cleaning business

What pitfalls are there in buying a carpet cleaning business?

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One wanna-be entrepreneur asks Steve what to watch out for in buying a carpet cleaning business. Steve’s answers may surprise and shock you. If so, they may be just the wake up call you need to successfully sell your company in the future …

10 Questions Every Cleaning and Restoration Business Should Ask!

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Check out these 10 questions that just may keep you from joining the 80% of start-up businesses that fail within their first decade. Then share with your fellow board members other vital questions that have kept you safe, sane and profitable …

Steve’s “Bleeding Hearts” Advice Column Directory

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Steve Toburen answers pleas for help from carpet cleaners, mold remediation and fire and water damage restoration professionals. If you are starting a carpet cleaning business or an experienced small business person you will surely find practical advice here.

Should carpet cleaners advertise in the “services section”?

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Hey Steve,

Do you recommend advertising in the “services section” of the classified in a town’s main local paper? If so, what sort of response can I expect? What can I put in 3 lines that would draw attention to my company?

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Does your business suffer from “Boiling Frog Syndrome”?

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Chuck Violand reflects on the sad fact that most small enterprises are not destroyed by fierce competition or outside forces such as a sour economy. No, the rot comes from within. Read on for an orientation on this insidious danger …

Too high? Too low? HELP!

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A new carpet cleaner is getting whip-sawed from both sides. Steve tries to bring a bit of sanity and balance to the eternal question, “How much should I charge?”

“So how long is it going to take?”

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Steve waxes nostalgic when asked about his “success time-line” and then shares a few bone-headed mistakes he made over the years so you can avoid them!

Can I make it in this market?

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I’m thinking of starting a small carpet cleaning business in an area of about 80,000 people,….and about 50 carpet cleaning companies! So,starting out part-time (at about 10hours a week) is it worth the risk of my limited start-up capital?