Skip to content

Author: David

Published on

Over the past 30 plus years of running a carpet cleaning business, I've had a one, two and a three truck operation. I've had a workshop with an office and I've also had just a home office. And I've ventured into fire and flood restoration for a number of years as well as concentrating solely on cleaning carpets and upholstery.

It seems to me that success is often measured by how many trucks you have. Or how large the business is.

Now, that I'm once again an owner operator working from a home office, I've come to realize that residential carpet cleaning is a great opportunity for a good lifestyle. There are so many benefits in this industry to remaining small.

In no particular order, here they are:

Far, Far Less Stress
Ask any business owner their number one headache and it will usually involve employees that need parenting! That seems to be particularly the case with carpet and upholstery cleaning.

Good employees are hard to find but it’s harder to find employees who know how to deal with people and can present themselves to high-end homeowners. After all, we work in peoples’ bedrooms! Customers have to feel very comfortable with whoever is going to do that and really need to trust them.

Each job is unique. There are probably dozens of different decisions to be made on each job. Employees don’t care as much as you do. My last employee moved a table with a very expensive Tiffany lamp balancing on one end…and it fell off!

The employee thinks about your cost of replacement – you think about what the customer will tell others about you!

I've once booked in an old customer who hasn't used us for a number of years. He responded because I sent him an irresistible offer. He finally told me that he kept hesitating to use us again because the last time the carpets were cleaned the skirting boards had been damaged with the wand. Yet, he’d never mentioned it on the Report Card. People don’t like to complain…they just go somewhere else!

And then, you don’t have to worry about terminating employment and being taken to an Industrial Tribunal.

I've had staff try to take me to a tribunal. (fortunately I took advantage of the National Carpet Cleaners Association (NCCA) free legal helpline) and I've known a colleague who sacked an employee for theft only to have to pay him compensation for “not following correct procedure”

Loyal Happier Customers
Who would you prefer to perform a service in your home? The owner, or one of his employees? Customers prefer to have YOU and quality minded consumers will pay a premium to have the owner. And, unlike a large firm, they know who will turn up to do the work.

A while ago I had a new driveway on the front of my house. The owner of the business brought a new member of staff to do some of the ‘grunt’ work of cutting the bricks for the edging while he presumably managed another job. He’s now been back twice to replace many of the bricks that the ‘employee’ fitted. Am I happy? Yes. Would I use him again? Not unless he’s doing the work himself.

Low Expenses
No office required, no employee liability insurance, no Employers National Insurance Contributions (currently 13.8%!), no sick pay, no holiday pay (currently 5.6 weeks!), no P60’s to prepare at year end, no spare equipment needed in case of breakdown, no losing money and paying staff at the same time when it does etc etc.

There’s also considerable savings on training staff perhaps to have them leave after a month (as I have) or to start their own cleaning business (as I have).

And here’s one of the myths of a larger business. That if there’s “sufficient Gross, there must be some Nett around here somewhere.” Big numbers do not always translate into more take-home pay for the owner.

Yet it’s just the opposite for an owner operator: low investment cost, low overhead and high profit margin!

Published on

I’ve always welcomed complaints. It’s an opportunity for my customers to see how good my complaints department is.

I’ve recently been on the other side of the equation. My van needed some bodywork repaired and a few areas of paintwork ‘touched up’. I took it to a specialist who was recommended to me. When I picked the van up three days later, I was frankly shocked by what I saw. There were at least three runs of paint on the bodywork, one of them about eighteen inches long. Also he’d sprayed over rust on a wheel arch. And there was paint on the trim.

The workshop was closed when I collected the van on a Friday evening so he’d left the key in a hidden place for me. It gave me the weekend to reflect on the quality of the work. I began to realize how we Brits hate to complain and the effect that the thought of complaining has on a customer. I lay awake at night wondering how he would respond...

Would I have to argue with him? Would he try to justify his bad work? At one time I thought “should I just pay him and never use him again”? And I realized that our customers must sometimes go through the same thing when they have concerns about our cleaning.

There’s a wonderful scene in the British comedy Fawlty Towers where two elderly ladies are complaining about the food but when the owner Basil Fawlty asks how things are they pretend everything’s fine. Instead they say to each other that they “will just not come back here again”. And that’s the worst situation for your carpet cleaning business.

So what will help in this situation?

A strong GUARANTEE actively promoted in advance. People need to trust you before they will commit to using you to clean their carpets. And of course, all buying decisions are based on emotion. Prospects need to FEEL that they can trust you to look after their best interests. People perk up and pay attention to a guarantee so it’s an excellent selling tool not just a statement of company policy.

You should never underestimate the power of a guarantee. Tom Monaghan of Domino’s Pizza built his fortune-building USP on one: "...delivery in 30 minutes or less...GUARANTEED!"

If you cannot strongly and fairly guarantee your carpet cleaning, you ought to find other work to do.

For you to get real benefit from having a guarantee, you need to use it as a marketing tool. If you don’t advertise your guarantee, you have the liability of one without the benefit. (because you would always put something right anyway, wouldn’t you?).

And it matters how guarantees are worded. “Satisfaction guaranteed” is OK but you can make it sound much more exciting than that…and you should!

How about a 100% No-Risk Iron-Clad Money Back Guarantee? And then explain exactly what that means…that they have no fear of complaining!

Why not add a multiple guarantee, say a 30 day Spot Removal Guarantee?

Or a Seven Day Spillage Guarantee? That if they have a spillage in the next seven days, you will return and spot clean it free of charge?

And why not preface all that by saying “I’m very serious about my guarantees.” And mean it.

All of these things put the prospects mind at rest. After all, you do want to correct any problems don’t you? It’s an opportunity for your customers to see how good your complaints department is. But tell them in advance with a strong guarantee.

Once you've cheerfully corrected any concerns, you will likely have a customer for life.

Published on

I’ve recently had a couple of experiences that demonstrate some good marketing lessons. In fact, I think they’re essential for a successful carpet cleaning business to grasp.

The first involves a recent job in a nice area in the next town to where I live. All the homeowners are reasonably ‘high-end’ with large detached houses. I had cleaned the carpets for this lady some years ago. As I entered her living room, I asked how long the carpet had been down. I assumed that she had changed the carpet fairly recently as it looked immaculate. To my astonishment it was the same carpet we had cleaned years earlier. But it’s what she said next that surprised me the most.

“Do you think it will clean?”

Isn’t that interesting? My perception was that it looked as though it didn’t require cleaning. Her perception was that it may be beyond cleaning. I thought to myself “How can I get more clients like her?”

Contrast that with a man I visited for a quotation a few years ago. After telling me on the phone that the carpet was not really dirty or stained, I made a home visit. His living room carpet looked at though it had been left outside all night in the rain! Needless to say it was beyond cleaning. But it was his perception of the state of his carpet that irritated me. And that’s often the case with the bottom end of the market for carpet cleaning.

The lesson: Your target market is very important. You cannot really serve two ends of the market with the same business. It’s much better to focus on high-end clients. They have the money to pay for quality... in fact, demand it. And their carpets are often much easier to clean.

And there’s another benefit: I've recently lost a regular carpet cleaning contract for some commercial premises. I've been cleaning the carpets for over five years. I managed to clean the carpets when a national franchise was unable to get them clean. I cleaned extra areas at no extra charge and came out to remove stains at no charge on occasion.

I was then informed by phone that our contract was ending. The reason? Their office cleaners were now branching into carpet cleaning and they wanted to give them a chance. No negotiation. It was a done deal. This rarely happens with high-end clients. If you do high quality work and look after their best interests, they are just glad they've found you and will use you again and again.

By the way, the lady above paid just under five hundred pounds for work that took just over three hours. The carpets were so easy to clean. She has just written to me saying that she is delighted with our service and will happily refer us to others.

Now,… “How can I get more clients like her?”

Published on

All salesmen are problem solvers.

People don’t buy products or services for the sake of it – they want a specific problem solved. Your customers don’t buy carpet cleaning because they want to watch you clean for entertainment. They want to remove the embarrassment they feel when friends visit and notice the stains on their carpets. Or they want to feel pride in their homes. Or make their carpets safer for their grandchildren.

Your objective is to ask "How can you help this person get what she wants through the use of your service?"

It’s always good to have a structure sales approach, as though everything is choreographed. Nothing happens by chance, just like actors on stage. This includes educating them as to what is possible.

There are two old adages when it comes to selling:

  1. The more you tell, the more you sell
  2. The more you teach, the more you’ll reach

Let’s deal with the Point 2 and consider an important method of educating our customers...using illustrations.

Why are illustrations so powerful?

It’s because they cause people to think about a subject, perhaps in a way that they've not before. Also they make it easier to remember the point. And at times they can powerfully overcome a preconceived idea that may simply be wrong.

For example, how often do homeowners say to you that they have put off cleaning their carpets because they have heard that they get dirty very quickly afterwards? It’s a persistent idea that stems from shampooing methods of over 40 years ago! Yet with modern cleaning solutions and correct methods, this is no longer a problem.

So instead of saying that rapid re-soiling is no longer a problem these days, why not illustrate the difference between shampooing and extraction cleaning?

“Imagine washing your hair but not rinsing. What would you look like after a few weeks?” is far more powerful. “So modern rinsing techniques eliminate this problem.”

How about the need to vacuum a carpet before wet cleaning (which our competitors don’t do)? You could tell them that about 79% of soil in a carpet is ‘dry’ and will vacuum out. Or you could say “Imagine having flour on your hands and then wetting them. You’re left with a sticky mess. That’s why it’s far more effective to remove dry soil first”

And why do you agitate traffic lane cleaners? Well, you could explain all about the TACT pie chart (temperature, agitation, chemical, time). Or you could say “you know how when you have very dirty plates in the washing up bowl, it’s far more effective to use a brush or scourer. Otherwise the dirt is still there”

Extraction cleaning versus bonnet methods?... “Imagine having a shower versus just using a flannel to wash”

And so on.

It’s easy to see that a good illustration makes the point far more powerfully than a simple statement of fact, especially if we’re able to paint a vivid mental image.

Published on

Recently while visiting my father-in-law, he informed me that a sales visit from a double glazing salesman was imminent. My initial reaction was "there goes our evening together." In fact, he seemed to know it as well. He was resigned to sitting down together for a couple of hours while the salesman pressured him, cut the price in half and offered him a further reduction if he "signed up tonight"

Have you ever wondered if that's how home-owners asking us for a quotation think about us?

The fact is that people like to buy. They just hate to be "sold".

The result is that people "tune out" sales messages. That's why they fast forward TV adverts, in fact any hint of a manipulative sales message.

And that's why they take the advice of their brother-in-law about carpet cleaning, a subject he knows nothing about. It's just that they trust that he's not going to pressure them to buy something!

It's often been said that people do business with those they KNOW, LIKE and TRUST. It's this aspect of trust that is so important today.

So is there a way that you can acquire business without repelling prospects with your "sales message?" And is there a way to help yourself if you feel uncomfortable viewing yourself as a "salesman"?

The simple answer is to have a SERVICE attitude rather than a SALES approach. Old school says to "Promote, Promote, Promote." But if no-one's listening because they feel like a sales victim, what's the point?

What people want is an expert resource, an advisor to help them do what's in their own best interests. We sometimes have prospects phone us from outside the area we cover for cleaning. As soon as they realise that we do not want them as a customer, their whole attitude changes. Usually we will give free advice to help them choose a reputable cleaner. .Now that they KNOW we are not trying to "sell" them, they trust what we say. Make no mistake, people fear being "sold"

The question you should ask is...What can you do to build trust, not just make the sale?

There are a number of things. You can demonstrate your expertise first. In this way prospects can in effect "sample" you without buying.

Instead of reserving your expertise for only those who have paid you give it freely to all who ask. Give more service upfront. Educate your prospects about how they can remove their stains, or make their carpets look better for longer. If they're thinking of buying a new carpet, offer to give free advice that will help them make the best choice. Do all this WITHOUT selling.

All of this means you'll naturally be in contact more with prospects WITHOUT the fear of selling. Selling is all about "you hire me". Serving is all about your prospects even if they never hire you.

In fact, you now have multiple reasons to contacts your prospects without being perceived as a pest who is only trying to "make the sale". So you don't have to phone to ask if they've had "time to consider your offer" or if they've "made their minds up yet". That in itself builds trust. And trust leads to sales.

You are simply "serving." And people like being served. They will view you as a trusted advisor and reward you with their business.

Published on

I’ve just started reading for the second or third time Robert Cialdini’s famous book “Influence, Science and Practice”.

He opens by talking about a friend who had an Indian jewellery store.  She was having trouble selling some turquoise jewellery despite it being good quality and there being plenty of customers in the store. She had even moved the jewellery to a prime location in the store.

Finally, before leaving on an out-of –town trip, she left written instructions to her staff to sell it all at “price X ½ “. In other words, “half-price”.

When she returned after a business trip she was therefore not surprised to see that all the items of jewellery had been sold.  She was surprised though, to discover that because the employee had read the ½ as a 2, the entire allotment had been sold at twice the original price!

At first it seems incredible that INCREASING the price actually increased sales.  It seems to run counter to basic economics. However if you look at the psychology behind it, it follows our natural inclination to believe that “you get what you pay for”.  In this case her customers, mostly affluent holiday makers with little knowledge of turquoise, were using a standard principle to guide their buying decision, i.e. “expensive = good quality”.

Thus the holiday makers, who wanted “good quality” jewellery, saw the turquoise pieces as more valuable and desirable when they were twice the price.  The price alone indicated quality, and a dramatic increase in price led to a dramatic increase in sales.

We usually believe that lower prices will mean more sales.  A few years ago, one of my former employees started his own carpet cleaning business. I’ll never forget what a common friend told me when we met – “Now you’ll have to lower your prices”. Yet as far as I know, he’s still cleaning carpets..and we’re still at least double his prices!

Of course, people don’t buy on price alone (usually)…they buy value. Otherwise there would be no Mercedes, BMW’s and Audis on the road. And we’d all be wearing the cheapest clothes. Certainly NOT designer label.

However, getting a Ford or Vauxhall and slapping a premium price on it is not enough. You can put lipstick on a pig…it’s still a pig!

So if you want to get higher prices…give greater value! And that can include PERCEIVED greater value. Provide exceptional customer service, send a newsletter that positions, informs and educates, send thank you cards. Even send gifts occasionally. Ask yourself…  “Do I look like a Mercedes business or just a Vauxhall business”

I have a friend who many years ago had written on his business card: “I have no quibble with those who charge less. They obviously know what their work is worth.”

Indeed if you are not losing at least SOME of your business based on price – you are too cheap!

Better to seek out high-quality seekers, charge a higher price and use the extra profit to deliver exceptional value.

Published on

Did you know that 20% of your carpeting is likely to get 80% of the wear? If you did, you’re probably familiar with what’s commonly known as the Pareto Principle.

It’s named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who in 1897 found a consistent mathematical relationship between the proportion of people living in England and the amount of income or wealth this group enjoyed. He found that 20% of the population enjoyed 80% of the wealth!

This principle has since been expanded to this:

The minority of causes, inputs or effort usually lead to a majority of results, outputs or rewards.

In other words, 80% of what you achieve comes from 20% of the time spent. And 20% of customers produce 80% of the revenue; 80% of what we accomplish comes from 20% of our time and so on.

The reason it’s so valuable is that it’s counterintuitive. It’s not what we expect.

It’s strange how business seems to be governed my unwritten rules. I’ve recently discovered one of my own.

I’ve recently checked my database of unconverted leads for the past few months. That is, prospects who have asked for an in-home quotation but have not gone ahead. It’s brought up an unusual principle that I’ve called ‘The Principle of the Inverse Appointment Time’

I discovered that in the last few months I have only eight in-home quotes that have not turned into jobs. Of those eight, I noticed a similarity that I’ve turned into this rule:

“The more impatient they are to get a quote, the least intention they have of getting the job done.”

Of those eight quotes, SIX told me there were in a hurry to have the work done and I needed to provide a quote as soon as possible. In nearly all of these cases, I changed my schedule to provide a quote quickly. Once in the home, it seemed that the urgency had dissipated.

Now, we always qualify our prospects. In fact we try to DISQUALIFY them to be absolutely sure that we are not wasting our time with people who don’t want our level of service or can’t afford it. And yet six have fallen through the net! (Interestingly that’s 75% - almost following the 80/20 rule).

There’s always going to be time wasted with prospects that will not go ahead. So how can this be kept to a minimum? Well, now I follow the rule: “The more impatient they are to get a quote the least intention they have of getting the job done.”

I only want to visit homeowners who are pre-interested, pre-qualified, pre-educated and pre-disposed to using me. If they’re NOT, I spend time to make sure they are…before I visit.

If they want me to quote in a hurry, I direct them to my website and ask them to come back to me if they are (pre)interested (and now pre-educated). This also is counterintuitive. They expect me to drop everything and come round immediately. Do I lose a few? Probably. But I sure save a lot of time in relation to the inconvenience and frustration caused.

Probably around 80%.

 

Published on

The beauty of direct response marketing is that it produces a result. Your campaign is either profitable or it’s not. You know exactly whether a mailshot or advert has worked.

But do you test? That is, test one advert with a different headline or offer against another.

Just recently I decided to run an unusual test with an offer to my existing clients.

A while ago, I sent an offer to 750 of my newsletter subscribers. The offer was that there was going to be a price increase but if they booked now (even if the job was a few months ahead), they could benefit from the current price.

I had quite a number of responses.

Now, what if I sent a different offer to some of those who hadn't responded? Well, surely they had all seen the offer of the price increase and those that wanted carpets cleaning took advantage?

Just two weeks later I sent a different (inferior) offer on a postcard to just 49 of those that hadn't responded. The result? A further FOUR jobs booked in with a total value of £784.30 at the new increased price.  And all this for a total outlay of under £30!  That’s a return on investment of over 25 to 1.

Imagine that. Customers who have already received a better offer just two weeks earlier paid MORE money to have their carpets cleaned.

Did I think it would work? Not really. But I'm glad that I tested it.

Published on

I recently needed a new tyre for my car. As it was only the spare, I decided to save some money and buy a part-worn tyre. After all, I may never use it. I wanted a Michelin preferably as they last longer. They cost around £90 but only £21 for part-worn which would do the job.

Here’s my phone conversation with the local part-worn tyre dealer:

Me: “Have you got a part worn 205/55/16?”

Him: “Oh yeah, loads of them”

Me; “Have you got something decent, like a Michelin?”

Him: “Dunno mate. Can’t really look” (sounding disinterested)

Me: “OK. So is it best that I come up?”

Him: “Yeah” (sounding like he’s busy with something else)

I decide to go to the dealer immediately. I enter the workshop. Plenty of staff ignore me. Finally a man approaches and asks “Are you being seen to?” He tells someone to see to me.

A man approaches with his mobile phone in hand and walks past me. I ask him if it was him he was talking to? Apparently it was.

I ask him if he has a part worn tyre preferably a good make like a Michelin. He asks the boss who says while walking away “Dunno mate… we’ve got loads up there but haven’t had a chance to sort them yet? You need to come back later”

I ask him what he’s got that’s decent? He replies “I think there’s a couple of Goodyears up there.” We walk to the back of the workshop. “There’s one here and here. But these haven’t been tested yet so you can’t have one”

I ask him what he has actually got. He walks through a mound of dirty tyres to find THREE tyres my size. I ask him what they’re like. “Well, you’d be better coming back later” he replies.

With that I walk out.

I return two days later as I was in the area. I walk into the workshop to find the staff all seemingly busy. The same man comes out towards me and…walks right past without even a look. Doesn’t even say “I’ll be with you in a minute.” I decide that I’ve had enough and leave.

Now why can they get away with an attitude and service like this?

Because of the business they are in… the CHEAPEST PRICE COMMODITY business! After all, a Michelin is a Michelin is a Michelin! And they are the cheapest, because they are selling part-worn tyres. If I want one at this price, there’s nowhere else to go. I have to stand in line and accept it.

Now… do you imagine that in our industry customers are treated any differently? There are people who have to tolerate the same kind of service because all they want to spend is £20 cleaning their front room carpet. And have you heard of the ‘half-price’ cleaners actually NOT turning up at all! Usually giving the customer an excuse that their van has broken down, when really they couldn’t get enough jobs in the area to make it viable. That’s what people have to put up with when they want the cheapest price.

But there are plenty of people who will not accept this and will gladly pay for a higher standard of service.

That’s why you don’t want to be in the price business or the commodity business. As it happens, I was not a prospect for new tyres in this category. I only wanted a part worn tyre for around £20 as a spare. If I wanted the ‘cheapest price commodity’ I had to put up with poor service. But if I wanted the ‘quality and service’ of a new Michelin tyre, I wouldn’t have stood for all of this. And I’m pretty sure that the company would be out of business very quickly.

The lesson for us: The worst thing you could do is to try to compete on price with a business like this. You simply don’t have to. It’s sometimes very difficult for carpet cleaners to realise that there are customers you don’t want.

There are different markets in our industry. Just like Kia, Ford and Mercedes buyers. They have different values, wants and priorities. There are people who want to pay £20 for a room and are prepared to put up with service like the above because they only want to pay £20. But there are also many people who want high quality and are prepared to pay for it. And would not tolerate bad service, no matter how cheap it is.

Target these and you don’t need to worry about half price carpet cleaners.

Published on

In the amped-up war of commerce and 75-cent pizza on 6th Avenue in Midtown, a perilous moment is approaching. Circumstances suggest that ravenous New Yorkers might soon witness 50-cent pizza, 25-cent pizza or yes, free pizza.

So began an article in the New York Times of 30th March in 2012.

But what has this got to do with carpet cleaners? Well, there’s a very important lesson about pricing here. One that transfers very nicely to our business.

Apparently a price war had developed between competing pizza parlours in New York. A year earlier, pizza was selling for $1.50 a slice at 6th Avenue Pizza. Then a Joey Pepperoni’s Pizza opened nearby offering pizza for $1. So 6th Avenue Pizza dropped its price to $1 too.

All was good until October, when a third player entered the drama.

A 2 Bros. Pizza, part of an enlarging New York chain of 11 shops that sell slices for a dollar, opened virtually next door to 6th Avenue Pizza.

Price stability at a dollar persisted until mid March when both 2 Bros. and 6th Avenue Pizza began selling pizza for the eye-catching price of 75 cents a slice!

The primary owner of 6th Avenue Pizza is Ramanlal Patel 68, who also has a few businesses in Atlanta and holds property in India. His nephew, Bravin Patel 45, oversees the establishment. He and his manager, Mohid Kumar 49, were there the other day complaining about 75-cent pizza. They said that 2 Bros. was trying to drive them out of business, that 2 Bros. unprovoked, slashed the price to 75 cents forcing them to follow and that the property in India had to be sold to keep the place going. “We’re angry,” Bravin Patel said. Mr. Kumar said he was contemplating checking with a lawyer to see if there might be a city law that somehow prohibits a business from selling pizza at outlandishly cheap prices.

At the St. Marks Place office of 2 Bros., its owners, the Halali brothers Eli, 29, and Oren, 27, say they had simply matched the price of 6th Avenue Pizza at 75 cents, and that’s where everything sits. “We don’t sell pizza at 75 cents,” Eli Halali said. “But if they think they’re going to sit next to us and sell at 75 cents, they've got another think coming.”

It appears that 6th Avenue Pizza lowered their prices first. But why?

“He was taking away our customers,” Mr. Kumar said. “How were we going to pay our rent?”

For his part, Eli Halali made it clear that 75 cents was a temporary price point. He said he could not make money at that level and eventually would return to $1. He said that if 6th Avenue Pizza went back to $1 he would as well.

If it didn't he said, it had better watch out.

His father, Joshua Halali, who acts as a consultant to 2 Bros. said, “I suggested to my children to go to 50 cents.” Oren Halali said, “We might go to free pizza soon.”

Eli Halali said: “We have enough power to wait them out. They’re not going to make a fool of us.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Patel remains intransigent. “We’re going lower.”

“We may go to 50 cents,” Mr. Kumar said. Of his next-door rival, he said: “I want to hit him. I want to beat him.”

As for Joey Pepperoni’s, Met Zade, one of the owners, said: “I can tell you we’re absolutely not dropping our price. For $1 a slice, you can still make a profit. For $1, an owner can still sit down and eat. At 75 cents, you’d be a mouse on a wheel.”

While the pizza parlours insult one another, the eating public couldn't be happier.

What are the clear lessons for us as carpet cleaners?

Many, many carpet cleaners think that customers are only concerned about price. And that the only way to win business is to be the cheapest. In the long term, the lowest price seldom wins. There’s always someone who will come in cheaper.

Look at some of the comments above:

  • “For $1 a slice, you can still make a profit. At 75 cents, you’d be a mouse on a wheel.”
  • “I suggested to … go to 50 cents.” “We might go to free pizza soon.”
  • “He was taking away our customers.”
  • “the property in India had to be sold to keep the place going”

Isn't that the situation with so many carpet cleaners? …slowly going broke but not realizing it. Business is all about margins and profit. No profit = no business!

The solution? Find and keep customers who are not concerned with only the cheapest price! Seek out high-quality seekers, maintain a relationship with them…and charge a premium price for extraordinary service.