How to Start a
Carpet Cleaning Business

Learn How to Start a Carpet Cleaning Business is a great way to earn money as your own boss. Carpet cleaning is a relatively simple business to start, with low overhead, and little experience required. Start up costs can be minimal, if you shop around. Additionally, there is a steady market for quality work.

Basic cleaning equipment to Start a Carpet Cleaning Business generally costs around $2,000. However, you can really control the amount you spend by knowing where to shop, and how to look for deals and compare prices. It also helps to decide if you intend on making cleaning upholstery one of your services, as well as if you will clean specialty carpets or rugs.

Just remember, that when you are looking for equipment, try to find items that have been ergonomically designed. This means that they were made with your body in mind. Avoid purchasing products that require constant bending as is the case with most manual carpet cleaning wands. Powerful machines that feature the latest in comfort and design are a must – your back will thank you!

Basic Cleaning Supplies to Start a Carpet Cleaning Business:

• Commercial vacuums (with attachments)
• Carpet extractor
• Carpet spotter with attachments (for cleaning stains and upholstery)
• Carpet Rake
• Floor buffers
• Chemicals:
• Deodorizers
• Shampoo
• Spotting agents
• Fabric protection
• Upholstery care chemicals
• Specialty cleaners (IE for oriental rugs, etc)

Your customers want quality cleaning, and the research for the best products and machines will definately pay off in repeat customers and word of mouth advertising. There are even machines that you can mount to your truck or van which are much more powerful than the portable machines.

As you learn to start a carpet cleaning business, you will find that there are different clients you can offer your services to. The best thing to do is to offer your services to as many clients as you can.

There are basically two consumer target markets. The first is household carpet cleaning. If you choose to offer your services for houses, keep in mind that most household will only have their carpets cleaned twice a year. Therefore, you will need to grow a large customer base if you intend on earning a profit from your carpet cleaning business.

The second is commercial businesses carpet cleaning. These places require their carpets to be cleaned more frequently. Both household carpets and business carpets require similar cleaning products, so you don’t have to worry about purchasing two types of equipment to get the job done.

If and when you chooose to Start a Carpet Cleaning Business, remember to check out your local zoning and city hall for any business license/s you may need. You don't want your neighbors calling city hall because you got in an argument with them and having the city shut you down. Sometimes you can get what is called a "varience".

Your city can actually zone just your property for a specific business, or if they are being generous, for any type of business. This is the kind of zoning change I got from my city. It took a trip to city hall for a meeting and a vote, and around $400. So now my home business is safe from being shut down. You never know when somebody might have a grudge against you and call the city. Be safe, it doesn't cost much in time or money.

You might find that you need to bonded when you start a carpet cleaning business, as you will be entering homes. Check with city hall or the state about any other licenses or bonding requirements. You might want to give you lawyer a call just to be on the safe side. Your lawyer should be able to give you this information quickly and at little or no cost.

When you Start a Carpet Cleaning Business you will need to consider what services you are going to offer. You might want to stick with just cleaning carpets, or expand into wall, furniture, and/or blind cleaning. It will probably depend on how large your city or town is. The smaller the city, the more services you should offer. This way you will have enought business to be profitable. You don't want to offer just carpet cleaning if there isn't enough demand in your locality to be profitable. Unless of course, you only want some part time income.

Most residential area customers will only want their carpets cleaned three or four times a year. Some maybe only once a year. This too will determine what services you will offer. If you are good at getting clients, then you probably want to expand into retail and commercial businesses. The equipment and supplies would be the same as for residents, but the cleaning would be much more frequent.

Advertising will be an expense worth spending some money on. Word of mouth can be counted on locally, but if you want to cover a wider area than your own neighborhood, you will need to invest in some advertising. Yellow pages business prints and local billboards will be a great place to start. Both of these options will let you be known to a great many people and should not be expensive.

When your first start a Carpet Cleaning Business a good place to pick up a few clients quickly would be going to local businesses and talking with the manager. Remember not to undersell yourself. Always dress professionally on these occasions and conduct yourself in a professional manner. Most managers are continually looking for ways to decrease their expenss and if your services are less expensive than someone else's, you may indeed get the job.

While researching the web for supplies and equipment, do a little research on Internet advertising too. More and more people are looking local services and businesses up on the internet and it is beneficial to be listed in local directories.

There are also the yellow pages online, which is a useful resource to be listed in as well. Or you may want to go all out and have a website online. Websites are not that hard to put up if you start out with the right company. For less than a dollar a day this website is up and running without any formal website building knowledge. If you want to check out the website building package used on this website, check out Sitebuildit.

One thing to remember when you start a Carpet Cleaning Business is that is isn't a glamorous one. However, if you don't mind the dirt, you will see a career full of fulfillment. Rooms will literally be transformed just by cleaning the rug. That fact itself is a selling point for you to start a Carpet Cleaning Business and becoming a self-employed carpet cleaner.