Carpet Cleaning Business

Carpet cleaning is one of the most popular home businesses today. As the name suggests, your job description is to shampoo and clean carpets for homes and businesses  using special equipment. You can initially focus on cleaning homes or apartments, and then grow to service commercial establishments such as office spaces, restaurants and retail stores that could offer bigger contracts and higher percentage of repeat business.

Opening a carpet cleaning business is a great way to earn money as your own boss. You can start as low as $1,000 if you initially lease your cleaning equipment and already own a vehicle. To reduce cost, purchase industrial-grade cleaning supplies at wholesale prices.  Researching shampoo machines and other equipment can be done easily on the Internet.

As with any small business, you will need to research licenses for your area for your carpet cleaning business. Check state and local governments to make sure you will not need permits or licenses. Some areas require that companies who do interior work be bonded as well. Make sure you have all of your legal requirements met when you start your business.

Now you will need to choose which type of carpet cleaning services you are going to offer. Typically, households will not have their carpets cleaned more than three or four times a year, if that often. You will have to grow a large residential clientele list if this is the sole direction you wish to go. There are the retail and commercial businesses that require cleaning more frequently. The equipment needed to clean both residential and commercial locations are not much different and most carpet cleaning services will routinely take care of both types of clients.

Next is how much will you charge? Consider the number of trips you need to make, size of the carpet, your time and supplies in pricing your  services. You can charge your customers either a flat hourly rate or a room rate. Rates can range from $25 to $50 per hour. On the other hand, a room of 120 square feet can range from $18 to $30, at 15¢ to 25¢ /sq foot. Per room charges usually require a minimum number of rooms, typically three. You can charge additional fees for moving furniture.. Potential first year earnings for this business can reach $35,000, and breakeven can come one month to six months. To augment your income, you can also clean upholstery, cars and full houses.

There are various ways to reach your clients and market your business. Word-of-mouth is the fastest and most effective, although many carpet cleaners spread the word by placing classified ads in the local paper, distributing flyers and business cards. Advertising will be an expense worth spending some money on. 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 will not be initially very expensive.