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AAHH! I was going to ask about those at the seminar, but forgot. I don’t want to spend any money on inferior products. Has anyone spoke with corporate on this yet?
For the most part I do not move heavier pieces of furniture as well. I do use “sliders” to slide sofas around etc. They work great…
Sight seeing alone can take up days of your time without costing a thing. It is pretty neat to just go through the different casinos and see all the different themes.
Keep in mind that with few exceptions, eating out in Vegas can be real expensive…
🙂I am in Greenville, SC and those prices would be high for here so I am not sure how that would affect your area.
What type of feedback have you been receiving over the past year or two concerning prices?
I am pretty sure it is from the buffer pattern. They claim that there were never any streaks in the past. I will try the vacuum to see if that will help.
Thanks
Cody,
For those who wanted to bring spouses to only the dinner, is that possible without paying $120 for the whole thing? I know some spouses work the business while others do not and they may not want to sit through two days of carpet cleaning stuff…
Dan 🙂
Wow Joe, that is an awesome life story! Glad things are really going well for you. I think we are very luck to be part of this company. I have spoken with other franchise owners (non-heaven’s best) and I feel gratefull for what we have compared to some of the other franchises out there.
I have been in business for 7 months now and I have switched to the new logos, etc. and love them. I feel that if I am going to grow this biz, I will do whatever it takes. I trust our ownership and the state owners and feel that as a whole they are looking out for our best interest. Fortunatelly, I had funds set aside expecting the unexpected this year. But, remember, everyone has 18 months to change over as well.
The great thing is that this forum is excellent for debate, concerns, questioning, and input. I enjoy reading the different points of views and I have personally learned a lot from this forum. I have concerns now and then as well and have seen those same concerns pop up in this forum, and after some good input and responses, things usually get cleared up.
I think it is great that we have the forum to question and have some healthy debates. It will only make us stronger in the long run… 😀
I use the yellow pages and ask around myself. I did a quarter page ad in a neighboring city that came out about three months ago and so far I have been getting 3-4 times gross back a month as what it cost me to run the ad. I have a slightly larger size ad that just came out a week ago in the phone book of my main area. Time will tell if that will be worth it.
I have been using Arm&Hammer detergent lately. It is less expensive, but I have been getting just as good results from it…
Jeff, I thought the same thing at first as well. Interesting propaganda.
The funny thing is that I actually spoke with a gentleman a few months ago that use to work at MOHAWK Carpet manufacture and he was an analyst for them. He analyzed damaged carpets for cause, etc. for their claims department.
The first thing he asked me once he found out I was a carpet cleaner was what method I used. He stated that traditional “steam cleaning” was the worst thing for carpets. He told me that the method that we use is the preffered method and that he highly recommends the “low-moisture” method that we use.
He even went to one of our local Chamber of Commerces (one that he is a member of) and told them that if any calls come in for recommendations on carpet cleaning, they should recommend us because we are doing it right.
Now, with that being said, I do believe that most manufacturers will state that “HWE is their preffered method. But, this particualr individual (one who analyzed carpet fibers) believed otherwise…
Dan
🙂
Gary,
I have been in business for six months now and I know my first 1-2 months were slow. But, then things started picking up a bit. I have used Money Mailer and Clipper Magazine for Direct Mail and both have been pretty good. But, the best thing that I have done for my business has been PROACTIVE NETWORKING.
I joined the Chamber, BNI, COMMERCE Club, etc. I attended every before hours, after hours functions as possible, especially the first few months. Did not have immediate business from that, but it did start to build with time and then the referrals started happening as well. BNI (which we have a good group of about 25 here) has really been good. Not a lot early on, but once I built up some relationships, things started clicking.
I am still not in the main phone book here. It comes out this month. Hopefully that will help even more.
My best advice would be to network, network, network as much as possible. And, not just join, but be pro-active in meeting key people and other business owners. Work on building relationships with them, become friends and the business will eventually come.
The key to networking is not to do a quick introduction of yourself and hand out a business card, but to focus on getting to know a few folks very well at each function adn then stay in touch with them at future functions. You almost need to have a battle plan prior to attending the function: Are there key folks there that you would like to meet? Is there anything that you could offer that would be of value to them? etc., etc. Remember the first contact is not to overwhelm them with your business, but to plant the seed for a future relationship. Then, whenever they hear of a need or have one themselves, you will be the first one they think of.
It is tough early on, but try to remember that every action you take today, and every relationship you establish early on will have an impact on your business six months from now, a year from now, and so on.
Feel free to call me anytime, I would be glad to swap start up stories with you since I am still relatively new… (864)201-1307
Dan 🙂
