How To Turn Cleaning Cheap Area Rugs

How to Turn Cleaning Cheap Area Rugs
Into Your Own Personal
Goldmine
RugBadger.com
Get More Out Of Rugs
How To Turn Cleaning Cheap Area Rugs Into Your Own Personal Goldmine
COPYRIGHT 2009 Dusty Roberts & A.G. Janisch
The author, publisher and distributor of “How To Turn Cleaning Cheap Area Rugs Into Your Own Personal
Goldmine” have made every effort to provide the highest quality, most informative and helpful report possible.
The author, publisher and distributor make no representation of any kind with regard to the completeness and
accuracy of this report. They accept no liability of any kind for any losses or damages caused or alleged to be
caused, directly or indirectly, from using the information contained in this book.
2
How To Turn Cleaning Cheap Area Rugs
Into Your Own Personal Goldmine
Area rugs.
Just the mere mention of the word can send spikes of fear through the spine of
even the most seasoned carpet cleaner.
And for good reason.
Area rugs have a reputation for being a double edged sword.
On the one hand they are the most lucrative niche in the carpet cleaning industry.
On the other hand, if you ruin a rug, (like a rare and/or expensive one), you stand
to lose tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention jacked up insurance rates, a
bad reputation and lost clients.
Yet, this is a good thing – especially when it comes to your competitors.
Why would I say that?
Mainly because this double edge sword does a good job of keeping your average
carpet cleaner from competing in a market you can have for yourself.
Think of it this way.
Imagine every carpet in your town as one big pie. Now every carpet cleaner
around you is competing for a piece of that one big pie. That means the larger
slices your competition carve out for themselves, the smaller yours becomes.
But cleaning area rugs is like having a whole new pie and since most of your
competition won’t touch them, you don’t have to share it with anyone. And at $3$7 a square foot, this makes it one valuable pie worth pursuing.
Why There Is A Massive Market
Of Cheap Area Rugs To Mine
So the question you’re probably asking right now is, “Why would I want to clean
area rugs if the reasons they scare my competition are the same ones that stop me?”
Good question.
It all has to do with the secret side of area rugs few people know about.
Let me explain.
Over the last decade a huge trend has been developing in the housing and
renovation market: Hard Flooring.
3
With a staggering amount of inexpensive flooring choices available to consumers,
carpet is no longer taking center stage inside homes. All of the main living areas
are now either laminates, tiles, hardwoods or other material, while carpet is being
relegated to areas like bedrooms.
Now, even though all this hard flooring is beautiful to look at, it caused two major
problems:
1.
2.
They made rooms echo and sound hollow
They tended to make rooms lack warmth
So to counteract those issues, homeowners bought area rugs.
Here is where it gets interesting.
For most of the 20th century (and earlier), any area rug you found on the floors of
North American homes were most likely imported from regions like the Middle
East and Asia.
These rugs would be hand knotted, beautiful, ripe with history and ranging in
prices from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars.
However things have drastically changed during the past decade. Carpet mills
began watching their sales drop in sharp proportion to the rise in hard flooring.
This didn’t sit too well with them.
The only way they could recover some of their profits was to make the hard
flooring trend their friend and churn out thousands of cheap rugs they could
flood the market with.
Boy did they ever!
With thousands of different designs available and big stores like Home Depot,
Wal-Mart and Target distributing them, the carpet mills began to take over a huge
chunk of the area rug market once the dominion of imported rugs.
The Secret Side Of Cheap Area Rugs
No One Knows About
Cheap area rugs have several advantages over the traditional Oriental area rugs.
•
•
•
They’re more affordable.
They have interesting modern designs.
They appeal to a much larger and wider customer base.
But the most important aspect of cheap area rugs is a simple hidden truth very few
professional carpet or area rug cleaners realize:
“People will pay more money to get their rug cleaned than it is worth.”
4
It’s a simple truth I discovered by accident a lot of my colleagues just refuse to
believe.
A few years ago I started traveling to area rug cleaning plants all over the world. I
wanted to uncover and compile a list of every hidden method to make an area rug
cleaning business successful.
But something strange happened.
Every established area rug cleaning shop complained to me about the one thing I
discovered how to make big profits with.
What was it that really burned their fringes?
Cheap area rugs.
The kind of cheap area rugs that cost more to clean than to buy. The kind of cheap
area rugs big box stores unload by the thousands.
All these seasoned area rug cleaners have been stuck in their ways for so long
they’ve forgotten how to change with the rest of the world.
Most have no respect for all these new rugs flooding the market.
Many feel their talents are completely wasted on these manufactured rugs and
even feel it’s somewhat beneath them to clean.
Their Loss, Your Gain!
I fully understand their position. I also understand they’re completely missing the
boat.
There’s a saying which you probably already know: “If life hands you lemons, you
make lemonade.”
And if life hands you cheap rugs, you make profits!
So what’s become a pain in the butt for all the “old-timer” area rug cleaners is now
actually a gain for you.
How?
By understanding why people will pay more money to get their rug cleaned than
it is worth.
How A 35 Year Old Scrap 2’x3’ Shag Rug
Is Transformed Into A Priceless Artifact
Here’s a story about one of my customers that will help you understand why.
5
Early last year, before Christmas, I had a customer come into my rug care studio
called Luv-A-Rug. He dropped in front of me on my inspection floor what
looked to be a 35 year old 2’x3’ green 3” shag doormat.
Seeing it lying there filled my mind with questions. There had to be a logical
reason why someone would want to have a throwaway, ancient scrap of ugly shag
carpet cleaned, so I said, “I bet you have a good story about this rug!”
His face lit right up and he said, “Oh yes there is!”
“It belongs to my girlfriend. I made the mistake of almost throwing it away a
couple of months ago, but she stopped me cold in my tracks. She told to me
this was a remnant of a bedroom carpet from the home she grew up in. It was a
keepsake from her childhood. I thought it would make a great Christmas present
to have you clean it and fix it up.”
There was no way with a story like that I could say no, so I started to work on the
price.
In my rug cleaning studio I have a $20 minimum charge for rugs that are much
smaller than the standard sizes I usually get in.
He agreed to the $20 price and then asked if I could fix up the backing as
well since the old jute was starting to delaminate. Then to my surprise he also
requested to have me put new edges on it and while we were at it, some non-skid
pad and a protective finish.
The total for cleaning this seemingly worthless piece of rug?
$150. (If you divide the 6 square feet into $150 you would come to $25 square
foot.) This customer was totally fine with price and gave me the go ahead.
A few months later I saw this same customer again on a plane ride to Seattle. He
told me that his girlfriend LOVED that fact he fixed up her rug and they were
now engaged to be married.
The Secret Is In The Attachment
Not The Rug Itself
The important message to burn in your mind is to never, ever assume what is or is
not valuable when it comes to your client.
It really comes down to the classic case of one man’s trash is another man’s
treasure.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve visited rug cleaning facilities around the
world and watched how the people working there unwittingly insult their clients
when they bring in their cheap rugs.
The all made the fatal mistake of telling clients their rug is not worth cleaning
because it would cost more than it’s worth.
6
The looks on the clients face told said it all. Disappointment.
I recognized that look because of happened to me when I was a kid.
How To Use Disappointment
To Your Advantage
I was about 5 years old when my mom came home with the most beautiful Radio
Flyer wagon I had ever seen. It was painted a brilliant red and came with wood
stake sides.
My mom won it in a raffle and couldn’t wait to give it to me.
I can still remember how much I loved it, just like it was yesterday.
Well as you can imagine, being a little guy I was so proud to have that wagon in
tow behind me. I would load it up with all kinds of things like my toys or dirt and
rocks.
I would even go around my neighborhood with it doing my first enterprise,
collecting pop cans and bottles.
That red wagon and I were a team.
Well, one day the inevitable happened. My brother played with it and broke off
one of the wheels. I was devastated.
My mom, seeing how unhappy I was, took it to the local lawn mower repair shop.
Everyday I would ask her, “Is it fixed yet?” to which she would reply, “Not yet,
they will phone us when it’s ready.”
This seemed to go on for weeks and everyday I would beg my mother to phone
them. She finally did and they told her it was ready.
I was so excited!
Finally, I was going to get my most prized possession back. I couldn’t wait to pick
up my little red wagon!
I rode with my mom in the car to the shop and bounced out the door and into
the repair shop.
On seeing me and my mom coming in through the door the repair man went into
the back of the shop, found my wagon and carried it out.
He placed it on the floor in front of me... and I was in shock.
The wheel was NOT fixed. It was still in the bed of the wagon. The repair man
hadn’t even tried to repair it. He just blurted out, “It’s not worth fixing, get a new
one”
7
Needless to say, I never got over it.
And if you disappoint people in much the same way about their rugs, you’re
guaranteed to lose them as a client forever.
Instead, let all your competitors do the disappointing.
You’ll get to take advantage of their thoughtlessness and doing the exact opposite.
You’ll welcome them and their cheap rugs.
You see, the secret is in knowing that every rug has a personal story.
What you want to do is to get your client to tell you her story so you can do the
most important thing in the world for them: LISTEN.
By doing so, you are invoking a powerful Dale Carnegie Principle.
The Power Of Using Dale Carnegie’s
Principles
People love to talk about themselves but in today’s society it’s rare for them to find
anyone genuinely interested in listening to them.
If it wasn’t for the Dale Carnegie training I took, I would never have stumbled
upon the secret to making a fortune with cheap area rugs.
In case you haven’t heard of (or you’ve forgotten) the 9 Carnegie Principles here
they are:
1. Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain.
2. Give honest, sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.
4. Become genuinely interested in other people.
5. Smile.
6. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most
important sound in any language.
7. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
8. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
9. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.
At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much to these principles. However if
you look closely you’ll discover that you use all these principles every time you
sincerely ask your clients to tell you their story about their rug.
Don’t fool yourself, these principles are powerful and have totally transformed my
business.
Especially when it comes to cheap rugs.
8
You’ll discover, like I did, that by using these 9 principles you’ll be creating a
powerful rapport. Right in front of your eyes, your client will relax and begin
telling you wonderful stories about the rug. By being sincerely interested and
asking questions your client becomes emotionally attached to the rug once again.
The benefit to you is that they’ll love you for it and tend to up sell themselves.
Questions To Ask A Client About Their Rug
The key to getting a client to open up about their rug is to always find something
good to say about the rug. For example:
•
•
•
This is a really pretty rug.
This rug has really good strong construction.
This inexpensive rug is nearly bullet proof and will clean up beautifully.
One of the best questions to ask is, “Did a store recommend us?”
This will quickly help you to establish if you are a “recommended” and trusted rug
care expert and at the same time give you a good idea on the replacement cost of
the rug!
Or you could ask where they bought it (which also will give you an idea what it’s
worth).
If you notice obvious pet stains, ask about their pets.
One time a woman came in with an inexpensive area rug that stunk of urine. I
asked her about her pets and she told me about her old dog.
I said to her that I hope her dog is okay. That’s when she smiled in appreciation
and began telling me all about their adventures together and that this rug was her
dog’s favorite place to lay on. Her dog was 14 years old with a bladder problem
which explained why the rug smelled so bad.
She went on to say that she knew she would be better off replacing the rug
instead of cleaning it but until her dog passed on there wasn’t any point. It was
more important to her that her dog had his favorite place until he passed on. She
planned on getting a new rug after that.
The point is, engage the client and get them to tell you their story. By doing so,
you’ll be able to gauge the value their rug has to them. The more sentimental it
becomes, the more value it has.
And the more money they’re willing to spend on them to get them cleaned
regardless of what it’s actual worth.
9
Cheap Area Rugs Are More Than Floor
Coverings
Another fact about cheap rugs overlooked by most professional cleaners is the
“décor value”.
When an owner decorates their home, a lot of thought, time and energy goes into
picking out the perfect accessories.
This is especially true when it comes to area rugs. With all the different colors,
styles, and sizes available, finding that “perfect rug” can be quite a chore.
Or a home can be decorated entirely around a single area rug - like I found out
the hard way in this story:
A few years ago call I got a call about a rug from someone I’ve never done business
with before.
The fellow on the other end was telling me about this 4 month old rug he had
purchased from furniture store liquidation. Apparently it was stinking severely and
powder was coming off in piles all over the floor.
I immediately realized this rug was what I like to call, “a latex stinker” and told the
fellow that the rug was trash and he needed to throw it away!
He told me, “You can’t tell me that because you haven’t even seen my rug.”
I said, “I know my rugs and believe me its not fixable.”
He said, “Listen here sonny, I don’t care what you think over the phone, I know
this is a cheap rug, but I love it and I decorated my whole room around it. Just
come to my house and see for yourself if there is anything you can do.”
Reluctantly I agreed to take a look and since his place was on my way home, I
went after work.
Well, when I walked into the room I immediately understood why he was so
adamant that I not write the rug off.
He had decorated around it in an all-out way. The paint, the drapes and even the
furniture all picked up on the rugs color and design. On top of that, he had even
done one of those amazing faux ceramic fronts over his fireplace which also picked
up on the colors and design in the rug.
His room looked beautiful, but it stunk severely from the crappy adhesives gassing
out of the rug and there were even piles of powder on the rug.
I picked up a corner to confirm it was a latex stinker and sure enough it had a
cotton backing on it. At this point I could see this rug was very dear to him and
he told me that cost was not an option and to fix this rug.
10
I agreed to take it back to my studio and see what I could do.
To make a long story short, this particular rug had so much calcium carbide
(marble dust) mixed into the cheap adhesive that with a bit of scrubbing most of it
cleaned right off.
The next step was to remove about 95% of the latex off and then laminate a new
piece of backing onto the rug.
I had my binding subcontractor bind the sides and then after that I gave it a good
cleaning and applied a rug protector.
The entire bill came out to over $700 for a rug that he paid less then $300 for.
What happened next is typical when you value your clients.
This guy became a raving lunatic cheerleader for my company. He has referred us
so much business over the years now I can’t even keep track anymore.
The lesson I learned was to never tell a client they need a new rug. I now just give
them the facts and let them make the decision.
As I’ve said over and over again, many clients have cheap, ugly, permanently
stained, and worn rugs, but they still love them so much they’ll pay good money
to have them improved.
Spin-Off Benefits
From Cleaning Cheap Rugs
To me, all these cheap rugs flooding the market have had a powerful effect on my
business. I’ve been caring for fine Oriental area rugs for over a decade now but it’s
only because of the recent flood of cheap rugs that my business has boomed.
You may not know it but cheap rugs have an incredible Spin-off effect including:
1. Creating loyal cheerleading clients.
2. Clients test us with their crappy rugs first before bringing in their more valuable
ones to clean.
3. Many clients become more sophisticated in their rugs and start to buy more
valuable ones which they will bring to you to clean.
What To Do If A Client Asks You To Clean
One Of Their More Valuable Rugs
There’s a question that always comes up when I’m talking to carpet cleaners about
cleaning cheap area rugs. They want to know what to do if a client wants them to
clean one of their Oriental rugs.
It’s a valid concern but nothing you have to be worried about.
11
The solution is simple. Just subcontract it out and that way two important things
happen:
1. You make your client happy
2. You make money on a rug without actually cleaning it yourself
All it takes is for you to find a company that cleans area rugs in your area and
work out a wholesale deal with them. As a matter of fact, I have several carpet
cleaners in my town who bring me a steady supply rugs. They just drop them off
at my shop (Luv-A-Rug) for careful inspection and then wait for me to call them
up with a price.
It’s a great opportunity I highly recommend you pursue.
What To Say To Clients To Get Top Dollar
For Cleaning Their Cheap Area Rugs
Most cheap area rugs you come across today are constructed of the same synthetic
fibers carpets are made of.
That means you already have the experience to tell how well an area rug is going to
clean up – which is the first step.
1. Let the client know if the rug will clean up well or not.
2. If it’s not going to clean up well, you could suggest they consider replacing it.
This would depend, of course, on first discovering the value of the rug to the
client from the story they told you about it.
For example some clients have an elderly dog messing up a rug so they elect to
have it cleaned even though you have told them it won’t come up well. In this
case they just want the rug cleaned for sanitary reasons and not visual because
Fido is just going to mess the rug up again and they don’t want to invest in a
new rug till Fido is gone.
3. If the rug is not going to look fantastic the client must know on preinspection.
4. We will use these exact words. We can make your rug clean and sanitary;
however it will NOT be clean and beautiful. This stain etc. will still be visible
when we are done. When you get your rug back and this stain is still visible,
will you be happy? This is a very important question. If they can not answer
this question and say yes they will be happy, turn down the job.
5. If the cheapo rug is going to clean up well, both visually and sanitarily then
you tell them the good news.
“Your rug is going to clean up well and be soft, fluffy and fresh smelling again.
You will love your rug again…..HOWEVER... this is not an expensive rug.
If you don’t like this rug or it is just time for a decorating change I would
recommend replacement. Of course if you do like this rug and don’t want to
go through the hassle of searching around for another perfect rug again then I
recommend that you have us care for your rug”.
12
How To Quickly Identify
“Bullet Proof” Rugs
You may already have the expertise to identify bullet proof rugs with all the
training you’ve taken already. Now you just have to implement the knowledge in
this report to do what I’ve been doing for years – making huge profits on cheap
area rugs.
If however you don’t have the ability to identify these profitable rugs, it does
require some knowledge on area rugs and their construction. It’s a topic beyond
the scope of this report, but fortunately, the IICRC has put together a great
program to care of this very thing.
Called the Rug Cleaning Technician (RCT) Course, you’ll get everything you
need to successfully identify those bullet proof area rugs – fast!
But it does something else even more important.
The RCT program will give you an appreciation and all the basics of caring for
more expensive oriental type rugs. Why is that so important? Because that means
you can walk into a client’s home and speak to the owner with some authority
about their rugs. You’ll also be able to:
•
•
•
•
Ask a client about their “story” and build a solid rapport with them.
Look at a valuable rug and know how well it will clean up.
Get more rugs to subcontract the cleaning out with.
Have the opportunity to build your own rug cleaning studio in something as small
as a two car garage.
At only $349.00 (at the time of this writing), this two day RCT program is really
dirt cheap. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you can expect in the course:
Live demonstrations of . . .
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Pre-cleaning inspections
Colorfastness test
Dry soil removal procedures (dusting)
Fringe cleaning
Drying methods
Urine decontamination
Submersion cleaning (portable rug washing pit)
Surface cleaning
2-Day Course Outline
Introduction
Definition of Rugs, Rug History, Countries of Origin,
Current Trends, Liability and Insurance
13
Module 1 - Fibers, Yarns
Fibers: Natural Fibers, Protein Fibers, Cellulosic (Bast) Fibers,
Modified, Regenerated Cellulosics, Synthetic Fibers
Fiber Distortion and Performance, Fiber Identification (Burn, Chemical Tests)
Fiber Life Cycle, Yarns, Foundations, Backings, Dyeing
Module 2 - Rug Construction
Rug Types and Construction
Rug Designs and Styles, Rug Cushion (Pad, Underlayment)
Module 3 - Rug Soiling
Rug Soil Types, Rug Soil Summary
Module 4 - Cleaning Basics
Chemistry of Cleaning: The pH scale
Principles of Cleaning, Methods of Cleaning
Module 5 - Spotting, Special Treatments
Spots, Stains and Discolorations, Spotting Agent Summary, Color Removal
Agents, Special Purpose Chemicals, Urine Decontamination
Module 6 - Inspecting Rugs
Purpose of Inspections, Inspection Categories, Identification (Tagging) of Rugs
Specific Conditions to Inspect and Document
Color Fastness Test, Customer Briefings, Condition Report
Module 7 - Cleaning Procedures
On-location versus In-plant procedures
Specific Procedures: Orientals, Needlepoint, Braided Rugs, Flokatis, Designer
Rugs,Cellulosic Rugs, Hooked Rugs, Skins and Leather, Other Cleaning
Techniques, Fringe Cleaning, Blocking
Module 8 - Cleaning Challenges
Shading, Yellowing, Streaking, Bleeding/Dye Migration, Fungal/Insect Damage,
Browning, Delamination, Water Damage, Mold Contamination
Module 9 - Simple Rug Repair Basics
Module 10 - Finalizing
Finishing: Grooming, Protector Application,
Final Inspection, Wrapping, Storage, Delivery
Quite an amazing amount of information isn’t it? Believe me, by the time you’ve
finished this program you’ll have an easier time finding and cleaning cheap rugs.
14
The Cardinal Rule For Cleaning Area Rugs
When it comes to cleaning area rugs properly, there is only one Cardinal Rule I
follow: Rugs must be cleaned offsite and never in the client’s home.
There are two main reasons for this. The first one is risk of damage.
•
•
Damage to the home, i.e. getting hard surfaces wet, damaging finishes,
scratching floor
Damage to rug, i.e. not able to dry fast enough, color bleed, shrinkage,
delaminating and mildew
The other reason has to do with the quality of work you’re able to perform.
As a carpet cleaner, you have available to you the best equipment, training and
chemicals to clean a carpet more or less attached permanently to the floor. That
means you can only attack the dirt from one direction – from the topside down.
But because of the loose nature of area rugs, you have an opportunity to attack
the dirt using multiple techniques and multiple directions, thereby doing a much
better job.
If you clean an area rug in a client’s home exactly the same you would their carpet,
then there is no way you would be able to justify charging more per sq ft (and you
will never be able to realize the huge profits area rugs actually hold for you).
Other problems you will run into include:
•
•
•
•
•
A disappointing quality of work since you can not flip the rug upside down to
vibrate the dirt and grit out
Disappointing fringes - it’s not really possible to clean the fringes properly in the
client’s home
You can not do full odor control in a client’s home
You can not up sell effectively
Your client will NEVER respect you as a go-to rug care expert and trust you with
their good rugs.
On the whole, area rugs have a much higher perceived value than carpets do –
especially when you consider things like sentimental value or that a client spent
considerable time searching for the perfect rug to fit their décor.
So if you treat cleaning area rugs exactly like you do a carpet, then you’re doing
your client a disservice.
But more importantly, you’re doing your bank account an even bigger disservice.
There’s more to properly cleaning an area rug than using a “top-down” system like
steam extraction or a low moisture systems. Which is why area rugs command
much more money per square foot (and profit) than you can ever get cleaning
carpets.
15
Also, taking an area rug offsite for cleaning also creates more mystique. It gives the
client the impression that something special has to happen to get their area rug
clean and that translates to higher dollars for you.
How much higher? Well, on average you should be making $3-$7 a square foot
with area rugs – even cheap ones. To learn the exact strategies on I use everyday
to get up to $7 or more per sq ft, you’ll want to check out my free online DVD
preview located at: http://rugbadger.com/sqz/strategy-video.html
Your Secret Weapon For Cleaning Area
Rugs FAST!
Now, to clean an area rug thoroughly one important thing that has to happen first.
All the dry soil must be removed from the rug before you use any type of cleaning
system.
Why? Because it will make the final cleaning step with your cleaning system
lightning fast.
Think of it this way. If you can remove up to 99% of the dirt from a rug while it
still dry, what’s left to clean? Right, just the surface.
And removing dirt from an area rug while it’s still dry is exactly what a RugBadger
is designed to do.
Harnessing over 40,000 harmonic vibrations a minute, the RugBadger will vibrate
out even the most stubborn soil and sediments caught deep in the fibers of any
area rug.
The innovative design incorporates 50 high tech vibro-straps with a full 1 HP
motor guaranteed to drive dirt out of a rug no matter how impacted. The highly
focused vibrations put out by the RugBadger has been shown in many cases to be
even more effective than full size dusting machines.
The RugBadger is completely portable and can be used in any size facility, from
a garage to a full size rug cleaning facility. It doesn’t matter if you are a “one man”
operation or own a fleet of trucks, The RugBadger will make cleaning area rugs
not only quick but profitable too.
The RugBadger removes the dry heavy damaging soil & sediments from area rugs
better than any other machine or cleaning method available. This is why carpet
cleaners everywhere are saying the final step with their preferred cleaning system is
now faster, easier and much more efficient.
Visit http://rugbadger.com/rugbadger-videos.html to see all the videos of the
RugBadger up close and in action.
16
The RugBadger Six Second Challenge
To remove any doubt whatsoever as to whether or not a RugBadger is a necessary
piece of equipment to your arsenal, I have created what I call the RugBadger Six
Second Challenge.
Here’s how it works:
1.
Take any dirty area rug and clean it with whatever system you prefer
2.
After you’ve cleaned and dried it, turn the rug upside down on the floor
3.
Run a beater bar vacuum back and forth over one spot of the rug for 6
seconds
4.
Lift the rug up and look at the floor just below the area you vacuumed
5.
If you see any dirt on the floor that means you haven’t removed all the dirt
your clients are paying your to remove.
What’s really interesting about this six second challenge is how even rugs that are
cleaned by professional area rug cleaners will fail.
If they have not dusted the rug first using a RugBadger, dirt will always be left in
the rug. This even happens with rugs that undergo full immersion cleaning in a
wash pit.
The Huge Volume of Rug Cleaning
I Can Get Out Of A 2-Car Garage
In the 2nd half of 2008, the warehouse I operated Luv-A-Rug out of for over a
decade suffered a massive fire. It nearly put me out of business.
Luckily I found a way to continue operating - but something happened that
surprised me.
You see, while I started to look for a new warehouse facility to work from I
decided in the meantime to run my rug cleaning operation out of two car garage.
I fully expected to have to reduce the amount of work I was able to take on, but
that never happened.
And that’s what surprised me.
Even though I went from a couple of thousand sq ft down to around 400 sq ft,
the design of my 2-car garage rug cleaning studio was extremely efficient.
First of all, the advantage area rugs offer you is the fact you can clean them in a
“production line” fashion. It’s like what Howard Partridge says about his area rug
cleaning division:
17
“My company does about $350k per year in area rugs and it is our most
profitable department. The reason is that the prices are high, but the labor
is low. You see, when you can bring the rugs to your shop (or garage), you
can clean whenever you want. You can set up a “production” line so to speak,
therefore really maximizing your labor dollars.”
Since I can do a production line work flow, the volume of rugs I can pump out of
a 2-car garage is staggering.
Here’s a quick look at what happens at my studio:
1.
2.
3.
4.
All area rugs get badgered first to remove up to 99% of the dry dirt
Then they get cleaned with whatever method is appropriate for the rug
They are hung up to dry on a portable dry tower system
Fringe detailing
The whole process is simple, fast and doesn’t require a lot of space – especially
when you use the RugBadger EZ-Tower Pro.
The RugBadger EZ-Tower Pro is one the easiest pieces of area rug cleaning
equipment to use. With “patent applied for” innovations, this area rug dry tower
was designed so that just one person can:
* Assemble it in minutes
* Fit it into any type of workspace - like a 2-car garage
* Easily lift 400+ lb soaking wet rugs 6 feet high
* Use it without motors, pulleys, cables or ropes
To see it in action check out the video of it being used in the two car garage I’m
working out of: http://rugbadger.com/equipment/EZtower.html
The EZ-Tower Pro is extremely versatile allowing you to make it whatever size
you want. The larger the span the more rugs you can fit on. For example if you set
your EZ-Tower Pro up like I do with a 13’ span, you could easily hold
•
•
•
Eight 12’ x 13’ rugs,
Four 5x11 rugs and
Sixteen 3’ x 12’ runners!
That equates to well over 2000 square feet of rug drying hangers with a footprint
of just 6’x13’ (please allow up to 20’ in space to operate with a 13’ span)
Adding an optional wheel truck set up lets you easily move your whole load
outside for a “FREE solar dry”
For more information check out http://rugbadger.com/ez-towers.html.
18
Do you know what the Best Kept Secret
in the Carpet Cleaning Industry is?
Hi, my name is Steve “Dusty” Roberts, Owner of Luv-A-Rug, an Area Rug
Cleaning Plant located in Victoria, BC, Canada and there’s something happening
in our industry that I think you really want to know about.
Did you know that Area Rugs have become the most lucrative niche market in
the carpet cleaning industry? I used to clean in-home carpets, but now I only do
Area Rugs. The amount of money I make cleaning Area Rugs is 5 times more
than what I could get for wall-to-wall carpets.
That’s because I can charge $3.00 (or more) per square foot to clean Area Rugs
instead of .60 cents for carpets!
More and more Area Rugs are being sold throughout North America and less
and less carpets. In-fact many flooring retailers are reporting major decreases over
the last 4 years in their residential carpet installations and at the same time huge
increases in hard surface and area rug sales.
What does this mean to you?
It means the amount of carpets available for your business is starting to shrink
and the amount of Area Rugs are increasing.
RugBadger.com is dedicated to helping carpet cleaners discover the incredibly
profitable world of Area Rugs. We’re contantly developing a new area rug cleaning
equipment and marketing materials (based on our years of successfully dominating
our entire city) so that you can use to jump-start your Area Rug cleaning business.
Just visit www.RugBadger.com to get the latest tools and knowledge to launch
you successfully into the most lucrative niche in your indusctry - Area Rugs.
Rug Finishers
EZ-Towers
RugRevolution ProStar SS
RugBadgers
19
Dusty Roberts’ Exclusive
Business Building Tools!
6 powerful business building reports.
For more information click here:
http://rugbadger.com/reports.html
Secret Strategy DVD on how to get top $
caring for rugs without turning into a pushy
salesperson.
For more information click here:
http://rugbadger.com/videos
Module 1 of the RugLover Marketing Program
designed expressly for the carpet cleaner or
restoration company who want to start up a
successful rug care division.
For more information click here:
http://mentorship.rugbadger.com/rl-modules
Module 2 of the RugLover Marketing program
designed to take your start up rug area division
to the next level!
For more information click here:
http://mentorship.rugbadger.com/rl-modules
WoolSafe Online Training
For more information click here:
http://rugbadger.com/woolsafe-online-training.html
I’m A RugLover.com
Discover great ways to expand your knowledge and
love for area rugs!
For more information click here:
http://imaruglover.com
20