First of all, I began my career fresh from the Army working for a rip-off company who used Hild buffers (175), Zep from home depot, no pads, just scrub brushes, and told all kinds of stories to the customers. I regret this now, due to the fact that I knew ONLY what i was told, "Yes Ma'am, the Scotchgard is already mixed in", or "This is the dry foam method, steam cleaning is actually harmful to your carpet", you know, that kind of thing. I witnessed the owner and other workers bleaching carpet by using rubbing alcohol to remove red dye, and numerous other things.

That being said, I spent many, many, many, hours online learning the proper ways to handle situations, and do things the right way. I then purchased the Rotovac starter package, a truck, an upgraded portable, and other needed items to begin my career. 6 months later, i purchased a used Butler system and worked my first truckmount unit with great success. All the while buiding my commercial accounts. Within another 3 months I got my Cimex and REALLY sped up my commercial work. On Father''s Day this year, I purchased my 2nd truckmount and retired the Butler to a backup system.

I've noticed the OP craze and am tired of losing work to the 5 room, $59 guys here, so I picked up a Challenger machine today by accident....$700 used approximately 15 times.

Here are my questions.....

What type of production should I expect?
I read post after post about 1000' taking people 3+ hours how in the world is this profitable in a market like mine?

(with my truck, I can knock that out in around 1 1/2 hours)

Pads?
What are the favorites?

Chems?

Think I will offer a maintenance type clean, as well as a restoration cleaning.
at least this way, I can book more work, and remain "competitive"

FYI, we all charge by room for cleaning....stain removal, protector, etc, extra

I have no experience with truck mounts or steam, but I use my Challenger every day. I would say that with this machine you likely won't be going faster, but your results may amaze you. For the lighter soiled carpets it goes pretty quick, but for heavy soiled/trashed carpets you can pull dirty pads out until the cows come home.

Examples: Today: Lightly soiled carpet, 800 s.f., 1 hr 50 min from drive up to drive away. Includes unloading, talking to custy, vacuuming, post vaccing, loading up van again.

Yesterday: Heavily soiled totally trashed out carpet: 1100 sf plus stairway: 5 hours to make that baby look good, and I'm going back next week to work on some large ink stains.

Whats the attraction then? Low overhead? Lower start-up? I REALLY dont see how these guys are doing work at these prices if its taking that long. Mind you, 3rms+hall ran $65 with the company I worked for. No upselling, just scrub n run (25 minutes)

Or do you only clean long enough to make a noticeable improvement?

Serious questions...not my intention to insult or say one method is better than the other.

For me it was the ease of start up and low cost. I now have a Vento and I love it, it's like a challenger only with a little more muscle.

I had a Cimex and did get rid of it. Which was a big mistake. The Cimex can't be beat for comm work and I hope to get one again. The speed of it is great. You can really clean with the big yellow.

I still hope to one day own a Butler system but for now this is the low cost way to make some money and the people I have cleaned for so far love the results.

Can it take more time this way, yes if you want to do it the correct way. I to can also do three rooms and a hall for 65.00 in about an hour and I bet the homeowner would never call me back.

Well the attraction I suppose is that almost all of my customers say "wow, it looks brand new" when I leave, which I like. I made $95 in those two hours which works for me, though I'm going to raise my prices soon. I could cut corners and have used one pad in each room instead of 3 but, like Joe M said, the customer probably wouldn't call me back next year when they need it cleaned again.

Much of the rate of $$$/hour that you take out of a job depends not on your rate of cleaning carpet (sq. ft. per hour) but the rate you charge the customer for each sq. ft. of W/W carpeting, of area rug, and for each stair tread. Are you simply going with the "herd" -- what some people refer to as the "going rate" in your area? Or are you instead using a real marketing strategy to what is called "position" your service as distinctly different (and BETTER!) than the run-of-the-mill competition? While I use a big Orbitec CX-20 aongside a Cimex 24" machine for the really large commercial jobs, for years I have used only Challengers for my residential work. With each Challenger on a residential or small commercial job, I can generate between $90 to about $150 per hour worked. With both my Challengers running, that's up to $300 each hour less what I pay a helper ($15 - $20/hour.) My marketing strategy has always been to position my company as distinctly different: personal service; all-natural cleaning products (in homes); and low-moisture, rapid-dry process.
I also aim my marketing message at the higher-end cities and towns in my area (metropolitan Boston; north & west of the city, as well as the more well-to-do sections of Boston itself.) This approach enables me to charge .40/sq. ft. of W/W carpeting; $1/sq. ft. of area rugs; and $3.70 per stair tread. There are people who want to drive new Mercedes' and Lexus', just as there are those whom you will never get out of their 10-year old Chevy Cavaliers. I prefer to do business with the Mercedes owners. Even if they do think my prices are somewhat high, they would be embarrassed to say so. Plus, they like to think that they are "worth it".

I like Marks marketing strategy. It has been ours too for many years. I also find that in residential we average $100 an hour and between $100 and $175 with two machines going. Position yourself a premimum service, and people will feel proud to have your van sitting in their driveway.

I like Marks marketing strategy. It has been ours too for many years. I also find that in residential we average $100 an hour and between $100 and $175 with two machines going. Position yourself a premimum service, and people will feel proud to have your van sitting in their driveway.

Hit the enter key twice(2) there did ya?

Ray is just making sure he is getting his point across.

I was about to say to Rambo "You can say that again!", but I guess he beat me to it.