Dear fellow carpet cleaner,
Now I’m sure you love being a carpet cleaner. (I did too ... most of the time!) I don’t know of another business that offers the low entry cost, the freedom, the satisfaction and yes, the money that carpet cleaning can bring. “Being your own boss” can and should bring you excitement, joy, a deep sense of accomplishment, and complete financial security.
But let’s be honest here. It’s not all roses out there, is it? The sad fact of the matter is that many carpet cleaners “own a job”, instead of building their company into a “real business”. And even worse, the average “carpet cleaning job” isn’t a very good job at that! Long hours, no overtime, no benefits, no paid holidays or vacations, no pension plan and constant, crushing pressure! (Think about it. Could you pay someone to work as hard as you do?)
If you recognize yourself here you’re not alone. For far too many carpet cleaners the dream of running their own business has gotten “a little frayed around the edges.” And the biggest danger for you? That you start feeling you are “just another rug sucker” and you deserve nothing better.
After all, owning your own business is supposed to be fun, exciting, even exhilarating! (Not to mention extremely rewarding financially!) But all too often the daily stresses and problems of business crowd out the happiness (and the big money) you deserve.
Even worse, deep down inside many carpet cleaners worry they never will achieve financial freedom. (Remember I’m not just talking money here. I’m talking the freedom to live the rest of your life in exactly the way you choose!)
My name is Steve Toburen and I am Director of Training for Jon- Don’s Strategies for Success program. And if you’re going to believe the claims I make in this letter you need to know a little about my background.
In 1975 (at the tender age of 22) I sort of “fell” into the carpet cleaning industry. I still remember the phone call. I had a little one man janitorial service. (Low investment, short but really late hours, good money.) An old friend in the same business called me and gushed about the “easy money” found in a new thing called “steam cleaning.” He was right. Carpet cleaning was a LOT more fun than cleaning toilets and I was hooked.
I’d like to tell you I was successful from the word “go”, but that would be a lie. I was like most other carpet cleaners. I started my business from a “technician mentality.” In other words, I viewed myself as a carpet cleaner instead of as a builder of a business that just happened to clean carpet!
Even with all the problems, it was a lot of fun, but I wouldn’t want to do it again. You know the score … brutal hours, hard work, tough competition, unreliable employees. But the worst thing was I constantly operated in “crisis mode.” No money, no organization, no one I could count on … except myself. So I lived, breathed, ate and slept carpet cleaning … and suffered accordingly. (I’ve personally cleaned over 10,000 carpets.) I was an idiot for far too many years!
But in 1985 I “saw the light.” (If I wanted to impress you I’d tell you I had a “paradigm shift.”) The truth of the matter is I just got mad at my life. After ten long years of beating my head against the wall as a carpet cleaner I saw myself “growing old on the wand”.
Cracked and bleeding hands, a sore and exhausted body, long hours, no family time, an endless parade of “revolving door” employees, problems, crises, you know the drill. I just knew there had to be something better.
So I started to read about business … and life. I meditated. I analyzed. I interviewed successful entrepreneurs all over the country. Gradually, a vision emerged from my research. A concept of an organized company that “worked”. A group of dedicated people working toward a common goal. (A very different goal than just “cleaning carpets.”) These people would play a very serious but fun “game” with me, a game of building a better organization each day. This super organized company would function with me, or even better, without me!
Then I started to work, not just cleaning carpet, but building a “real company”. I found people that shared my vision … and were ready to work like dogs to achieve it. And that is exactly what we did.
We worked, struggled, fought, suffered setbacks but we never gave up! We built our cleaning and restoration company into a hugely successful operation. How successful? My carpet cleaning and restoration services company grossed over $750,000.00 a year in a market base of 30,000 people and was extremely profitable! (That’s 30,000 people, not homes. You may service neighborhoods larger than my entire market base!)
Then six years later, in 1991, at the age of 38 I “cashed out”. That’s right, I sold my company (for 97% cash up front) and retired from full time business. (And yes, the people that helped me build my operation received generous bonuses.)
For the first time in my life I was FREE, FREE, FREE! It was a wonderful feeling! I was free financially and even better, I was free emotionally. No more late night emergency phone calls, no more crises, no more providing for the families of sixteen employees. (I loved my employees, but the responsibility could be crushing sometimes.)
I took a few years off, worked as a full time whitewater raft guide, (which didn’t even pay my phone bills) and puttered around the house. But I discovered I still needed a “mission”, a purpose in my life, which I met in two ways.
First, my family and I moved to the Dominican Republic, where we still live and work as full time unpaid volunteers. We pay all our own expenses and while living and working in a Third World country isn’t easy, we love what we do.
But I still needed my “business fix”, a second mission in life. You see, no one can eat, sleep, live and breathe business for as many years as I did and quit “cold turkey.” I was hooked on the “grand game” of business. (I still am.) So I started to analyze why my company was successful while other equally hard working, quality carpet cleaners just barely scraped by. I began writing my “Service
On The Home Front” column for Cleanfax magazine. I scripted and recorded four audio albums on customer service in the home. Finally, I took my sixteen years of at times agonizing experience and developed a two day seminar called “Big Business Success for the Small Carpet Cleaner.”
I presented my “Big Business Success” seminar for various carpet cleaning suppliers around the country and their customers loved it. But it was brutal working for so many different people while my main priority was my foreign volunteer work. I was doing it again. My fatal fascination with business was causing me to neglect both my family and my volunteer service.
So by 1995 I was searching for just one company that shared my vision for the carpet cleaning industry. Now by the mid 1990’s Nick and John Paolella at Jon-Don had been in business for almost twenty years. But Nick and John didn’t just sell equipment and chemicals.
They “got down in the trenches” and worked side by side with their customers. However, Nick and John quickly realized that while many carpet cleaners worked hard, did a great job and were wonderful people … they just weren’t building a “real business.” So when the Paolella’s offered me the chance to develop a program focused on being truly successful in the carpet cleaning industry, I jumped at it!
We named this seminar “Strategies for Success” and the name says it all. Five intense days packed with revolutionary concepts and ideas, and with over 800 pages of Procedures and Systems to “make it happen” when you go home. But hey, I’m prejudiced when it comes to Strategies. After all, this seminar is my baby and I’ve spent years developing and improving it. So read what different industry leaders have to say about the concepts found in our Strategies for Success seminar:
“I've been a fan of Steve Toburen's business-building philosophy for a long time. When I heard that Steve and Jon-Don had teamed up to produce "Strategies for Success," I knew it would be something special. And I wasn't disappointed. Already, three key people from my carpet cleaning company — myself included — have attended. In addition, in March all of our techs attended the Value Added Service for Technicians seminar. All first rate and well worth the investment. Kudos!”
John Downey, Founder and editor of Cleanfax magazine, owner of John Downey Carpet Cleaning
“This information is vital in building a successful service company.”
Howard Partridge, Phenomenal Products, Inc.
“This is an exceptional course that not only has the ability to change businesses, it can change lives. Unlike other seminars, this gives detailed, specific procedures that can be applied to your business tomorrow.”
Phillip Rosebrook, Business Mentors
“Our company has spent thousands of dollars in meetings and traveling to different seminars all over the country. Never have I learned more applicable turnkey information or been treated like such a king. You have certainly exceeded my expectations.
Brad Wike, Peerless Cleaners
“Even though our company is approaching multi-million dollar revenues, I feel I learned more in 5 days about what is truly important than in the past 22 years.”
Joseph Natoli Jr., American Carpet & Rest. Services
“Anybody who owns a business is doing a disservice to their customers by not attending this seminar. Strategies for Success is an absolute must for anyone considering the sale of their business within the next 5-10 years.”
Jim Stuckemeyer, Pro Kleen Services, Inc.
These folks said it better than I can. Now the comments above came from attendees of my five day SFS seminar. But I will be bringing the core concepts of SFS, along with selected procedures and systems to make them happen, to CLEANEXPO in an intensive two day format. I’ve named this seminar Steps to Success (STS) and that is exactly what it is. Remember that the concepts behind Strategies and my two day seminar Steps to Success seminar don’t just change businesses, they can (and have) transformed lives!
So just what is my Steps to Success seminar and how will it help you? First of all, let me tell you what Steps to Success is NOT! STS is NOT a “motivational” seminar. (I really hate motivational speeches. All empty fluff without giving you the tools to change anything.)
Steps is NOT an excuse to high pressure sell you anything. (I don’t even mention equipment or chemicals during the seminar.) And STS is NOT a lot of weird, unproven, “in-your-face” theories cobbled together just to attract attention. Everything has been field tested for years both by myself and our over 2,000 Strategies for Success members. Steps to Success is an intensive, college level business building program specifically designed for carpet cleaning company owners and managers. (You will be exhausted at the end of our two days together.) The class will run from 8:00 to 6:00 PM eventhough on the second day I’ll let you off at 5:00!
Steps to Success is built on three basic concepts. First, the “Desired End Product” of your company should always be a delighted Customer Cheerleader that sings your praises to everyone they meet. Second, 80% of how your customer decides if you did a “good job” (and whether they will become a Cheerleader) is based on their relationship with the person actually doing the work in their home. And finally, for your company to have real value, you must manage the experience of your customer by programming hundreds of Positive “Moments of Truth” into your “Service Circle.” (After all, when you “cash out” and sell your business what you will really sell is your Customers Cheerleaders AND your systems to keep them and make more … without you showing up for work each day!) Of course, for a seminar to truly change lives it needs more than a lot of fancy concepts and theories. This is where Steps to Success really shines!
After all, a company in chaos can’t give great customer service. At STS you will receive Procedures and Systems written specifically for a carpet cleaning business, all focused on creating a better “Business Infrastructure.” So what topics will we cover during STS?
Day One
• Six Secret Weapons to Success in the Carpet Cleaning industry
• Building Your Company’s “Success Infrastructure”
• Your Business Lifeline - The Telephone
• Carpet Cleaning Inspections that “Get the Job”- Guaranteed!
Day Two
• Making the Cheerleader - Step by Step
• Up-selling on the Home Front (The information in this session alone will pay for your entire CLEANEXPO conference!)
• Quality Check Calls
• Converting Complaining Clients into Turbo-Cheerleader!
• A Revolutionary Concept- the “Stay Beautiful” Program
• Leading on the Home Front
Once again, remember that without a “Business Infrastructure”, a written framework that organizes your company, you just “own a job.” When you attend my Steps to Success seminar, you get not only “transformational concepts”, you also receive a “Business Infrastructure” that makes these great ideas and principles a reality in your company.
I will be presenting Steps to Success April 9 & 10, 2008 at Parklands Gold Coast in Southport, Queensland. Yes, I know the Gold Coast may be a long way from your town. But remember, this seminar is “transformational.”
That means I promise STS will change your business (and very possibly your life) forever. Remember too that this is the first (and possibly only) time my Success Strategies will be presented in Australia. After this event, the only way you will be able to get these concepts and tools will be to travel to the United States. (Of course, I would love to have you at a full fledged five day Strategies for Success seminar in the U.S. But wouldn’t it make sense to check out my STS concepts first in April right here in Australia?)
Now here’s the best part. The Steps for Success seminar is priced at only 495.00. This is an excellent price accomplished only with the support and sponsorship of the CLEANEXPO organization. The seminar fee includes lunch both days, a comprehensive class workbook AND a CD-ROM with all the information written in MS Word, ready for modifying to fit your business.
So now, you have the picture … what are you going to do? Please seriously consider this quote:
“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got!” After all, if you want more (fulfillment, fun, money, etc.) from your business and your life, you must CHANGE what you have been doing. The best place to start? My exclusive Steps to Success seminar on April 9th and 10th, 2008!
We anticipate this seminar filling early so please call (03) 9499 8500 or visit http://www.cleanexpo. com.au today. We’re going to change lives for the better AND have fun while we are at it! I promise!
Sincerely, Steve Toburen CR
Director of Training Jon-Don’s Strategies for Success
PS As part of my time at CLEANEXPO I will present a keynote address on Saturday morning, April 12th entitled, “Cashing Out: Running Your Business Today to Sell It Tomorrow”. Now this presentation will be open to all Expo attendees. BUT I promise you it will have MUCH more impact if you have already attended the two day STS seminar before hand. |
