What will I actually do as a carpet cleaning franchise owner?

If you're thinking about joining Enviro Clean you'll probably want to know what you'll actually be doing once you're up and running.

The short answer? You'll spend a lot of your time out on the road, visiting customers and cleaning carpets, sofas, rugs and other upholstery.

Carpet cleaning

Carpet cleaning is likely to be a big part of your working week. You could be called to a family home for a deep clean, a business with heavily trafficked carpets or a customer who needs help with a particularly stubborn stain.

A typical job could involve:

• Inspecting the carpet and checking its condition, identifying stains, marks and heavily soiled areas
• Vacuuming the carpet and applying the appropriate pre-treatment
• Agitating the carpet to loosen dirt
• Using professional extraction equipment to clean deep into the fibres
• Checking the finished result with the customer

The jobs can vary considerably. One appointment might be a single room that needs freshening up. Another could involve cleaning carpets throughout an entire house or larger areas of a commercial property.

Sofa and upholstery cleaning

Sofas, chairs and other upholstered furniture can also form a significant part of the work. You'll need to identify what material you're working with, assess its condition and decide on the appropriate cleaning method before getting started.

Rug cleaning

Rugs can hold onto plenty of dirt, dust and stains, even when they don't look particularly dirty.

You could clean a rug alongside a customer's carpets or have a specific rug-cleaning job booked in.

Commercial cleaning

Your customers won't necessarily all be homeowners. There are also opportunities to work with businesses, including offices, restaurants, hotels and other commercial premises.

Commercial jobs can be different from domestic work. You may be cleaning larger areas, working outside normal opening hours or returning to the same business regularly.

For a franchise owner, repeat commercial work can also mean building ongoing relationships with local businesses rather than relying entirely on one-off domestic jobs.

What does a typical day look like?

A day might look something like:

• 8:30amLoad the van and travel to your first appointment
• 9:00amClean carpets in a customer's home
• 11:00amTravel to the next customer
• 11:30amClean a sofa and rug
• 1:00pmLunch and travel
• 2:00pmComplete a larger carpet-cleaning job
• 4:30pmFinish the final job and head home

The exact hours will depend on how you run your business, your customer base and the jobs you've booked.

And because you're the business owner, your role isn't only about cleaning. You'll also need to manage your diary, speak to customers, deal with enquiries, keep on top of payments and expenses, maintain your equipment and manage the day-to-day running of the business.

As the business grows, you may eventually spend less time doing the cleaning yourself and more time managing other people and the operation.