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How to transform a struggling business into a success story.
by Lisa Wagner
M
ost struggling businesses in
this industry have owners
who want to be successful, but
they either don’t know how to or don’t
believe deep down that they can be.
They just keep working longer hours,
hoping success will somehow come
together for them.
But many spend their nights worry-
ing about making payroll or rent or
wondering if they are ever going to be
able to retire.
They worry about whether sales are
going to pick up, if their technician is
going to show up on time, if their truck
is going to last another month or if their
marriage is going to last another year.
They worry about these things — if
they even have enough energy left to
worry about anything at all.
Entrepreneurial exhaustion
If that description rings even a tiny bit
true for you, you are not alone.
Most small businesses in all industries
suffer this type of anxiety on a regular
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basis.
In fact, it often gets
to the point where
anxiety becomes a
“lifestyle,” and how
they view the world
is in terms of bad
Wagner expectations, such as:
God, I hope we
bring in enough money today to cover our
checks… I hope we don’t get any call-backs
today… I hope we finally have at least one
day without anything bad happening.
There is an underlying belief with
them that bad things are to be expected,
and the interesting thing about beliefs is
that even wrong beliefs, if you believe
them, will become true.
You unknowingly create more of what
you’re trying to escape.
Many times, business owners mired in
these negative thought cycles are so
spent mentally that they just don’t have
the energy to see that it can be any differ-
ent than it is right now.
But it absolutely can be if you are ready.
And to prove it, as you read this arti-
cle, you will see a few “success stories”
Visit www.cleanfax.com and type in keyword:
Business.
of real-life carpet cleaners who have
applied much of this information. (See
“Success story” sidebars.)
The beginning of success
Success starts with the first step in the
right direction.
I decided this year to run a marathon,
even though I’ve never been a runner.
Most people have given me a look
like I’ve lost my mind, because running
26.2 miles seems simply impossible to
them, and a few months ago, I would’ve
said they were absolutely right.
But something happened that changed
my mind about what I thought was “pos-
sible.”
Meeting with the Leukemia &
Lymphoma Society Team in Training
crew, they explained to me that most of
the new runners in this event had also
never run before, and were able to do so
through their training program.
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They showed me an 18-week training

calendar beginning with just 30 minutes
of running a few times each week, and
slowly building up each week to the end
marathon goal.
They said I’d have a mentor and a
coach to learn from.
They’d teach me about the right gear
and tools to use, the right nutrition,
the right form, the right strength and
endurance exercises, and that I’d have
a large support group of peers to cheer
me on.
I’m a business success strategist, and I
know a successful plan when I see one.
This one was it, so I signed on.

Run your own marathon

When you want to take a struggling
business to a success story, you essen-
tially want to run a business marathon.
You want to take your company to a
place that you really want it to be, but the
odds just seem so stacked against you.
You might think:
“How can I build the strength and energy
to take my company there, when I can’t seem
to make it work where it’s at here right now?
I’m just not cut out for this stuff.”
That’s what I thought when I was get-
ting winded at running just one mile,
but I had the knowledge, training and
encouragement that has gotten me to
running double-digit miles.
With the right training program, you
can transform your business just as dra-
matically.
I’ve worked with scores of companies
who have achieved success in their
fields, and the one thing that they all
share in common is that at one time they
were struggling companies seeking a
path to success.
So when I hear business owners share
their fears and stress about their compa-
nies, part of me is excited for them,
because I know when the frustration gets
big enough, they’ll actually take action to
change things.
(Continued on page 48)
Eric Bollmann
Haines & Cross Cleaning, California
In the very beginning, a friend interested me in carpet
cleaning. We talked about a partnership, but those talks
ended. I then subcontracted all of my carpet cleaning work
to him.
He was cleaning at 14 cents a square foot and had no
follow-up or marketing systems in place.
I started to implement solid marketing strategies from
a top industry marketing expert.
Soon I was contracting more work to my friend. He did-
n’t like that very much. That got me into the actual clean-
ing end of things.
When I slowly transitioned into carpet cleaning, my first cleaning van was my fami-
ly’s Plymouth Voyager. I could only use it two or three days per week due to child school
schedules, etc.
Then when I could use it, I had to take out the third seat to make room for cleaning
supplies.
My first class I attended was one put on by a local janitorial supplier. That’s when I
learned that neutral pH is 7 and not 0 as I had figured up until that point.
From there, it’s been a slow but steady progression, with taking Institute of
Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration (IICRC) classes, joining the Carpet & FabriCare
Institute (CFI) and keeping up with the marketing universe.
Our cleaning rates are now at 50 to 65 cents a square foot and we run several trucks
and employ five people.

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(Continued from page 45)

Don’t be ‘just good enough’

The biggest danger for companies is
having things “just good enough” to
where they get complacent and their
business muscles get flabby.
Then when something big happens,
an unexpected crisis, they are not pre-
pared to handle it.
With businesses under a lot of stress,
there’s a lot of activity, a lot of thinking,
and a desire to want things to be differ-
ent, and if you can take all of that nega-
tive energy (frustration) and transform
it into positive energy (passion), you’ve
got the fuel to take your company wher-

A messy van may be a sign you

need an extreme business makeover.

Dave Keiter
Yellow Van Cleaning, Nebraska
ever you want to go.
To be successful, you need a solid business However, it does take a bit of training
plan — one that will protect you and make your to change your world.
company stronger. Success has many paths.
Years ago, I was the guy hiring, training, crew Here are seven “success steps” that
chief and quality control, and I had no trouble I’ve seen create the most results for peo-
finding workers — until we implemented drug ple who really want an extreme business
testing. makeover.
After implementing drug testing 10 years ago, Follow these and see where they get
three of my 28 employees refused to be tested you.
and quit, two failed the test and were let go.
One applicant refused the pre-employment 1. Reboot your brain
drug test, claiming violation of personal rights. He was hired at a local restaurant and If someone believes that work is hard,
we were called three weeks later for an $18,000 smoke damage caused by this person. and that the world is conspiring against
Now we advertise “drug-free workplace” and very few apply who have bad and ille- him so that he’ll never get ahead, then
gal habits. We have a great, strong staff because of this one change. he’s going to live a miserable life and
We have also instituted, “no personal use of company property.” run a miserable company.
This came about because I once lent a company vehicle to an employee, being a good We all know people like this. They say
boss and friend, only to find out that the individual needed to take a road trip from cen- that it’s the employees’ fault, or the
tral Nebraska to the East Coast. state’s, or the crummy clients’, or those
After a month of tracking down the vehicle and “former employee,” I found he was darn franchises, or their parents, or that
employed by a franchise in South Carolina. they never got a college education.
I asked the owner of the company about this person who was now employed by him It’s like a computer on the fritz and
as a cleaning tech, “How much have you advanced him in wages?” you just want to find the guy’s reset but-
The voice on the line paused and asked, “How did you know?” ton and reboot him.
I did get the vehicle back with minor damage and 4,000 extra miles. Becoming successful requires an hon-

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est evaluation of where you are — and they’ve done something incredible, and cess tool, because when you are able to
why — and where you want to be — fall into a trap that they just aren’t good shift it from criticism to encouragement,
and why. enough. you create your own No. 1 fan.
But sometimes perspectives get cloud- This isn’t just a self-limiting belief, it’s This is a tough habit to change, but
ed with a skewed view of what’s impor- just flat-out wrong. start by making a list of what went well
tant, and when you can’t see clearly it’s Changing the way you talk to your- and what you did well every day.
hard to get where you want to go. self in your head is such a critical suc- (Continued on next page)
For example, I had to spend a summer
in Russia studying, and see real finan-
cial hardship, to realize that my picture
of myself as a “starving student” back
home was ridiculous.
Most professionals I met in the coun-
try made a fraction of what I made at my
job back home, and I had my own place
to live, a car, and a credit card to pay for
the trip.
This was when I realized I was only
seeing what I did not have, instead of all
that I did have. And I wasn’t the only one
back home with this perception of “lack.”
Most business owners who complain
about their lives being struggles don’t
realize that their “life of struggle” would
be a “dream come true” for many in the
world.
This does not mean that you have to
accept where you’re at and stay there. It
just means to make sure you see all that
you do have.
If you are not grateful for what the
world has already given you, how can
you expect to be given more?

2. Be your own No. 1 fan

This lesson was hardest for me, to not
be constantly critical of myself.
And I’ve been really surprised that
even the most successful people I’ve met,
from self-made millionaires to best-sell-
ing authors, have had that same struggle
in their head with the voice that is con-
stantly pointing out what you’ve done
wrong and what’s wrong with you.
Business owners have done something
that few on the planet have done —
they’ve created a business from an idea.
They had a dream to be their own
boss, and had the courage to follow
through and make it happen.
And sometimes they lose sight that
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(Continued from prior page)

laughing. I just pulled it off and

kept right on talking like nothing
even happened.
Laura: When I think about
Wade and Laura Bankston it, I just can’t believe I used to
do it.
EnviroCare Professional When I finally got sick of the
Cleaning, Alaska business being in my home, we
got a small office. I would then
Wade: Sometimes, success has to be measured in having a go there to work a few hours
sense of humor and a good attitude. If you have these, other prob- and take all three kids with me:
lems are easier to overcome. A 6-year-old, a 4-year-old and
I was cleaning with an employee, and the client came over to an infant — all in a 300-square-foot office.
ask me a question. I remember sitting at my desk one day, talking on the phone,
I took the vac hose off the wand to stop that whistling sound. scheduling an appointment, snapping my fingers at the boys to be
I laid it on the floor, and my employee picked it up and started quiet, all the while nursing my baby.
shaking the hose up and down, and the end of the hose popped I hung up the phone and laughed, thinking how ridiculous I
up and caught me in an embarrassing place. must look and how stupid I was really being.
The lady smiled and pretended not to notice. My tech was That’s when I hired an office girl.
behind me with his hands covering his face trying to stop his It’s made a world of difference in our business success.

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Start noticing the successes, even if
they seem small.
What you’ll discover is that the more
you focus on what’s going right, then
more “right” things are going to happen.
3. Hire your weaknesses
and focus on your strengths
No one is great at everything, and no
one likes to do everything, so get really
clear on what you are great at and what
you love to do (that makes you money).
Once you have that clear, make a list
of what you are not good at, and what
you hate to do.
Then track how much time you’re
spending on the things you enjoy doing
most at work, and how much time you’re
spending doing the things you enjoy least.
Most people discover, especially if
they don’t have a “team,” that they are
spending a lot of time on things they are
simply not good at.
Just like having someone type a paper
who is a hunt-and-peck typist, it’ll take
him 10 times as long to do what some-
one with the right skills can do easily.
So in the quest to save money by
doing things yourself, you end up wast-
ing time and money and end up having
mediocre results to show for it.
Make a list of what functions you want
to hire others to do.
This might mean hiring a neighbor for
a few hours to fold and mail newsletters,
or hiring someone from a temp agency to
do data entry part-time, or hiring a com-
puter programmer for a few hours to get
your network finally working right, or
testing a new person on the truck.
Hiring out tasks you don’t enjoy
doing frees you up to focus on the
money-making tasks you do enjoy.
And if you have chosen the right
people to do tasks they enjoy, you’ll
create a highly productive and positive
workplace.
4. Remove the
pollution in your life
Sometimes the source of pollution in a
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Coverstory
person’s life is toxic people. by getting rid of the sources of negativi-
Maybe a family member tears you ty that aren’t helping you feel that you
down. Maybe an employee complains deserve success.
behind your back (but you find out about Just as trees need pruning to grow
it) about what a crummy boss you are. stronger, you may have to cut off some
Maybe some of your customers complain people to allow your personal confi-
that your prices are too high. dence and dreams to grow stronger.
You know what is nurturing for you,
and what is not. What people you feel
better when you’re around, and which
Hiring out tasks ones suck the life right out of you.
you don’t enjoy And you also know what habits you
doing frees you up have that are nurturing to you, and
to focus on the which ones are not.
Ultimately, no one fools himself.
money-making We all deep-down know what things
tasks you do enjoy. hurt us and what things help us, and
what we need to do on a daily basis is to
substitute success-impeding habits with
If you want good things to come your success-supporting ones to change the
way, you’re going to have to make room (Continued on next page)
Steve Cameron
Sunrise Clean Care, Georgia
When I was young, dumb, and stupid, I would
ask my customers what the last guy charged them.
Then I would offer to beat that price if they
would just let me do the job. I would always get
the job.
They would call back the next year and say,
“You can clean the carpets again, if you haven’t
gone up in price.”
Guess what? I did it year after year for the
same price. And then these same customers would
tell me that if my price was right, I would be
allowed to clean their rental properties.
It was just a ploy to keep the price down on their personal homes. I never did get the
rental property work.
This went on for years.
It was not until I got so mad about it, and I did not care if I lost a customer or not,
that I was able to see past this game.
In 2002, my thinking changed, and so did my life.
I learned the correct way to run a carpet cleaning business.
I now raise my prices just about any time I want to.
We just get busier and busier. Go figure.
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(Continued from prior page)
momentum in our lives.
If you don’t treat yourself well, do
you really think others will?
5. Be part of a mastermind
The biggest danger for entrepreneurs
is isolation.
When you don’t have an outlet for
talking about fears or problems, and a
source for options and solutions, it’s
easy to convince yourself there’s just no
way out.
Coaching programs, business train-
ing, entrepreneurial organizations and
other “betterment” groups offer a sup-
port structure that builds confidence
through the shared experiences and tal-
ents of others.
By tapping into the expertise of oth-
ers you learn how they have overcome
the current struggles you’re facing, and
gain access to the tools and systems that
others have found to contribute to their
success.
It is extremely energizing to be part of
a group of like-minded individuals who
are focused on bettering themselves and
helping each other.
If you don’t have access to a group,
another way to feed your mind with
wisdom is through the vast library of
audio books that exists on every topic
imaginable.
Most of us spend a dozen hours or
more a week in our car. Using that time
for learning can make dead time into
growth time for you.
6. Expect success, and ‘lessons’
Successful people believe that as long
as they are creating value in the world
— for their clients, their team, their fam-
ily, their community — that life is going
to give value back.
They believe that their outer world
will be a reflection of their inner world.
This expectation for success is cou-
pled with the belief that problems are
life lessons.
They might have life knock the wind
out of them, but instead of giving up,
they regroup and think not, “Why me?”
but, “What next?”
Life happens, and for reasons beyond
our capacity to grasp.
Though we cannot control the world
around us, we can control how we react,
respond and grow from it.
People on the success track don’t take
life personally, they just take it as it
comes and do the best they can with
who they are and what they’ve got at
the moment.
7. Train like a pro
Running a business is a massive
undertaking, and the difference between
doing it poorly and doing it exceptional-
ly rests on whether you are operating it
like an amateur or like a professional.

Robert Stewart Letting important things pile up,

procrastinating on things you really
All Brite Cleaning & Restoration Inc., should have done weeks ago, not get-

New Hampshire ting enough sleep, not taking care of

your health, putting more effort into
There were many contributing factors to my excuses and complaints instead of get-
company’s turn-around, but if I had to choose a ting things done — these are all signs of
single component I would choose “goal setting.” an amateur.
I always had goals, but I never sat down and This is someone who says he wants
physically wrote them out, and I never reviewed success, but is not seriously willing to
them on a regular basis. create it.
I would think of the total sales number I want- The amazing and frightening thing
ed to do for the year and then hope and pray we about success is that it is entirely up to
would get there. There was no plan and there you to decide and act to make it happen.
was no system to achieve these goals. Professionals commit themselves to
When I started writing my goals down, this forced me to continually ask myself what training to get their minds, bodies and
I needed to do in order to achieve these goals, and how was I going to measure the spirits in top shape.
progress. They seek out knowledge they don’t
It motivated me to make sure our marketing was going out on a continual basis and have so they can get an edge.
to look for new opportunities that could help us reach the goals quicker and easier. They seek tools to help them perform
As we know everything measured improves, everything measured and recorded better. They seek guidance and support
improves exponentially. from those who can help get them across
If you can live by this one concept, I believe you can be successful in any area of the finish line.
your life. They envision the person they want to

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Greg Trigeiro
Twins Carpet Cleaning,
California
When I bought Twins
Carpet Cleaning, the pre-
vious owner had been
saving money by using
cheaper chemicals.
Not a bad idea, I
thought.
After all, money not
spent is money in your
own pocket.
As a carpet precondi-
tioner, as one example, he had been using five-gallon pails of
a butyl degreaser he bought from a big-box store.
I continued to do what he had done for awhile, then I
switched to a real carpet preconditioner, even though it cost
me a lot more.
The results of switching to high-quality products were
amazing.
Over the years, I’ve learned not to gamble quality with
cheap products.
You need many things to be successful in today’s business
world. One of those things is quality equipment and products.
Don’t skimp. You’ll be rewarded in due time.

become, and the result they want to achieve, and work back-
wards to see clearly what they have to do today to get them
on their way.
If you have a “training mindset,” you can take all of the
other steps and implement them into your daily routine. And
it takes you from hoping things will happen to making
things happen.
And once that shift occurs, transformation is inevitable. !
_____________________________________________________
Lisa Wagner is the creator of the Rug Secrets “Rug Shop Success”
program. She operates her rug cleaning facility in San Diego, and
is a strategic business consultant and coach for Piranha Marketing
Inc. For more information on Lisa’s rug cleaning workshops and
training products, visit www.rugsecrets.com. For more informa-
tion on recommended business and marketing resources, visit
www.marketingmoneymap.com.
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