Since beginning this series of articles chronicling my trials and tribulations as a rug scrubbin’ owner-operator, I’ve had many occasions to trade views and impressions with my fellow owner-operators.  

Somewhat surprisingly, I’ve found a significant amount of frustration and pessimism among my peers.

Boiled down, the frustration seems to derive from the experience that business is harder now. It’s harder to get work. The things that used to work don’t anymore.  

Another way to look at it, a better —if more painful — way, really, is that fewer people are buying what they’re selling. Maybe, just maybe, the problem is that what they’re selling is the same old same old. Stale. Uncompelling. 

If that’s what is going on, it’s time to take a long critical look in the mirror. Maybe it’s time for an attitude adjustment or a business makeover. Or both. 

Do you enjoy your business? Look, I know what we do isn’t rocket science, and a carpet cleaner is likely not what you dreamed you would be as a child. Still, you are among a select few people in this world who wake up each morning with the freedom to build a business that suits you. No one to answer to. You sink or swim each day on the merits of your technical, business and sales skills. 

If that sounds appealing, you are likely where you should be. If not, perhaps you should consider a career change. Life’s too short to spend doing things that don’t suit you. 

I’ve written before about Unique Selling Proposition (USP). In essence, your USP is those things that differentiate you from the crowd of other cleaners clamoring for the consumer’s attention and business. In other words, it’s what sets you apart. Usually it is a combination of many different things: 

the unique way you clean... 

the really cool wrap on your clean, new truck... 

your winning personality... 

the follow up phone call and/or hand-written thank you note you send to each customer after the job is done... 

the sharp uniform you wear... 

your ability and willingness to bend in order to meet customer needs. 

All of these and many more are things that we owner-operators can bring to the customer experience more ably than the multi-truck operators. These are our strengths. 

Want to reinvigorate your business? Focus on making your USP ever more compelling and visible. That’s the not-so-secret secret to turning frustration and pessimism into the bone-weary satisfaction of a long, full day of rug scrubbin’. 

John Downey is owner-operator of Downey’s Carpet Care of Granville in Granville, Ohio. When he’s not scrubbin’ rug, his wife, Cecilia, lets him help out his brother, Tiger, owner of Perceptionist, an appointment scheduling service for small service businesses (www.myperceptionist.com), or assist Dr. Michael Berry in his efforts to bring science-based environmental management practices to the cleaning industry. John can be reached at jdowney@johndowneyco.com.