Why Carpet Cleaning Franchises Are Poised For Consistent Growth

Demographics, economy favor home maintenance and franchises

If you?re looking for a small business with terrific growth potential for decades to come, it?s hard to beat carpet cleaning franchises.

We’re bad, we’re nationwide ? and worldwide, too, and still with plenty of room to grow.

Carpet cleaning franchises provide a near-perfect case study for successful, scalable small businesses:

• They operate in a $3.8 billion market no one brand dominates. We hold the biggest market share at 7 percent.
• They don?t have to worry about demand. Every year, home and business owners install an estimated 14 billion square feet of new carpet.
• The business is largely recession-resistant. The market has held steady for the last four years.
• In a market populated with some shady independents, carpet cleaning franchises can set themselves apart by codifying their systems and standards, ensuring consistent performance that lead to the all-important word-of-mouth referrals.

These days, some key demographics and market forces are working to make carpet cleaning franchises especially good bets for consistent, long-term growth.

Chem-Dry aims to serve affluent, though not necessarily rich, clients ? people with enough money to pay for professionals to maintain their home and office interiors but not so much that they can afford to re-carpet every time the kids spill grape juice in the TV room.

That?s exactly the position many professionals find themselves in these days, with an economy just beginning to lift its head out of recession: They have some money to spend, but they?re still thinking thrift. That kind of thinking leads to spending on things like home maintenance; people would much rather spend a little to get longer use from their cars, electronics, furniture and floor coverings than let them deteriorate (reducing resale value) or spend a lot to have the items replaced.

That kind of thinking fits Chem-Dry?s mission perfectly. We want clients who trust us to do a great job making their carpets, even those stained from years of use, look and feel new again.

By looking at remodeling spending numbers, you can get an idea of how people lately have been spending to preserve what they have rather than buy something new. People who remodel their homes tend to be older, more established folks who prefer to stay put.

Although new construction came to a near standstill during the recession, remodeling work held tight ? dropping from $326 billion in 2007 to $286 billion in 2009 before rebounding back to about $300 billion in 2010, according to Harvard University?s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The center puts the current value of kitchen and bathroom remodeling at $75 billion a year. Its Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity projects remodeling spending to grow 5.9 percent in 2012 and 3.5 percent a year through 2015. We expect the carpet cleaning industry to experience similar growth in the years to come.

Interested in exploring why our carpet cleaning franchises ? we?re at more than 3,500 units and counting ? are a hot sell in today?s franchise industry? Visit us at www.chemdry.com or at chemdryfranchise.com.