Now I’m running into it myself. We have a fantastic opportunity to make a product but can’t find a material supplier based here in the U.S.

Years ago there were many suppliers of the goods we seek. Today we are having trouble finding one. We even thought about buying equipment to make the stuff ourselves. Guess what? No equipment manufacturers here anymore either.

How many other industries has this quietly happened to? Probably far too many.

The focus is going to be more toward Low Moisture and Oscillating Pad cleaning and some new products that we will manufacture ourselves. The first of which will be a line of our own OP pads. Going to start with a basic cotton pad available in sizes from 4″ to 22″ which will cover a wide variety of applications. After we get that line established we will expand into some other designs of pads. The goal is to make all these ourselves with materials from the USA. This is easier said than done as many fabrics are made in Turkey or Pakistan.

The research has been done and we are very close to beginning production on our Scrubmeister OP Pads.

Stay Tuned!

Wishing you and yours the very best for the holiday season and 2012.

Look for some changes on Scrubmeister.com this coming year. We are going to change focus and begin production of some of our own products!

We sell commercial carpet cleaning equipment and supplies www.scrubmeister.com. I looked for a long time to find something that would offer all the features I wanted. Thought our list of needs was pretty basic but I guess not? Most don’t offer what I was looking for.

Tried to set up a cart using some popular shareware. After spending a week programming the thing I still didn’t have the features I wanted nor was it set up with products and ready to sell. Gave up on that and started looking for something commercial. Wanted something I could host on my own server so it had to be stand alone software.

After looking for about a week I came across CS-Cart. It had everything I wanted out of the box. Check out their site www.cs-cart.com. It is quite extensive and also has a demo store you can try. They have a small support forum, ticket system, etc. We have been running the software for about a year now. It has gotten better and several versions later it runs great and has fewer bugs. We paid $250 at the time for this software. I think it is up to $275 now but I would still spend the money for it. It comes with some support credits but if you need additional support you either have to pay for it or use their forums. There is a manual you can download and a knowledge base. I was pretty much able to do all of it using the manual, knowledge base and forum. Only had to ask a couple of questions from support. I do have some experience with php programs since we’ve been running forums for a few years. While I wouldn’t call myself a wizard I can usually figure out some of the basics. Most of what I learned from the forums software translated to the CS-Cart software.

If you want to customize the software there are commercial mod programmers and skin (theme) designers who specialize in CS-Cart. I’m running a stock skin at the moment but I may do something custom down the road?

Not sure if it bothers anyone but these guys are out of Russia. They do have some people and servers here in the US. I gave it a lot of thought before I bought but it was hard to overlook what the cart did for the money so I gave it a shot. Glad I did.

I’m particularly interested in this topic and have been working from home since 1994. The idea is to create an independent place for people to discuss all areas of working AT or FROM home.

This forum covers a lot of area and topics. If you are interested in working at or from home then check it out.

50% off all new hosting. Great deal if you need hosting.

Still very impressed with them. Has it been flawless? NO, but pretty clost. When I have needed help with something their support has been great. I think most of our issues (small) were related to tightened security features. The bad guys are always coming up with new ways to try to affect your website or systems. I welcome Hostgators’ efforts even if it means I have to adjust my software somewhat. Up-time has been great and service reliable.

There are numerous ways to get support from Hostgator. They have a decent forum, chat, telephone and Ticket. I find that I use the ticket system most. Its easy to use and I get fast response. Heard it wasn’t always that way but that has been my experience since we have been using Hostgator.

Not sure Hostgator is the cheapest host out there now? Pricing seems reasonable but I haven’t shopped for anything else since I’m quite happy with the service and support we presently receive.

Here is a link if you want to check them out:

I reviewed numerous cart options before taking the plunge to buy this cart software. Even spent a week working on a FREE software cart. I found that it needed numerous mods to get even close to the functionality I wanted. It also had very poor support at their forum.

The version of CS-Cart we bought in the beginning did everything we wanted right from the start. Downloaded the manual (pdf), used their forums and support desk a few times to get started. I found it fairly intuitive which is good since I have no experience setting up a shopping cart.

There have been several version upgrades over the last year. It just keeps getting better. Every version fixes a few bugs and adds some new functions. Its hard to imagine that this software doesn’t do something you want. There are multiple functions we don’t even use!

Go to www.cs-cart.com and check out their website. It will take a while to read it all so plan on spending some time there. You can even try out the software in a demo area. Look at the forums, documentation, etc to get a better feel for how it might fit for your business. The price has gone up $25 since I bought the software but I would still spend the money for it today.

Scrubmeister.com has been running this year. Will post an update to how that site is doing and a review of the CS cart software we use for it.

We will be starting another new website: workathome-forum.com soon. The goal with this forum will be to help people wade through all the work at home ideas and schemes out there. It will be an independent website. We aren’t selling anything just trying to educate and share information. More on this project later……….

We contacted several companies about becoming distributors for their product. Some were very quick to respond and were happy to hear from us. Others required multiple phone calls and emails. Some have still not responded or provided us with details we need to do business with them. So…..You think we should sell their products?

If I didn’t know any better there seems to be a lack of salesmanship? The economy is not great for most companies and here is someone willing to sell your products. Do you not at least respond? Another thing we’ve found is that many haven’t really grasped what the internet is and can do for them. They still want a phone call, provide few details and remain secretive. “What’s your fax number?” Are you serious? Email a PDF or something! There are also those companies that think a distributor should have a vast stock pile of product and huge capital investment.

I’m sorry but those that can’t respond to an email or drop ship some product without huge investments will be left by the wayside or selling everything themselves. Every other industry is adapting. Why not suppliers of cleaning products?

As a note………We don’t have anything on Scrubmeister.com that I wouldn’t personally use as a professional cleaner. Our goal has always been to provide the best made products that will provide years of service and make customers lots of money.