[Stoots]

So I dabble in a bit of carpet cleaning along with a few other services but window cleaning is taking over most of my time.

With windows I can hope to turnover 200 a day 9-3 once the round is full.

So with regards carpets I would want to do 300  a day  to make it really worthwhile pushing into this area, otherwise why bother it would be easier to build the round up with regular work.

The problem is I really don't  see how this is possible given that most of the enquiries I get are usually just for the odd room, I mean how much can you charge for one room?

I just wondered for this guy's who are making 300 plus a day what is your work consisting of? Is it commercial, upholstery or full houses etc?

Wherea the money? What do I need to be looking at selling to achieve my targets ? Or am I better off sticking to windows and trying to maximise the profit in that?

Thanks

[dek]

If you think about it how often do people have there carpets cleaned ? even Mrs Boquet as a regular might do it twice a year. Think how many years you have to be around to get a full diary. Carpet cleaners spend a hell of a lot of  time marketing and attracting new clients to keep the ball rolling. Okay lots of regular commercial work helps but it all takes time.
Stick to windows you build a good round and it repeats every month. Bingo.
Just my thoughts. Dek,

[Mike Halliday]

Some honest facts, based on the thought that you don't want to be working 10hrs a day running your arze off doing £20 jobs......

You won't earn £300 doing single rooms for less than £45, if you want to hit £300 a day you need to be charging £65+ for a living room, you could say you need a min charge of £65.  You will get lots of single room jobs but you will also get full houses or suites+ a couple of carpets over the week/ month things will average out.

But unless  you charge good prices hitting £300 will be hard.

You also need to believe you are worth high prices, you don't have to be worth high prices just have the belief you do

[Mike Halliday]

So I dabble in a bit of carpet cleaning along with a few other services but window cleaning is taking over most of my time.

With windows I can hope to turnover 200 a day 9-3 once the round is full.

You are 'hoping' to earn £200 a day , here's an idea......... think big........... hope to earn £400.
I know a few window cleaners and I know lots of carpet cleaners guess who make the most money? It's not to say one is better than the other but their is more money  on average in carpet cleaning
 

[Stoots]

Thanks guys. That's added a bit of clarity to the situation.

I don't live in a particularly affluent area, you could say its working class to middle class, a mix of terraced, semis and council mainly with a few larger houses.

With the windows I aim to be at the high end of what Is charged around here. Im not quite at the top but i only know of one company whos prices are higher, this has resulted in the growth being quite slow but that's not such a big deal as I'm looking long term.

With carpets I have been charging 40 for first room and 3 for 100. Those kind of prices which seem to be about the high side o the norm around here. Sure there's a few more expensive and a lot cheaper but even at those prices I'm not too successfull.

I suppose from what you guys have said and looking at the figures it would be a hell of a lot of work with marketting to really eclipse the windows to a point that would make it worthwhile. And perhaps such marketting costs longterm would drag the profit margins down. I suppose with windowd once the round is full and you have the gear there's very little to do other than keep topping up the odd drop off every so often.

It might be that I decide to grow my window round further affield in a  more affluent area and offer the carpets solely to existing customers and only at a premium price.

Thanks

[Stoots]

So I dabble in a bit of carpet cleaning along with a few other services but window cleaning is taking over most of my time.

With windows I can hope to turnover 200 a day 9-3 once the round is full.

You are 'hoping' to earn £200 a day , here's an idea......... think big........... hope to earn £400.
I know a few window cleaners and I know lots of carpet cleaners guess who make the most money? It's not to say one is better than the other but their is more money  on average in carpet cleaning

I know carpets is more money but from what I've just said and knowing the local area with prices 400 a day on the glass is not feasible,  maybe in London.  And 400 a day on the carpets would probably take many many years and more than likely mean I would have to move to a more affluent area.

To be honest these sort of figures would have blown my kind just 2 years ago when I was on minimum wage. So "only 200" a day. Its funny because I came in moaning the other day after working for 5 hours and didn't hit my target of 200 on the glass, a relative was  visiting she works on a care home for about 8 quid an hour should have seen her face lol, I then remembered when 200 a day might as well have been a million.

[edward coller]

Hi Adam would agree with all that Mike has said.... For a different way of considering the 2 occupations directly, could I ask how many reguler days do w/c ,and I presume you are working just with yourself, turnover £300. If you are say doing that 4 /5 days a week, month in month out I would imagine you are ahead of most of us carpet cleaners on here , of course if thats not a reguler amount per day, well..... Simon

[Stoots]

Hi Adam would agree with all that Mike has said.... For a different way of considering the 2 occupations directly, could I ask how many reguler days do w/c ,and I presume you are working just with yourself, turnover £300. If you are say doing that 4 /5 days a week, month in month out I would imagine you are ahead of most of us carpet cleaners on here , of course if thats not a reguler amount per day, well..... Simon

No I don't turnover 300 a day.

I don't turn over anywhere near that, I haven't been going all that long and am still in the process of growing but with my current pricing etc I can estimate i could average 200 a day once full.

The reason for the thread is I'm coming up to a bit of a crossroads now where I need to decide whether to continue offering carpets cleaning and other bits like gutters, pressure washing etc pr concentrate fully on windoes only, possibly employing in the future etc.  I suppose I am trying to decide whether to push on further with carpets taking on the financial outlay for marketting and equipment etc. Are  the profit margins substantially more than windows to warrant pursuing it further.

[Mike Halliday]

I live on the outskirts of Hull, voted crapest town 3 years on a row, it is in the top five of lowest paid areas in the UK, I actually live 2 miles from the biggest council estate in Europe which though has some good areas has a massive unemployment problem.

It is not a affluent area by any means, but guess what!!! I drive 5 miles in the opposite direction  I hardly ever work in Hull,  I work in the villages and small towns that all the rich people who own business and work in hull ( but would never dream of actually living their) live.

Using where you live as an excuse for low prices is just that an excuse. I bet if you put up your postcode I could fine a £1000,000 house within 6 miles of your front door I bet their is loads of £50,0000 homes within 4 miles.

You still have a minimum wages mentality and are giving yourself excuses to keep within this safe mindset.

 people thicker than you......... Who are not half as good as you........who beat thier kids and a cheat on thier wives are earning the money & living the live you deserve.... Because they believe they are worth it 

[Stoots]

I live on the outskirts of Hull, voted crapest town 3 years on a row, it is in the top five of lowest paid areas in the UK, I actually live 2 miles from the biggest council estate in Europe which though has some good areas has a massive unemployment problem.

It is not a affluent area by any means, but guess what!!! I drive 5 miles in the opposite direction  I hardly ever work in Hull,  I work in the villages and small towns that all the rich people who own business and work in hull ( but would never dream of actually living their) live.

Using where you live as an excuse for low prices is just that an excuse. I bet if you put up your postcode I could fine a £1000,000 house within 6 miles of your front door I bet their is loads of £50,0000 homes within 4 miles.

You still have a minimum wages mentality and are giving yourself excuses to keep within this safe mindset.

 people thicker than you......... Who are not half as good as you........who beat thier kids and a cheat on thier wives are earning the money & living the live you deserve.... Because they believe they are worth it 

I know hull resonably well, I'm about 45 mins down the m62 from you
I used to deliver to hull fairly regular and I concur it is a bit of a hole lol.

My postcode is wf1 3el if you wish to try out your theory 

There are some decent sized properties fairly local but few and far between.

However if I go 20-30 mins or so north up the M1 I get into the "golden triangle" as they call it between both leeds, Harrogate and York which is possibly one of the most affluent areas in the north.

To be honest it's been a consideration for a while to move a bit further that way and could be an option.

Thanks

[gwrightson]

However if I go 20-30 mins or so north up the M1 I get into the "golden triangle" as they call it between both leeds, Harrogate and York which is possibly one of the most affluent areas in the north


And I have half a dozen customers in that area,   yes a bit out of my way  but well worth the journey,
I don't advertise there , simply and old customer moved there and was willing to pay a good price, and by word of mouth from that 1 customer I have now have  6.  all willing to pay.

Geoff

[Mike Halliday]

Adam tried my theory on Zoopla found 5 house for sale in the half million range, so there must be more not for sale didn't see any million pound houses listed (but Zoopla is not the place these properties get listed) but I do get your point, the average price is quite low.

You could look at it for another angle, is there a BMW, Range Rover or Mercedes dealership In  Wakefield? Who is buying cars from these places? ........People with money to spend on high value items.

[homenclean]

dont be fooled by the big house mentality, the realism is that a lot of people in those areas have very big mortgages and high out goings, a friend of mine is  a financial advisor and he would tell you there a lot of 2 bob millionaires in debt upto there ears, a lot of it is front.

i live in North Yorkshire not far from Harrogate and people talk about Harrogate prices the reality is most people with money tend to look after it and want quality service at a reasonable cost it is down to you to convince them what you are offering is value regardless of cost.

Be confident in your abilities and this will be visible to your customer make them feel confident you are the man to clean their carpets or windows and price has less to do with you getting the job.

John

[Stoots]

I think whilst there are all sorts of folks in different areas the general concensus that people in more affluent areas have more money to spare is generally true. Whilst there are exceptions to every rule it stands to reason that if you have a one million pound property paying a few hundred quid for your wool carpets cleaning is far more likely than paying the same what may be a weeks wages or more than they paid for their carpets to someone on minimum wage renting a terraced house.

There is also the price conditioning an area can have. If the majority of people in an area are used to paying a low price for carpet cleaning because the local guys have that low price mentality as well it all feeds together, so even if you have a small pocket of 500k plus houses amongst the terraced and semis they are going to be also conditioned to the areas pricing.

I honestly think if i were to push into carpets and pressure washing i would be better off looking further affield.

Thanks for all your input.

[Mike Halliday]

To get back on topic about where the money is in our business,  if you are at a crossroads then I would go down the pressure washing route rather than carpet cleaning.  The average job value is a lot higher you rarely go to a job  with an under £100 price tag.

Although winter can be a bit slow the rest of the year is good

[Kev Martin]

Hard Floor Cleaning is also very profitable and well suited to Carpet Cleaners who already have many potential leads.  All it takes whilst in cleaning the Carpets is to say to the Householder  " Do you know we now clean and seal hard floors and can restore Kitchen and Bathrooms as well"

[Lewis Newby]

I live on the outskirts of Hull, voted crapest town 3 years on a row, it is in the top five of lowest paid areas in the UK, I actually live 2 miles from the biggest council estate in Europe which though has some good areas has a massive unemployment problem.

It is not a affluent area by any means, but guess what!!! I drive 5 miles in the opposite direction  I hardly ever work in Hull,  I work in the villages and small towns that all the rich people who own business and work in hull ( but would never dream of actually living their) live.

Using where you live as an excuse for low prices is just that an excuse. I bet if you put up your postcode I could fine a £1000,000 house within 6 miles of your front door I bet their is loads of £50,0000 homes within 4 miles.

You still have a minimum wages mentality and are giving yourself excuses to keep within this safe mindset.

 people thicker than you......... Who are not half as good as you........who beat thier kids and a cheat on thier wives are earning the money & living the live you deserve.... Because they believe they are worth it 

Love this post Mike, ever thought about motivation speaking?  I found I read the last bit in the voice of Leo Di caprio in Wolf of wall Street 😂😂

[JandS]

More money in cc but more outgoings.

[Stoots]

Pressure washing I've found to be similar to carpets in regards getting decent prices.  But it's probably a better fit than carpets.
 
I suppose the only way to find out is give it a serious push with the carpets and see what happens.

I've heard leafletting is the way forward...

[tim handley]

is online not the way forward???

[edward coller]

Whatever you choose I really hope you do well! Good interesting thread, nice one boys and girls.

[Stoots]

is online not the way forward???

Not from my experience, carpet cleaning isnt bad, but pressure washing is terrible.

Ive tried.

[D Ingram]

When someone finds the money in cleaning do us all a favour and keep it to yourself.

Its like a lottery to me every week I could be a winner.
I use to tell my kids they was only one big job away from boarding school.
Needless to say they never saw the inside one.

Carpet cleaning is a funny business we all do it for different reasons.

I started it because I needed a job then it turned out I was single dad so the hours suited me.

Over my 35yrs of rubbing carpets I have met and made some lovely friends in this industry.
No millionaires yet!
Unless they are not letting on.

For years here on the board this question has been raised many times  and the answer in a nut shell is " Never believe all you read and free advice is worthless thats why its free"

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Bloody hell Dave you're still alive! 

Following on from what Dave has posted if you were to look across the pond you'll find that the market for cleaning is bigger but I'm not sure that there are many millionaire carpet cleaner Howard Partridge and Rob Allen are the ones that come to mind but in this country even the franchises with insurance work don't 'make' millions.

[Kev Martin]

I know SFA about carpet cleaning but what I do know for a fact, having trained at least 200 CC'ers to clean hard floors is, that there are quite a few out there that earn serious money doing it.  Now those guys are doing Hard Floors as well they are earning even more.  There are quite a few of them on here but they rarely post. 

My point is when I was a tiler there were tilers fixing for £15-£20 M2.  Where as I never fixed any tile for less than £30M2 and usually I was closer to £45 or even more depending on the complexity and M2 involved.   Some people I know clean and seal floors for peanuts and as most of you are aware there are CC'ers out there doing rooms for £20 so by definition I am sure it is the same in all trades.  There are those that are very good and those not quite so successful across all trades and walks of life.  It is ultimately only as good as you want to make it whatever you do.

Kevin

[Carpet Dawg]

Kev has pretty much hit the nail on the head.

The business is what you make it.

If your not busy on a weekly basis doing medium to high priced work, then this is down to YOU the business owner, not the industries fault. If you cannot achieve the higher prices or believe its not possible to get those prices and stay busy, then again this is your problem and a change of mindset is needed, unless you happy in your current position.

There is money out there guys waiting for someone to ask for it.

Spend your evening and free time making the phone ring. When quoting work, be full on reptile and give them your price without batting an eye lid.  Your older self will thank you.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Tony I've got my phone on auto dialer to your number only.

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

No millionaires yet!
Unless they are not letting on.

Sssh. I'm not saying anything. 😀😀

Rog

[Kev Martin]

A little addendum to my post above:

I have just been for my normal Saturday Morning Treat of a cooked breakfast.  The cafe (Greasy spoon) I go to was as usual this morning packed, every table full and a queue.  I watched them serving customer after customer whilst eating my breakfast , some of the orders had obviously been phoned through and those customers were walking out with bags full of breakfast rolls and trays of takeaway tea & coffee.  The takeaway orders ranged between £25-£40.

I finished my breakfast and wandered over to the Card Shop.  On the way I passed another cafe two doors down, the same size and if anything in a better position / location yet, there was only one customer in there?
 
If there is such a thing as a Cafe Forum I bet the second cafe owner is on there saying:

"There is no money in Cafes anymore"

[DB]

The answer  lies in my next question...

Why is it that 'you' go each week to that particular café for your breakfast?

[Kev Martin]

I have a bit of a routine on a Saturday morning.  I found that cafe a couple of years ago on my route.  Had a breakfast there, it was a very clean place, breakfast came fast, they have no problem meeting my requests of grilling my bacon or swapping the fried eggs for poached .  The breakfast is a high standard and good value.  Finally the staff are polite and friendly job done.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

How many times have I told you that I'm only a poor carpet cleaner.

[Mike Halliday]

The biggest problem  is the small, single room jobs, this is what limits the money (in carpet cleaning especially )

People want a single bedroom cleaned or just the small livingroom cleaned, you are never going to get really good money with these types of jobs no matter how quick you are. you need to allow 90 minutes to cover travel back & forth.

Unless you can book multiple room, full houses or a suite and a carpet you are limiting you maximum earning potential. If you are leaving people's homes with less than £100 then you are never going to earn good money.

I remember seeing a companies website they charged £85 for the first room then all other rooms were half price. I bet this guaranteed they never cleaned a job for less than £130, it's not a pricing strategy that I would follow but it's better than the........ 'any 3 rooms for £70' ........I've also seen

[DB]

Mike ..there's a van currently driving around my locality with sign writing that states... 'Three  rooms for £39.99'... I wonder whether he plans to replace his van in a few months ..so that he/she can advertise a price increase

[jasonl]

I know a few millionaire carpet cleaners, there is money to be made,  to the original poster, I would advise sticking with the windows and targeting commercial accounts were £300 a day is low, 5-10 days a month on £500-2000 commercial jobs will take you 2-3 days a month to sell but are very lucrative. 

I work the M1 and M62 corridor taking low hanging fruit that falls in my lap, I do very few £50 min fee jobs.

[Dennis]

Mike ..there's a van currently driving around my locality with sign writing that states... 'Three  rooms for £39.99'... I wonder whether he plans to replace his van in a few months ..so that he/she can advertise a price increase

They're  everywhere and have always been in  my nearly 30 years in this business.
20 miles from me.
SPECIAL OFFER ON CARPET CLEANING!

Your lounge, dining room, hall and stairs carpets professionally cleaned for only £34.99
regardless of size!

No extra charge within 25 miles of X
and no VAT charged.

[DB]

Your right Dennis

I find that 'Ignorance is Bliss'..... if I don't know what other cleaners charge I can't worry about it

Likewise I have been in the business for a great many years...they tend to come and go quite quickly