Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Steve Gunn on August 14, 2010, 09:56:51 am
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Speaking to various trades people recently they struggled to come to terms with how much I charge,lad who did my decking charged me £150 for two and a half days work and he had a helper,garage charged me £40 for fitting brake shoes and wheel cylinder after explaining I was a mechanic asked why I wasn't doing it myself I told him I could make more money cleaning carpets.Painter just decorated my 3 bedrooms,lounge and staircase £150 3+ days.Now most days I aim for £250 a day without killing myself 2 or 3 jobs some days its more others it less
So what makes us able to justify our charges?Or why do we think we can justify our prices?
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Not sure,but i think if it did go boobies up,you could do a lot of money`s worth of damage in a day !
New decent carpets are a big investment,cleaning them makes them last longer,and i suppose if you weigh up the cost of cleaning as opposed to replacing,then it`s not so much ?
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If you are charging more than you are worth you will soon find out.
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Speaking to various trades people recently they struggled to come to terms with how much I charge,lad who did my decking charged me £150 for two and a half days work and he had a helper,garage charged me £40 for fitting brake shoes and wheel cylinder after explaining I was a mechanic asked why I wasn't doing it myself I told him I could make more money cleaning carpets.Painter just decorated my 3 bedrooms,lounge and staircase £150 3+ days.Now most days I aim for £250 a day without killing myself 2 or 3 jobs some days its more others it less
So what makes us able to justify our charges?Or why do we think we can justify our prices?
Iv thought the same kind of thing. I find it easier on jobs around the £100 mark as can get done quickly and customers dont think too much about time to money ratio, struggle on large houses that could take say 3.5 to 4 hrs and wanting £300 for example. Customer then thinks £300 and not even here all day.
I explain time taken on jobs and pricing if asked, by saying the set up i have is £20k plus, NCCA member, best chemicals etc. Explain i can be quick as no filling or emptying of machine,bring my own water, all solutions metered by machine etc etc.
I think it comes back to selling yourself and being confident that you are worth the money! We only get to kow we are worth it because we can earn it! Your not worth £40 a day if you cant get business to earn it but if you can get 4 jobs a day at £100 then your worth £400 a day!
Its as wynne said.
I think the thing with carpet cleaning is, if you can earn good money doing it, it probably means your good at running a business which means you could probably pick something else and earn good money too.Actualy being able to clean the carpets is a small part of the equation!
Andy
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customers are not paying for an amount of time they are paying for a result.
Steve you paid £150 for your decking not 2.5 days work, just like you would pay a surgeon £8000 for the ability to walk around the park, you are not paying the surgeon £8000 for the 2 hours it took him to replace your knee joint.
its the value of the result that is important that's where the price comes from.
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I could go on about this for hours but I'm not going to, I've got other things to do.
I accept there's machinery purchase, chemical purchase, wear and tear, fuel costs, tax, NI etc etc but I really cringe when I see people on here charging £300 or more for 3 hours work.
Whilst I accept Mikes comment about the value of a surgeon making you walk again, the other end of the spectrum is that in all honesty this is a unskilled profession, it is manual labour and anyone with 2 brain cells who work out common sense can make a living out of it. How many of us would be honest and say we don't have the memory skills, outright ability and enough money behind us to spend 7 years training to become a top doctor/dentist/barrister etc. Yet we some on here earning more per hour than those few examples. (Or at least they claim to be!)
We are only worth what people are willing to pay us, measured against the value of the goods, measured against the time and effort needed for them to do it themselves.
Like Steve I'm too an ex mechanic but I begrudge paying £70/hour for something I can do myself unless the job is quite major and requires specalist eqiptment and a lot of time. Old cars were a doddle whereas new ones require electronic diagnosis machines. Carpet cleaning requires spray, scrub, suck with the odd slight variation of course. End of.
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Neil I'm not compaing what we do to the skill of a sergeon but saying its the result that important not how long it takes to do it.
we clean a living room for a customer, they are not just getting a clean carpet, perhaps they also get other beneifits that they value more.
how many carpet do we clean because a pensioner can't handle the stress of shopping for a new carpet or the upheavel of empting the room.
they are not paying £60 for the hour it takes to clean the carpet, they are paying £60 so the don't have to replace the carpet.
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I totally agree with you Mike but like I said, We are only worth what people are willing to pay us, measured against the value of the goods, measured against the time and effort needed for them to do it themselves.
What gets my back up are people who 'claim' on here that they always work at £100/hour or more and that for what is really an unskilled manual labour job is obscene, compared to other professions where years of studying and expense are required before you even talk to your first customer never mind actually doing the job.
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Neil,
The hourly rate that an individual can achieve is depended on machinery, preparation and how hard you push yourself.
I charge the same using a truckmount as i did with a portable but im quicker as no filling emptying.
All chemicals are pre mixed before i get to any job. I carry a few different pre sprays to run through inline sprayer and stock solution for rinsing. I push myself hard on jobs and dont stop for tea etc.
My hourly rate does not take into account making up solutions, filling tank etc in the morning before going out.
I ring the doorbell at the customers carrying something to take in, not normally a vacuum but i wont start that off!
Hourly rate was less with portable, filling/emtying, filling hand sprayer etc etc takes time.
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I am happy for the carpet cleaning side of our business to pull in an average of £25 per hour (per person) worked. This to me is fair and reasonable when all things are considered.
Pressure washing aside, it is also way above what we can get for all other sides of our business.
In my opinion people talking of regular earnings of £100 per hour (per person) are not in the real world and are either stretching the truth or worse, ripping their customer off.
I would say good luck to them but I'm more inclined to feel sorry for the poor fool's they're working for, regardless of standard of finish.
I would agree that truck-mounts and super fast porty guys can easily achieve higher rates than £25 per hour but surely those claiming to achieve £100 per hour should questioning of their morals.
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Ian,
in the real world area i live in a mid terrace 3 bed house sells for £400k.I cleaned a tiny living room and stairs for £75 on friday in a two bed mid terrace house, took an hour. House next door up for sale at £330k. I dont need to question my morals.
Its prime commuter belt 15 mins into kings cross, i dont have a problem with £100 per hour if i could earn it after investing time and money into a business and living in the area i do.
Not sure where the £100 an hour has come from in my post i mentioned 3.5 to 4 hours and wanting £300 thats more like £75 per hour.
Andy
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Andy,
On the points you made about the NCCA i find that for the cost of membership it cant do any harm to be a member. I use for marketing and when i get enquiries. Customers havnt heard of it but they have after iv told them about it!
Andy
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why not work for nothing....keeps almost every customer happy...no margin no mission...
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One reason we can charge so much is that the public have no idea what our margins are , those who I have spoken with about this think 30-40% is our chemical cost ,when in reality it is1-2 % ., I spend more on diesel than chemical.
I just got in from a £100/hour job , for a footballer , his mrs said I nearly did not get the job because I was so cheap, 2 bedrooms, hall stairs and landing, £180 , was just over 2 hours from leaving home to getting in.
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I totally agree with you Mike but like I said, We are only worth what people are willing to pay us, measured against the value of the goods, measured against the time and effort needed for them to do it themselves.
What gets my back up are people who 'claim' on here that they always work at £100/hour or more and that for what is really an unskilled manual labour job is obscene, compared to other professions where years of studying and expense are required before you even talk to your first customer never mind actually doing the job.
Well said Neil
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I just got in from a £100/hour job , for a footballer , his mrs said I nearly did not get the job because I was so cheap,
If I was lucky enough to quote on a professional footballers place then I would go in high, why would I do that? Because these people have lost all sense of reality and if they are happy to mug their employers for £10k - £20k a week then I'd be happy to mug them back ;D But these people are few and far between in the carpet cleaning world. The vast majority of our customers are hard working genuine people with their feet still attached to planet earth, and that's a different ball game.
Andrew, the £100/hour remark wasn't aimed at you directly (the maths you suppied just worked out near that), it's just that we do have posters who consider £100/hour as the regular right price for unskilled manual labour.....I don't. Except for customers who deserved to be mugged (see above).
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Why is it so important anyway. If someone charges £100 an hour good luck to them if someone charges £20 that's their business.
Surely there are more things to worry about in YOUR OWN BUSINESS that would be a better use of time.
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QUOTE "if they are happy to mug their employers for £10k - £20k a week"
Could say "If their employers are happy to pay them 10k-20k then so what. Its their perceived value".
Likewise, if someone is happy to pay a carpet cleaner £100 for what amounts to an hours carpet clean - then thats their perceived value too.
But is it really £100 for an hour cleaning carpets.
What about the half driving there, the half hour driving back. There is labour costs to be accounted for as well as cost of provision and of running a van.
It will work out a lot less then £100 per hour - so even if I was getting "£100 per hour" (which I dont) I dont think I would feel too bad about it.
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I just got in from a £100/hour job , for a footballer , his mrs said I nearly did not get the job because I was so cheap,
If I was lucky enough to quote on a professional footballers place then I would go in high, why would I do that? Because these people have lost all sense of reality and if they are happy to mug their employers for £10k - £20k a week then I'd be happy to mug them back ;D But these people are few and far between in the carpet cleaning world. The vast majority of our customers are hard working genuine people with their feet still attached to planet earth, and that's a different ball game.
Andrew, the £100/hour remark wasn't aimed at you directly (the maths you suppied just worked out near that), it's just that we do have posters who consider £100/hour as the regular right price for unskilled manual labour.....I don't. Except for customers who deserved to be mugged (see above).
I did not realise it was a footballer at the time of quoting, the carpets were white, with a few black marks, the whole flat was very nicely fitted out , my price reflected the risk of me damaging something.
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I wouldn't agree that this is UNSKILLED trade. I'm not saying it is a highly skilled trade but is definitely more than an unskilled one. If it wasn't why do so many new start ups have to ask so many questions even after they have attended a course and why do we commonly hear customers saying "you are the expert".
I am 30 years in this business and yet still have to learn because new fabric and textiles come into fashion all the time, and if you think they can all be cleaned the same way with the same solutions, then you really are unskilled.
Speak for yourselves but I regard myself as skilled in what I do and my customers see me as the same, and that's what matters.
Dave.
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Hi Guys
Several points.
If the customers didn't think it was worth it they wouldn't pay it.
I estimate only 1 in 10 CC's make it and become established, so it cant be that easy.
It's often knowing what not to do which makes the difference.
Having said all that I have had my second best week ever and I wouldn't mention how much to my friends because they just wouldn't believe me.
So here we have the conundrum, easy job , top money, both can't be true!
Cheers
Doug
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I am happy for the carpet cleaning side of our business to pull in an average of £25 per hour (per person) worked. This to me is fair and reasonable when all things are considered.
Pressure washing aside, it is also way above what we can get for all other sides of our business.
In my opinion people talking of regular earnings of £100 per hour (per person) are not in the real world and are either stretching the truth or worse, ripping their customer off.
I would say good luck to them but I'm more inclined to feel sorry for the poor fool's they're working for, regardless of standard of finish.
I would agree that truck-mounts and super fast porty guys can easily achieve higher rates than £25 per hour but surely those claiming to achieve £100 per hour should questioning of their morals.
What a load of nonsense. I sometimes hit that number. But it doesn't account for my travelling time or cost. It doesn't count for the time i spend doing repairs, maintain machinery, it does account for the time spend quoting or doing my accounts or banking or designing a leaflet. Get off your high horse. I think folks who don't charge enough have seriously missed a trick and I question their business acumen.
On a separate note. I did a clean for an Argyle striker on Wednesday. He paid me and gave me tickets for the home games against Carlisle today. Top bloke too.
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I love it when someone says it's imoral to earn more than X pounds per hour. LOL
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Speaking to various trades people recently they struggled to come to terms with how much I charge,lad who did my decking charged me £150 for two and a half days work and he had a helper,garage charged me £40 for fitting brake shoes and wheel cylinder after explaining I was a mechanic asked why I wasn't doing it myself I told him I could make more money cleaning carpets.Painter just decorated my 3 bedrooms,lounge and staircase £150 3+ days.Now most days I aim for £250 a day without killing myself 2 or 3 jobs some days its more others it less
So what makes us able to justify our charges?Or why do we think we can justify our prices?
Where did you get a decorator from for less than 50 quid a day mate?
Mark
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At £25 per hour I would be losing money. Now that would immoral!
Nigel
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Hi Topgunn why is your painter charging less than the minimum wage (£150 for more than 3 days work) when he is self employed ? ::)
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Hi Steve don't know what your decorator did but that is silly money I started on my own over 20years ago and my customers valued me more than that then.
As a lot of you know we still run the decorating and as an example I don't think that is very representative.
As a fair example on monday we are doing a standard size lounge emulsion ceiling and walls two coats of satin on the woodwork £465 plus materials.
I must say though I wish we had started the carprt cleaning 20years ago I would be retired now lol
Cheers Tony
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If you have it set in your head that you are not worth £100+ per hour,then it`s going to be much harder trying to convince potential customers that your worth that !
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Everybody has a minimum price usually around the £40 - £60 mark
usually for doing say a medium sized lounge which we'll say takes
an hour.
So what do the £100 an hour people charge? Minimum or £100.
As for £465 for painting a lounge, you wouldn't be doing mine.
John
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Everybody has a minimum price usually around the £40 - £60 mark
usually for doing say a medium sized lounge which we'll say takes
an hour.
So what do the £100 an hour people charge? Minimum or £100.
As for £465 for painting a lounge, you wouldn't be doing mine.
John
of course you won't hit £100/hr on just a average L/R but on a easy clean, through lounge and hallway it can sometimes be possible
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I started up because I was made redundant from my head chef`s job.
The only business experience i had was as a promoter,running club nights in and around Cambridgeshire.
Was on 18 grand as a chef,but i made more than that in my 2nd year doing this,it has taken me 6 years to get to the stage i am at now,it`s not been easy,but it`s worth it as my quality of life has vastly improved. used to average 60+ hours a week as a chef,and i regularly earn what i earned in a week in a day doing this,it has been very close at points too though,but that has taught me that i need at least a few grand in the bank as a buffer,for the quiet periods of trade.
My machine will be 7 years old this year,and i am going to try and make it last 10 before i upgrade,i would like a Prowler,as i think you get the best of both worlds with one of those.
I have learned from my mistakes,and have managed to cut my advertising budget by 3/4`s this year,and I am busier as a result !
I don`t have any plans for world domination,have no interests in expanding or taking on staff and hate the whole fast track stuff
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Good post Mark :) I like your posts, they always seem chatty/real/straight from the horses mouth! If that makes sense lol
Should we not quite down a bit from the whole "oh its an easy job, anyone can do it and the money is very good!" posts that some have made on this thread and others?
I mean, none of us need more competion in our areas surely? from people lurking now and the future!!Or am i being a grumpy bugger? :P
It defo is not an easy job! you need to know how to run a business effectivley, you need to know customer service and how to anwser a phone properly, how to market and advertise your business, its very physical specialy if your a porty user! AND to clean a carpet or sofa properly (for money) i dont think anybody could do it easly! You need to be precise and have patience! Alot of people dont have these! and the job can get boring, i.e. commercial jobs and the constant, getting the gear out of the van, setting up, filling water, emptying water, putting gear back.........yawn...
£465 to paint a living room does seem excessive, depends on area i suppose. I live in a very nice part of Edinburgh, very central and no schemes near by. The New Town if anyone has ever been to edinburger before. Anyways, i had my lounge painted a couple of months ago and the guy charged £150 a day, took him two days. But it was a big lounge, plus ceiling and wood work. i.e. corniseing, three door frames, three doors, and all skirting. And he has an established business of 20 years. Same with my tiler, he charges £115 a day. Both are not Polish lol
Tony
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Good post Mark Smiley I like your posts, they always seem chatty/real/straight from the horses mouth! If that makes sense lol
Aw fanks !!
charged £150 a day
My father in law is a painter and decorator now,he was at one point high up management at Ratners jewellers,but that changed almost overnight !! He is happy earning £150 a day !!! That`s in Suffolk,in a reasonably wealthy area
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Hi Guys
There are many difficult aspects to running a successful business and many come and go.
New CC's will see the riches but will they have enough money, staying power and ability to get to the stage they actually make a profit.
One of the reasons confusion reigns in CC earnings is that many quote gross earnings as opposed to net, whereas the decorator has minimal outlay as the customey will pay for materials and his earnings are his labour charge.
I was speaking to a fellow CC this morning who bought a machine off ebay with only seven hours on the clock, the guy just didn't know how to get work.
I stand by the saying that it cannot be an easy job and get top money, doesn't make any economic sense, supply and demand etc.
Cheers
Doug
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Yeah its harder than it ever has been to be a succseful carpet cleaner/businessmen.
1. The growth in "other" flooring option. i.e. laminate, hardwood, tiles etc So less carpets to clean...
2. More compition. The internet and forums like this (no offense) giving all the ammo the newbie needs! :-X again no offense lol and places like ebay where people can easly pick up 2nd had deals. And in turn, there now more training courses etc etc
Tony
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The trouble here is that most carpet cleaners are just that. Carpet cleaners.
You need to be a business man as well.
At £25 per hour I would certainly be losing money.
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My father in law is a painter and decorator now,he was at one point high up management at Ratners jewellers,but that changed almost overnight !! He is happy earning £150 a day !!! That`s in Suffolk,in a reasonably wealthy area
And look what happened to Gerald Ratner! " It's cheap, because its crap" ..... sums the whole topic up really.
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£100 an hour is possible but if you could do that 8 hors a day 5 days a week then there would be a few more Bentlies in carpet cleaners garages wouldn't there.
Hears and example.
You quote a thru lounge over the phone you say £65 and can you move any odds and sods out.
You can back onto the drive, go in with your sprayer and prespray, open the back doors and reel in the hose and start wanding. You just have to move the sofa.
You then pack up, get your money and gone in 40minutes tops.
Now most of the time it's... You can't park close, the custy chats and gets in the way, the carpet is a minger with lots of spotting etc etc etc.
But it is possible on 'average price' jobs.
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I have been in business for 20 years in that time my business has gone through many hardships and I have put in a lot of effort to stay in business. I have an extensive knowledge of the products that I clean. I have spent years practicing with chemicasl and have become highly proficient at what I do. I have made a large investment in equipment.
My business always needs new and better equipment despite the fact that my back up equipment is better than many people's daily use equipment. I have no problems whatsoever in explaining to anybody why I need to charge what I do.
There are many carpet cleaners who are monkeys off the street or who could teach what they know to monkeys in the street in 15 minutes.
The quality of service that customers get varies considerably as do the level of skills of the operator.
There are a great deal of people working in the industry that do not even have the intelligence to understand that there is a lot of skill, product knowledge, understanding of chemical and fibre technology required to be able to provides a good service in the first place.
It is these idiots with their useless equipment and non existent skill who are "ripping people off".
I take pride in the work that I do and feel that I should be charging more for the quality of service that I provides, it is only being undercut by these cowboys that keeps the prices down.
Peter Maybury
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com
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Cos I'm Cheryl from walker and "I'm worth it" Like!
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A thort shi waas from Heaton like.
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Hi Guys
So Andy a if it was so easy why did you give up?
Cheers
Doug
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Huh!
I thought it was Paul/Wynne who said that. I can't keep up ;)
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Hi Andy
Why didn't you train someone up to do it?
Cheers
Doug
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Hello Gary you old git ;D
;D Yep, I'm back at long last, nearly 2 years away :o.
Decided to do it properly this time and got a little truck mount, should be ready to go by the end of the week :-). ( Hope I haven't opened a can of worms :P ).
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I have been reading through this whole thread and i just cant work out some peoples logic.
My whole aim in business is to make as much money as possible whilst hoping to ensure customer satisfaction if you feel that your only worth £20 per hour then you are possibly charging sub £60 per suite and less for a 3 bed house.
If i charged £25 per hour i would be out of business in a short period of time because lets face it you are only perhaps cleaning for between 3-5 hours a day on average the rest is taken up with travel quotes etc etc.
If your using prof equipment and getting satisfied customers why short change yourself.
looking back over a period of time there was apost about average price per sq m about £3 was the average price per suite was averaging just under a £100. the on the other hand you have threads moaning about £10 per room .
anyone who is charging sub £25 per hour would you like to come and work for me and earn as much as you are getting now and i can spend more time on the golf course
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Hi Guys
Some of the posts have illustrated perfectly why CC is a hard business in practice.
The theory is easy and ex carpet cleaners will no doubt have plenty of them, but the reality is much tougher and I repeat my estimation that only 1 in 10 actually make it!
Cheers
Doug
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Some interesting replies but as been stated we have a broad spectrum of cc's on here who all think differently,which is the point I was trying to make some are quite happy making £500 a week others want double,treble or even more nothing wrong with that.It's the same in all professions some are happy just plodding on some want more
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Just read through this thread and thought would throw my tuppence worth in.
I consider myself a salesman not a cc'er.
I do pride myself on the quality of work, attend training courses now and again and have some good kit NCCA and iicrc member.
However if you have no customers then you have no business.
The hardest part of this job is getting work. Thats why most new starters fail, they think they are carpet cleaners.
Most of my work is repeat business and referrals (approx 60%) next comes letting agents, and leaflets.
I only visit to quote jobs 4 + bedrooms or the odd commercial.
dont haggle over price more than £ 10 ish.
Agree with Andy, a trained chimp could do the majority of jobs without any problem. In fact I have one.
He pushes the wand most days for me, I do the clever bit, pre spray, agitate and deciding what spotter to use if required. Oh nearly forgot chatting to the custards, kitchen sink marketing as our Ken says.
Lets face it the majority of jobs you go in, pre spray, agitate and wand, ask for money. 3 or 4 jobs most days, start at 9 30 home by 4 most days, inc. hour for lunch and filling m/c.
Where else can I get a job like that?
Its not rocket science, dont try and make out it is.
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Just read through this thread and thought would throw my tuppence worth in.
I consider myself a salesman not a cc'er.
I do pride myself on the quality of work, attend training courses now and again and have some good kit NCCA and iicrc member.
However if you have no customers then you have no business.
The hardest part of this job is getting work. Thats why most new starters fail, they think they are carpet cleaners.
Most of my work is repeat business and referrals (approx 60%) next comes letting agents, and leaflets.
I only visit to quote jobs 4 + bedrooms or the odd commercial.
dont haggle over price more than £ 10 ish.
Agree with Andy, a trained chimp could do the majority of jobs without any problem. In fact I have one.
He pushes the wand most days for me, I do the clever bit, pre spray, agitate and deciding what spotter to use if required. Oh nearly forgot chatting to the custards, kitchen sink marketing as our Ken says.
Lets face it the majority of jobs you go in, pre spray, agitate and wand, ask for money. 3 or 4 jobs most days, start at 9 30 home by 4 most days, inc. hour for lunch and filling m/c.
Where else can I get a job like that?
Its not rocket science, dont try and make out it is.
Great post Dave , this was drummed into us week in week out at ChemDry,we are business people first , carpet cleaners second.
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Hello Gary you old git ;D
;D Yep, I'm back at long last, nearly 2 years away :o.
Decided to do it properly this time and got a little truck mount, should be ready to go by the end of the week :-). ( Hope I haven't opened a can of worms :P ).
Does that mean I wont get to go to Hamble again? :-[
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Hi
If you think you are worth £60-70 or £100 an hour then you are, if you think you're not you're not.
I sometimes hit that and sometimes more (wish it was all the time)
I also paint houses and offices.
The quicker I get done the more I get paid, simple economics.
Regards
Martin 8)
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Well I have just got back from doing a 3 story town house,did the exact same place but next door in March this year,for a letting agy,so i quoted this over the phone for the same price !
Last one took me 2 1/2 hours,this one took me nearly 4,still made £250,but it`s just one of those swings and roundabouts type things,carpets were not that dirty,just the amount of sock fluff,that was matted into the carpet that took ages to get out,with a hand brush ;D
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Mark, you should always remember that end of lets are generally empty of furniture. So I always add on enough to cover the fact that its going to take more time, even though I dont usually move beds, sideboards, TV and computor bits and bobs unless asked to. But your right some you win, others you dont win so much.
Use a oreck orbiter with a red pad to remove sock fluff at the same time as agitating prespray.
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This one was for the same letting agy ! And was also empty,there are 6 in a row,bloke who lives in the end one built them all,cleaned for him the last time i was there in March ;D
He made me cups of t to keep me going,he did say good luck,when he saw i was there about to start.
And came and inspected when i was done,very happy again.
Didn`t think people still use talcum powder,when i started wanding the top en suite,the beige carpet turned white !! Wondered what on earth was going on,worst bit`s were around where the beds had been,think they must have all been black sock wearers, i use a really stiff blue bristled nylon brush,does the job ,but my poor old knees are hurting now,if it had been really bad i would have got the Duo out the van ;D
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Lets not forget its not how much you make per hour but how much you keep.
With over 10 years experience IMO it takes £25k give or take to run a cc business. Thats £520 a week for 48 week year. Then comes tax, sick pay, holiday pay, pension so really you should be aiming at the very least for £200 a day to give yourself an average wage.
Steve - seems you got a bargain with your tradesmen.
Mark
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Many claim to be earning the earth cleaning carpets, that fact is, most on here would jolt a tramp off for the cost of a coffee.
That’s my positive comment for today.
Matt.
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;D
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I think both in terms of marketing and expertise cleaning wise £100/hr takes a lot of effort.
Maybe those who haven't done it ever think it's impossible based on their current experience and think it's earned dishonestly. In reality it takes a lot of time and effort, maybe more than they are prepaired to sacrifice themselves?
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just shows the diversity of cleaners/ businessmen we compete against. Richard, i am with you, think you have summed it up perfectly.
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Hello Gary you old git ;D
;D Yep, I'm back at long last, nearly 2 years away :o.
Decided to do it properly this time and got a little truck mount, should be ready to go by the end of the week :-). ( Hope I haven't opened a can of worms :P ).
Does that mean I wont get to go to Hamble again? :-[
Probably, don't think she is talking to me at the moment!
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Let's not forget what the topic heading is, which is basically why do you think you are worth what you charge. Has anyone actually answered that?
I've had the odd £100/hour but I don't think any standard cleaning is worth that.
I renovated a leather handbag that generated that sort of money but as the item was worth about £1,000 it only felt right to charge accordingly. Now ask yourself would your wife pay £150 to have her handbag renovated when it only cost £80?
That's the point I'm making. It's not what it's worth to the customer but what the actual job itself is worth, and I believe that's what the answers should be.
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To me it sounds like you contradicted yourself in your 2nd paragraph.
If the handbag is worth £1000 you say its only right to charge accordingly. If the custy pays £150 to save her £1000 handbag then its worth it to the customer.
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Carpets are expensive though !! It costs far less to clean than it does to replace them,even at £100 per hoyr
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I didn't say it was right but that is what it was worth to the customer, likewise if a carpet cost £10,000 then no doubt the customer would happily pay £1,000 for a few hours work. Would a neighbour with the same size rooms who paid £1,000 for the carpet (new) pay £1,000 to have the same service?
BUT and again,
Why do carpet cleaners believe they are worth what they charge? I've yet to see an answer that says....
'I prolong the life of their investment'
'As they have kids with breathing problems I am stopping a potential fatality.'
etc
etc
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Many claim to be earning the earth cleaning carpets, that fact is, most on here would jolt a tramp off for the cost of a coffee.
That’s my positive comment for today.
Matt.
Then theres always someone who will undercut you to get the job...
Clouds have linings Andy. The winner would have cream for the coffee.
Matt
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To me it sounds like you contradicted yourself in your 2nd paragraph.
If the handbag is worth £1000 you say its only right to charge accordingly. If the custy pays £150 to save her £1000 handbag then its worth it to the customer.
Well Neil I agree with Joe you have contradicted yourself.
And ain't many carpets in a house knocking on for a grands worth?
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Well i have just been asked by the agency what i would charge roughly to do a 5 bed house,said around £350 ish,have been told that is far too much,and would i match the £235 quote they had !!
From a national company supposedly
Said yes as it`s all work..
Can`t see why someone who is paying upwards of a grand a month to rent a house,would quibble !
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Lets not forget its not how much you make per hour but how much you keep.
With over 10 years experience IMO it takes £25k give or take to run a cc business. Thats £520 a week for 48 week year. Then comes tax, sick pay, holiday pay, pension so really you should be aiming at the very least for £200 a day to give yourself an average wage.
Steve - seems you got a bargain with your tradesmen.
Mark
I am not knocking you , for I one man band I struggle to see where you get 25k from.
EQUIPMENT 3K
AD/MARKETING 4K
Vehicle 4k
CHEMS 2K
Ins/phone/bits 2k
That is 15k, what have I missed? This is based on a 50k turnover.
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I am not knocking you , for I one man band I struggle to see where you get 25k from.
EQUIPMENT 3K
AD/MARKETING 4K
Vehicle 4k
CHEMS 2K
Ins/phone/bits 2k
That is 15k, what have I missed? This is based on a 50k turnover.
Yours may be 15k but others maybe 25k+
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I am just wondering where the extra gets spent.
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Any business turning over £50k with costs of £25 is seriously flawed.
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With over 10 years experience IMO it takes £25k give or take to run a cc business. Thats £520 a week for 48 week year. Then comes tax, sick pay, holiday pay, pension so really you should be aiming at the very least for £200 a day to give yourself an average wage.
Steve - seems you got a bargain with your tradesmen.
Mark
:o £25K a year to run a carpet cleaning business?
I aim for £200 a day but my overheads for the year are less than £5K!
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Steve
this is real easy question.
Time
when your in demand you time is worth more. its the law of business, supply and demand. you must of heard on the news about the trader that's buying up all the stock of cocoa? he now controls the price. this block is really cleaver as traders don't normally take delivery of the stock but this guy has a long term plan and he is.
Anyway well done and long may in continue.
Respects
Ian Harper
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With over 10 years experience IMO it takes £25k give or take to run a cc business. Thats £520 a week for 48 week year. Then comes tax, sick pay, holiday pay, pension so really you should be aiming at the very least for £200 a day to give yourself an average wage.
Steve - seems you got a bargain with your tradesmen.
Mark
:o £25K a year to run a carpet cleaning business?
I aim for £200 a day but my overheads for the year are less than £5K!
So to run a van , inc diesel, insurance and tax, advertising, chems, depreciation, pl insurance come to under 5k?
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With over 10 years experience IMO it takes £25k give or take to run a cc business. Thats £520 a week for 48 week year. Then comes tax, sick pay, holiday pay, pension so really you should be aiming at the very least for £200 a day to give yourself an average wage.
Steve - seems you got a bargain with your tradesmen.
Mark
:o £25K a year to run a carpet cleaning business?
I aim for £200 a day but my overheads for the year are less than £5K!
So to run a van , inc diesel, insurance and tax, advertising, chems, depreciation, pl insurance come to under 5k?
Can someone let me know the formula for getting your overheads so low please? ;D ;D Mind you I'd rather have higher ones then the tax bill isn't so bad :)
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The rule of thumb is you need to spend 10% of turnover on marketing to stand still and 20% to grow your business.
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The rule of thumb is you need to spend 10% of turnover on marketing to stand still and 20% to grow your business.
Sorry, my request was "tongue in cheek" ;D as would love to have only £5k outlay per year!
Haven't got time to break it down, but we try to work on 65% of gross income = nett income. therefore 35% is all overheads.(not including what we take from the business) doesn't always stay at these percentages, but not far off :)
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With over 10 years experience IMO it takes £25k give or take to run a cc business. Thats £520 a week for 48 week year. Then comes tax, sick pay, holiday pay, pension so really you should be aiming at the very least for £200 a day to give yourself an average wage.
Steve - seems you got a bargain with your tradesmen.
Mark
:o £25K a year to run a carpet cleaning business?
I aim for £200 a day but my overheads for the year are less than £5K!
So to run a van , inc diesel, insurance and tax, advertising, chems, depreciation, pl insurance come to under 5k?
Yes, well mine does anyway, I can't speak for anybody else's overheads.
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Helen, I wasn't specifically replying to your post. Just highlighting what a business normally should spend on marketing alone. :)