Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Anthony Heagney on January 13, 2011, 03:38:35 pm
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Alright guys in need of some advice....
Currently walk out with around £1200 in my current job but wanting to start my own business. Trying to work out how much worse off im going to be if i go full time on my own.....
How do you guys generally pay yourself? Is it an hourly rate or do you take a % of the days takings or would you spilt it into say half and full day wages??
Any help would be much appreciated folks
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You need to do a business plan..Running cost over a month. Van, insurance, advertising, fuel, mortgage all other bills...then you can work out what you need a day to cover everything. People pay themselves different amounts so it up to you what you need or want to earn.
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I wish !!
I don`t get a wage,i just pay everything into my current account,sometime the business get`s a share,sometimes it`s me,mostly it`s everyone else who seems to get my hard earned though >:(
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It's important to make a business plan and work out costs.
The problem is...... you will be p1ssing in the wind.
Business guessing is useful but the reality is you will spend a lot more than you earn initially unless you are connected and have lots of work already lined up. If you don't have a partner working I would say most people end up adding £5-10k of household expenses to the debt in your first year.
Over the year you will get more accurate information on your costs and average reveniew.
The truth is a lot of guys work flat out mainly trying to get work and end up losing more than they make. Some say things only improve after year 2/3 and some say 5 years. But some guys do very well in no time at all so as I say it's all guess work
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Alright guys in need of some advice....
Currently walk out with around £1200 in my current job but wanting to start my own business. Trying to work out how much worse off im going to be if i go full time on my own.....
How do you guys generally pay yourself? Is it an hourly rate or do you take a % of the days takings or would you spilt it into say half and full day wages??
Any help would be much appreciated folks
As a one man band, what you earn after paying your running costs is what you get paid. Minus Tax and NI of course but that's paid quarterly and annually.
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What Paolo said.
After the taxman and weekly consumables i.e. fuel, there's no one else to pay! :)
Takings vary with everyone, plus some weeks you make more some less, takes a while before you an average weekly wage.
What do you do now?
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If you get £1200 a month that's £14400 a year, you work approx 44 weeks but get paid for 52, to work the same amount of days (250) but get paid the same (14400) you need to EARN £1440, let's say that you need £1000 a month to break even with general overheads and then you need to allow for your tax you need to be taking £ 30 k a year (this is a basic assumption) there's a lot of invisible costs also and the fact that you never get a lot of work in the 1st year anyway.
Shaun
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On the other hand , if you earn 1200 a month from a JOB ,then you normally pay to buy and run a car , phone, some clothes, electric at home, some travel, weekends away, etc .
Self employed this can legally be paid to yourself prior to tax being paid.
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http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_money/employment/self-employment_checklist.htm#Income_tax
Look under the benefit to see? Am sure I should be able to claim but to much pride
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True I think it depends on how you want to run some of your life it can have it's benefits but you have to gross more than you think and be prepared to work odd hours Sundays or evenings and answer calls 24/7 aswell as being skint one minute and feeling rich later, if I had to do it again carpet cleaning wouldn't be my No1 choice you can put the same energy into other trades and earn far more.
Shaun
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Think id be along your lines shaun and we can all earna bit extra on some weekend jobs.
It is 24 hour thing and its had to switch off..
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I don’t want to put a dampener on your plans, but I would think twice about coming into an eroding.... was going to say trade but it’s not, so ill say.. way of scraping a living. Carpets sales have been on the decline since 1997 and to rub salt into the wounds, the few domestic carpets that still exist, a lot of people DIY or buy a small unit for themselves.
If you want to make money you need to understand current trends, not just personal, but environment and political.
Many people have stopped smoking recently; this is down to social pressure as well as political pressures. People will always find a substitute for an old habit, hence the reason for us becoming a coffee loving nation.
Coffee is now a hugh industry in the UK, and lot of wired up individuals have tapped into this and are making vast amounts of money.
Environmental pressure has had many people questioning the way they heat their homes and water, with the escalating cost of electric, gas and gas oil. The demand for traditional fuels has increased massively, along with all the old traditional trades associated to this over the last few years, hence the massive demand for wood burning stoves and open fires now.
If you don’t follow trends, expect a long wait for the trend you’ve chosen to come back into fashion.
Cheers
Matt
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First rule of marketing. Find a hungry crowd.
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Clinton
Not hard switch of when the sun is shining and the BIKE comes out ;D ;D
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As someone who started out as a newbie this year I would say don't even think about quitting a full time job to become a carpet cleaner.
I'm getting out already because there is a very big decline in the amount of work coupled with a lot of people like you and me who fancy the idea of carpet cleaning for a living.
There is just not enough to work to go around at the moment and a lot of carpet cleaners are looking to diversify into other things such as oven cleaning to make ends meet.
This is not a good time to start up a carpet cleaning business. Believe me I know because all my carpet cleaning gear is on Ebay as we speak.
P.S. Would you like to buy some carpet cleaning gear? ;D
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I just wish that the letting agencies I work for would start moving some rental stock,got my first quote this arvo,for one that i work for,first since last November !!
There is a lot of used equipment going on the bay at the mo,so i guess a lot of folks are in the same position,i just need to scrape through to March,when it starts picking up again,fingers crossed
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Mark things might pick up for you at the end of the month when people do get payed ???
Getting a few more enquireys here th last few days.
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Thanks for all of the replys guys!
Im 24 and work in the Payroll Dept for the NHS and have done for over 5years now but business has and always will be my main interest. Finding/saving the money to start a business is a different story. I do realise that most markets are currently in decline and you really need to find a unique idea or join a growing market with little or no competition if you want to get rich 'quick'. I was hoping to start a part time cleaning business to help me 'cut my teeth' in business. I do not have any experience but enjoy cleaning and im a stickler (is that even a word???) for attention to detail.
Ive got a 2yr old daughter and my partner is out of work so there is no way id just jump in head first but also ive had many ideas in the past but farted about too much, took too long and then someone else ends up doing it instead!
Went on a bit sorry. Basically researching at the mo but there comes a point when you just have to try and see. If im renting equipment and dont get any work then it doesnt matter, not losing any cash. Going to rent a 'pro carpet cleaner' from HSS this month and see if its any good.
Thanks again guys.
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Anthony
and what would that 'pro carpet cleaner' from HSS you proposing to rent be?????
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Why not start a payroll service
expand into bookeeping etc
You can start part time work every evening
still get paid etc unless you are a victim of the cuts.
With a two year old to support I do not advise carpet cleanin
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I agree with Ian.
This is not the time to be starting a cleaning business of any kind - especially carpet cleaning.
As you are still at the research stage you should quickly discover that work is a bit thin on the ground at the moment and there are a lot of people like you who are considering carpet cleaning as a career.
Even some of the experienced guys who have been going for years are finding things tough right now.
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Work has started coming in now,booked 2 jobs today,and my fax machine is churning stuff out,so it`s looking up here
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Still waiting on a reply from them about the exact specifications of the machine but looks like it is HWE and all its says on website is 1380W power rating, 240V voltage, 18L recovery tank, 45L recovery tank. Quite hard to rent professional equipment and i wouldnt want to buy straight away.
I have noticed the mood around the site rapidly gone down hill recently but i think its the same for most busineses at the mo??
To decent contracts you need a qualification (NHS wont put me through it as its more centered towards private sector) best plays is IPPM but there in England and costs about £1700 for the course and i dont qualify for help >:( ocht well what can you do!
Do not think that you could start off now (part time etc) build up my experience and training and then get myself into a position to expand when the market suits? Things will pick up....eventually. Whos to say that carpet cleaning would be the main part of the business. Other options might look and be more appealing?
Hope work picks up for you guys soon though.
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Hi Guys
January is always a bit tough for newer CC's but once established you can still do pretty well.
I've hit my 'happy with' figure for this week so it's not all doom and gloom.
A few spaces in the diary leave time for websites, other marketing and thinking.
Cheers
Doug
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Anthony, Which country are you based?
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The top and bottom of it is, that most CCs wage is what's left over at the end of the week. It is not possible in this game to start from scratch and say, I'm going to take so much as a wage, because you probably wont even be taking that much at first. Fine if you've got a big lump sum that you can put into your new business to cover your wages for the first year, after all other equipment etc investments. But don't even think the business will be producing enough to run smoothly after that, it takes YEARS.
A quicker way would be to purchase an existing set up from some one who is retiring - you can have mine for £100,000, no problem, and saves you years of hassle. ;)
Dave.
Sorry make that £130,000
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Your only 24, plenty of life left. Keep the job you are doing and consider distance learning like the OU. With your current income, you would get all level 1 courses and courses after that free and gain points towards a degree.
Aim for something worthwhile, whilst you still have the chance, you owe it to your daughter.
Matt
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When putting a business plan together how do you work out your financial projections? Whether it be carpet cleaning, domestic cleaning etc I would find it very hard to work out (even roughly) how much my i would be likely to take in my first year.
How can i pull together a realistic figure?
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When putting a business plan together how do you work out your financial projections? Whether it be carpet cleaning, domestic cleaning etc I would find it very hard to work out (even roughly) how much my i would be likely to take in my first year.
How can i pull together a realistic figure?
It is a guessing game really.