Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: andrew stone on June 21, 2012, 11:49:47 am
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A mate of mine earns 65-70k a year in his job- but he loathes the hours,travel, responsibility etc
Thing is he knows that im often home by three,own boss etc and thinks ive got it made.
now i confess to not be the countrys most successful carpet cleaner- i have never
had a turnover of 70k let alone a net profit of that.
he thinks he could earn this carpet cleaning- to be fair he is good at sales but he has never had a physical job,is not particulary fit and has never dealt with the public before.
i do not have any kids ,mortgage is paid off and my wife also works.so as long as i earn a reasonable income from carpet cleaning i am happy.
my mate has a fairly large mortgage,2 kids and wife who does not work at the moment.
i have told my mate that in the current climate i would not even consider packing in his job to set up a carpet cleaning business - if he was your mate what advice would you give him?
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The same.
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I wouldn't quit with mortgage and kids, no way. Tell him he is mad, even if he is a great salesman it will take an awful lot of time to get to the point where he is now, raking in 70k a year.
Unless hes got at least 100k on his bank account to survive the first 1-2 years and maintain their lifestyle.
A move like that will seriously affect the whole family not just himself, he has to take this into consideration.
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You say he is good at sales but has never dealt with the public before so what kind of sales is he in may i ask .......................Alan
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Alan
he works in shipping sales - business to business sales.
some carryover i suppose - but i reckon dealing with joe public is a lot different.
Andrew
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Thats true Andrew and its mostly Josephine Public in my experience which is a completely different kettle of fish as it usually means you are working in her home which puts a totally different slant on the selling angle.I think your mate would be a fool to try and copy/emulate what you appear to have because his circumstances are completely different....................Alan
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B2C is a lot more customer service type and quick transactions. B2B has more of a relationship development angle to it.
He would know both and the skills he learnt in B2B will most definitely help.
As for selling enough to take home the same income is another story. Even physically its another story.
He shouldn't envy your lifestyle for being at home by 15:00 because he's lost the battle before he's started by thinking like that.
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if hes on such good money and is full time then tell him to buy houses , four to start with , two brand new ones then to repos , do repos up and sell on ,
then with the profits and the same money borrowed to buy the two he just sold he will get three , spin them over and with in two years working right he could dump his job and become a landlord
and he could even use his sell skills buy being friendly with estate agents this way getting to find out about the deals befoure anybody else 8)
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I think he does envy my early finishes- bet he doesnt envy my back though!
andrew
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susan
if you dont mind me asking what kind of money do reasonable houses go for in your part of the country
suitable for renting out?
on a previous post you noted that you have a lot of properties that you rent out.
did you start with one and build up from there or dive straight in?
thanks
andrew
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susan
if you dont mind me asking what kind of money do reasonable houses go for in your part of the country
suitable for renting out?
on a previous post you noted that you have a lot of properties that you rent out.
did you start with one and build up from there or dive straight in?
thanks
andrew
well was diffent for me as i got left two houses both semis and both paid for and built up from there , ive just bought two , two bed houses (semi) ajoined to each other brand new , avarge area got a deal as they were last ones 150k for them both will be renting them out at 450 a month each payment on them will be 300 ish (for them both)
now buying from auckshion you must and i mean must fiind out about the fees as ive seen them as hight as 6k makeing it not so cheap also you must and i mine must go and see the house take a builder mate with you
best place to get them from is the agents if you know them , the agent knows if the seller on the downs and are desprite to sell this is where you come in . you can also go on line and find out what they paid for the houses giveing u inside view on things ;D
also get talking to the houses owner well maybe not you get your wife to tell your wife to talk like shes a bit thick and more instered in the house owns kids then the house this way the silly house owner will let things slip out " oh my hubbys just lost his job" oh my hubbys just died ect ect ect the more you find out the chaeper you go in at sorry it may seem harsh but its the way it is
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ask your mate if he wants to swap your biz for his job!!
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steven
i couldnt sit in an office all day- and i would make a terrible employee!
i hate being told what to do,office politics etc
at least if a customer really gets on my nerves i can tell them to take a jump- does not happen often
but it has happened!
andrew
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Is he a patient man? Selling is one thing but getting the sales enquiry in the first place is another! He may be given the leads to follow up in his present job and then he has to sell specially if they are already clients, starting from new then that is without any customers so he is going to have months without a regular flow of work and cash IMO he needs to be a part time cleaner and build up from there probably get fitter at the same time.
Shaun
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susan
thanks for the info
food for thought!
andrew
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Lots of employed people hanker after being self employed. Trouble is they only see the plus points in their mind and not all the hard graft and desperation it sometimes brings with it.
I remember when I ran my burger van. Must have had 10 people a day say " I would love to have one of these must be great". Hardest bloody work I've ever done and was glad to get rid of it.
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BMV house deals are everywhere in northern England and scotland , so long as you know the local area , long term you will do well, oh, and have 100k in ready cash.
http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=1020569707&msgid=1738703&act=H629&c=390549&destination=https://dl.dropbox.com/u/11913248/Deals%2520for%2520June.xlsx
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john
that is a very good point
he sees me coming home early ,taking the dogs out for a walk over the country park,stopping for a coffee.
he doesnt see me struggling to get out of bed some mornings with my back,chasing people for money,
turning up for scheduled appointments and no one is in,times when work has been slack and ive been very worried,
still wouldnt want to be an employee though!
andrew
andrew
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I don't like my job, but what could I do, oh I know I'll do that carpet cleaning mallarky.
Why not do what you enjoy doing and what you have a natural talent for and work out how to make a living doing that.
If you don't know what it is then that's your next task. People focus on where the easy bucks are and it's never where you're chasing the money - as you have found out.
When you're not happy you spend money to make yourself feel happier and then you need to earn more money.
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A mate of mine earns 65-70k a year in his job- but he loathes the hours,travel, responsibility etc
He needs to get real...65-70k per year HAS to be worked hard for and that is why it is long hours, traveling and responsibility. Just says to me that he is just one of the "want it all with little or no effort" brigade. Yes tell him to quit and come into the outside world, he may then just realise what it is all about ???
Thing is he knows that im often home by three,own boss etc and thinks ive got it made.
now i confess to not be the countrys most successful carpet cleaner- i have never
had a turnover of 70k let alone a net profit of that.
he thinks he could earn this carpet cleaning- to be fair he is good at sales but he has never had a physical job,is not particulary fit and has never dealt with the public before.
i do not have any kids ,mortgage is paid off and my wife also works.so as long as i earn a reasonable income from carpet cleaning i am happy.
my mate has a fairly large mortgage,2 kids and wife who does not work at the moment.
i have told my mate that in the current climate i would not even consider packing in his job to set up a carpet cleaning business - if he was your mate what advice would you give him?
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Tell him to go for it !!
I quit a simlair paying job 2 years ago to go window cleaning.
Never looked back .. same as him just 1 kid though
Takes bottle but if you have confidence and right outlook then its possible.
btw not earning 70k a year cleaning windows but eventually who knows ;)
gotta start somewhere and sooner he does then the sooner he will get to his target !!
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If the guy wants to do it he should do it but be prepared to loose wife , house and kids if it does not work
Would probably be better for his wife to join avon and put his sales skills into building a network.
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Ian H20, from experience it is easier to build a customer base in window cleaning and it is regular monthly/6 weekly cleans etc etc.
Very rarely do you get a monthly carpet cleaning custie (unless they are ocd!)
I'm not saying it can't be done on carpet cleaning, but it will take longer and he would be risking a hell of a lot, just because the "grass is greener" which invariably it won't be :)
If I had to choose a start up scenario, it would be for window cleaning (ease of getting custies)
For more job satisfaction and interest it would be carpet & upholstery cleaning....
But then of course I have the beauty of hindsight ;)
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Helen
Often i get emails from people wanting to start , I tell them not to do it unless they are really sure and our financially non dependent and to add window cleaning . I wish I was not scared of heights when i started and followed my instincts and got a water fed pole before they were the norm
In my area I drive down the road and on average I see window cleaning vans in about 15 minutes so I do wonder if market is saturated
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Helen
Often i get emails from people wanting to start , I tell them not to do it unless they are really sure and our financially non dependent and to add window cleaning .
Which is exactly what we did many many years ago when getting window custies was much much easier. I was still employed elsewhere, we lived off my earnings and didn't have to touch savings for equip etc. We were naive and yes getting carpet custies was hard, so we got into window cleaning aswell.....we must have done something right though as after 18 month hard graft it all started to snowball:)
I wish I was not scared of heights when i started and followed my instincts and got a water fed pole before they were the norm
;D Me too, don't like being 6 inches off the ground ;D It took 5 years for us to go WFP after many near misses from Neil and the staff my nerves couldn't take it anymore, anyway the work at height regs that came in put paid to ladders thankfully :)
In my area I drive down the road and on average I see window cleaning vans in about 15 minutes so I do wonder if market is saturated
It certainly is, I wouldn't want to start up any sort of business at the moment.....certainly not if I had a 60K job, even if I really hated it every day, hopefuly the guy was just having an off day, or if serious then he needs his head tested ;D ;D
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A £70K salary would give a monthly net pay of £3948 .
Running a car say a mondeo at 300/month for HP then 300 for fuel plus 100 for insurance /maintenance
Plus one for the wife paid for 150 / month for insurance /maintenance.
Mobile phones and other bits would add up to 150 a month .
There is a grand a month that the self employed person does not need to make straight away.
Its not really hard to clear 3k a month carpet cleaning if you want the work .
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A £70K salary would give a monthly net pay of £3948 .
Running a car say a mondeo at 300/month for HP then 300 for fuel plus 100 for insurance /maintenance
Plus one for the wife paid for 150 / month for insurance /maintenance.
Mobile phones and other bits would add up to 150 a month .
There is a grand a month that the self employed person does not need to make straight away.
Its not really hard to clear 3k a month carpet cleaning if you want the work .
You are quite right Jason, and it would be easy to put in the "replacement costs" against your list, but it will all balance out in the end. :) Swap mondeo and wifes car for business vehicle etc etc.
But from a total start up where the wife has no income ??? £3948 per month to £0.00 per month is quite drastic ;)
Unless he can wave a magic wand, then his living standards are going to have to drop some for quite a few months, but if that what it takes good luck to anyone starting out. Personally with that existing income per month,I still wouldn't chuck it in at the moment ;D
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I would not either . The lifestyle we have is hard to put a ££ figure on though.
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Helen
my wifes old boss was on £1800 PER DAY basic pay - guess what?
he constantly moaned about the hours,stress , travel,responsibility etc.
cant please some people i think.
oh and his stay at home wife in her 3 million pound house moaned if he had to work at the weekend!
andrew
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I would not either . The lifestyle we have is hard to put a ££ figure on though.
;D ;D
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Helen
my wifes old boss was on £1800 PER DAY basic pay - guess what?
he constantly moaned about the hours,stress , travel,responsibility etc.
cant please some people i think.
oh and his stay at home wife in her 3 million pound house moaned if he had to work at the weekend!
andrew
As I said Grass is greener and all that.
Me I am easily pleased and live a simple and fulfilled life which means a lot more to me than copious amounts of money coming in........ (still have to work hard though :) would be bored if I didn't!)
Marketing letters going out in between typing on here, accounts and admin up to date (makes a change ;D), Neil out all day on carpet cleaning, taking holidays bookings and.......work this evening :(
Would I change it.....not for a million squid....... :)
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It depends on whether you are or he is looking at this from a purely financial perspective.
He certainly will not earn that kind of money for a very long time if ever but if its for a quality of life reasons then its hard to put a monetary value on it.
If you earn well but hate your job the hours the travelling and the people you work with then your health will inevitably suffer as will your productivity, which at some point your bosses will pick up on, you will probably get irratible at home with trivial things and take it out on your love ones who in turn could distance themselves from you.
These are all scenarios I have come across in my life with friends and colleagues in the end it all comes down to a life style choice.
From a personal point of view, I made a decision a long time a go to not take up a position which would have given me a very comfortable life style, but would have involved long periods away from home, long hours, working abroad .I was not prepared to for that and would have missed my children and my wife too much.
As it was I never missed a birthday, a school play ,parents days etc in all of my sons school years I watched every game he ever played in right up to 6th form, the massive joy this brought me when I saw him captain (twice) the county side to a national final and win is beyond measure.,,I also dropped my children off a school nearly every day of their school years.
It goes so fast both are at work now and have their own homes, my business allowed me to do all this and I would not have changed that for the world.
A lot of the people I know in the field I was offered above are divorced,estranged from their children, alcoholics or dead, thats a fact. Of course not all, but plenty tell me they missed out on so much and wished things had been better.
I guess it all comes down to what you want out of life.
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Good post Hilton :)
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WoW, that is exactly what is happening with me, I earn what most people call good money, but I don't have a life.
Kids growing up, and I don't even know which year year they are in school.
It depends on whether you are or he is looking at this from a purely financial perspective.
He certainly will not earn that kind of money for a very long time if ever but if its for a quality of life reasons then its hard to put a monetary value on it.
If you earn well but hate your job the hours the travelling and the people you work with then your health will inevitably suffer as will your productivity, which at some point your bosses will pick up on, you will probably get irratible at home with trivial things and take it out on your love ones who in turn could distance themselves from you.
These are all scenarios I have come across in my life with friends and colleagues in the end it all comes down to a life style choice.
From a personal point of view, I made a decision a long time a go to not take up a position which would have given me a very comfortable life style, but would have involved long periods away from home, long hours, working abroad .I was not prepared to for that and would have missed my children and my wife too much.
As it was I never missed a birthday, a school play ,parents days etc in all of my sons school years I watched every game he ever played in right up to 6th form, the massive joy this brought me when I saw him captain (twice) the county side to a national final and win is beyond measure.,,I also dropped my children off a school nearly every day of their school years.
It goes so fast both are at work now and have their own homes, my business allowed me to do all this and I would not have changed that for the world.
A lot of the people I know in the field I was offered above are divorced,estranged from their children, alcoholics or dead, thats a fact. Of course not all, but plenty tell me they missed out on so much and wished things had been better.
I guess it all comes down to what you want out of life.
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Most people will need 2-3 years of working just as hard as being owned by someone else before they are anywhere near a good living.If the time is critical you would be better off getting another job that's a 9-5.
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i have shown my mate peoples comments in reply to my post.
he has decided to stay put and try to find a relaxing hobby to take his mind off work!
he came out with me on a really busy day,just watched- and didnt think he could hack it after over 20 years sitting at a desk!
andrew
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follow your heart and intuition... everything else is secondary. I think the guy who said that made a few quid and had fun along the way. :)