Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Blacky on June 29, 2012, 08:22:09 pm
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I feel a bit embarrassed to be earning a living via the use of a plastic tub. Am I alone in thinking this?
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No, but you'd feel a lot better if it were via ancient shiny truck mount, you may even get some carpets clean too (only joking) ;D ;D
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Pete not as embarassed as the england football(?) team..............................Alan
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Quarter finals...job done for a bunch of useless muppets ;D
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I have cleaned for several Midland club footballers and a bigger load of drunken layabouts I have never come across.
Lounge carpets in multimillion pound homes with wine and ale stains all over- every few months.
If they were to train as well as the average athlete and did not fall out of nightclubs several times a week they would do better than the pathetic display they usually give.
Talk about inflated egos....
I have come across two out of the many I have known that I have the slightest respect for.
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Last year i bumped into an old school friend who i had not seen in over 30 years.
He is a barrister. when i told him i clean carpets he gave me a bit of a funny look.
i must admit i felt a bit embarrassed.
Also i once went to do a job and the customer turned out to be a girl who was in my class at school.
She said to me "why are you doing this ? - you were quite clever at school! "
andrew
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We have had this discussion on here a few times 'Just a cleaner'
I really dont care what people think about me, I am my own boss.
I could've went to university and left with a degree and £50k worth of debt and I still probably be earning what I do now.
Fran
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Andrew I would have told her that it makes me happy mentally and physically and i meet lots of lovely,interesting people like you......................works for me......................Alan
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How can you be embarrassed about a business you created, you enjoy doing and generates wealth for you and your family.
The last labour government decided 'thick' kids should also go to Uni, when they could have gone to tech college or the shop floor where their talents and interest lay. Now, too many people aspire to getting a degree, because anything less is career suicide apparently.
No one grew up thinking one day I want to be a carpet cleaner (unless maybe your dad did it), but lots of people want to be their own boss, create something (a business not a job) and create wealth.
Trouble is there are too many 'reluctant entrepreneurs', people who can't get a job so create one for themselves doing something they don't really enjoy, nor good at - end result unhappiness and borderline poverty.
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I read in the paper yesterday ( yes I can read ;D) that more uni graduates are in menial jobs or unemployed than those in 'proper' jobs. I went to the local 'tech' and did engineering then did an apprenticeship and only came out of it when I got sidetracked into a clothing factory as plant engineer. Great 125 women and 5 men.
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Last year i bumped into an old school friend who i had not seen in over 30 years.
He is a barrister. when i told him i clean carpets he gave me a bit of a funny look.
i must admit i felt a bit embarrassed.
Also i once went to do a job and the customer turned out to be a girl who was in my class at school.
She said to me "why are you doing this ? - you were quite clever at school! "
andrew
How rude of her!!!! I hope you replied accordingly ;)
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For me carpet cleaning has always been about being my own boss.
i look at it as a lifestyle business- i earn decent money but still have plenty of time for hobbies etc.
to me thats what its all about.
i think my barrister friend thought i was on £6 per hour!
andrew
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Helen
i did think of a good reply for her- bit it wasnt until i was driving home from the job!
and she said i was quite clever at school???!
andrew
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Wasn't it Steven seagal in under siege who said ," I'm just the cook" then he went and shot them all!
Shaun
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Uni degrees dont count for that much theses days. lots of boffins without an ounce of common sense.
Was talking with some friends the other day about been self employed and they all said they would struggle to work for some one else now.
You set your own goals and the earning potential is pretty good, especially durring these hard times.
My plastic box on wheels provides me, my wife and daughter with agood standard of living. Plenty of holidays a house in a nice village and on the whole a good life style.
Working is a means to an end and is about to provide me with my season ticket for Lufc in their promotion year.
John
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Worked in Germany for a few years where I got into cleaning, it's a recognised profession there. Qualified cleaners serve a three year apprenticeship with college blocks for theory etc.
You cannot open or start a recognised cleaning business there until you are a Meister (Master Cleaner) which requires two years part time or one year full time study which can only be done after five years experience
It's a respected profession and performing its tasks and functions is considered a professional trade.
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Last year i bumped into an old school friend who i had not seen in over 30 years.
He is a barrister. when i told him i clean carpets he gave me a bit of a funny look.
i must admit i felt a bit embarrassed.
Also i once went to do a job and the customer turned out to be a girl who was in my class at school.
She said to me "why are you doing this ? - you were quite clever at school! "
andrew
my reply.
"yeah i know, i 'was' clever wasn't i, and now look at me running my own business, working part time for a £1000 a week, with lots of time on my hands to do eff all, tut at me for letting myself down" ;D
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I wouldn't say anything. It's only if it bugs you you feel you have to tell them how brainy you are or how much money you make.
In fact because 'you're just a cleaner' if you tell them something about yourself they don't match up to, you can say goodbye to repeats and recommends.
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Wasn't it Steven seagal in under siege who said ," I'm just the cook" then he went and shot them all!
Shaun
Better than that
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110413/quotes?qt=qt0363831 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110413/quotes?qt=qt0363831)
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My mate is a Financial Advicer he sometimes takes me along to freebies when he gets tickets for football matches, we meet his other Financial Advicer friends and they talk a bit of blah blah and all compare watches then out of curiousity they ask me what I do so I just tell them, me and my mate have a little game and start talking about cars they all have Ford Mondeos and Vauxhall Insignias then I come up trumps and spout out with pride "I've got a Fiat Ducato" well actually I don't I tell them what I drive and they all go quiet or mumble.
Life is what YOU make it.
Shaun
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What do you drive, Shaun?
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Fiat Ducato
Shaun
PS X6
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Bit of a marmite car, I quite like em tho (not the Ducato..)
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There is nothing wrong with my Ducato!...that a qualified machanic can't put right ;D
Shaun
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There is nothing wrong with my Ducato!...that a qualified machanic can't put right ;D
Shaun
You mean theres nothing wrong with it that a qualified suicide bomber can't put right!!! and tell the full story, the X6 is the wifes car and she gives you permission to drive it!
;D ;D
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Its even more fun when you have one of these everyone thinks you drive a van with seats in, and I guess they are right.
http://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/caravelle-range/caravelle-business/overview/ (http://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/caravelle-range/caravelle-business/overview/)
Mind you it's the wifes past time to bait Audi drivers in it. It will pass anything other than a petrol station.
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Wynne
thats a good point.
i use to clean the carpets for a wealthy family every year.
the lady was very unfriendly,hard to talk to, no offer of a cup of tea,etc.
once we were standing in the kitchen and to break the embarrasing silence i asked her if she was going on holiday
over the summer.she begrudgindly asked me where i was going.
when i replied the maldives she looked at me in amazement,didnt speak to me for the rest of the day and i never
heard from her ever again!
she probably thought i should only be able to afford or deserved a weekend in pontins.
or that i was charging her too much!
andrew
andrew
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Unconsciously many people buy things to feel important.
Getting the hired help in to clean a carpet can be for that reason. Let them think they are better than you except for carpet cleaning.
But ultimately you decide who you work for, you hold the cards.
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Well I Goggled PS X6 came up with a pink think that looks like a spaceship from star wars
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I love been carpet cleaner it provides somebody like me, who didnt pay enough attention at school the ability to earn my self and family a good life style.
We have already had 2 weeks in antigua and a week in lanzarote this year. No way would i have got a job that would provide those benefits for me.
John
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Missus drives x6 while I paid for it :o
Shaun
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Ian, 'PS' as in an afterthought, not the manufacturer.
Its a BMW, and it still looks a bit like a spaceship.
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I thought he had a BMW but his misus makes so much in the Dry Clean Shop I thought he might be taking on Richard Branson in paid for space flights
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I remember a quote i did about a year ago a wealthy old boy phoned me on a Saturday while i was watching my son play football, he wanted a quote and insisted i come round that afternoon which i did went to his big house measured all the room up gave him a full written quote etc.
The next day "Sunday" morning 9am again watching my son play in a match this time he phoned again to question me about my measurements of his house, " you have measured them wrong" i replied i know i have i always measure them smaller than they are i knew he was implying that i was trying to get one over on him by measuring the rooms bigger by the the tone of his voice, it was a big house over a 1000 just for the bedrooms.
As we went back and forth i decided the last thing i wanted was him breathing over my shoulder complaining while i was cleaning his carpets, so i told him right in the middle of him attempting to ask for a reduction, "well Mr ...... " your obviously not happy with my quote so i suggest you find someone else" his reaction was priceless ;D
The point i am trying to make having been employed as a private investigator for over twenty years on a reasonable wage which was secure week in week out was i hated it, had no family life, was spoken to like poo by my boss.
Running my own business gives me CONTROL over my own destiny never under estimate the importance of that, i am free to take time off when i want, have money in my pocket and i can if i want decide NOT to do something just because i decide i don't want to.
Most high earners answer to the boss and are in high stress environments, my daughters grew up with me out most evenings they are grown up now and i regret i was not at home more, my young son and i spend a lot more time together because i call the shots.
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I think it's stupid to look down on the cleaning profession. If you stay at a hotel the Manager and 'professional staff' get all the respect from the guests, and the cleaners are just seen as little minions.
Nobody seems to sign onto the fact that it doesn't matter how luxurious the room is, if it's dirty then it's a waste of time, so therefore the cleaning staff have pretty much one of the most important jobs, right up there with the chef and management.
I guess you can't account for ignorance. It's funny though because when I was a little kid I always used to go out and watch the bin men collecting our rubbish, seeing the lorry and big the crusher etc was awesome - I would have said, without hesitation, back then that was what I wanted to be when I grew up. A shame really that society kind of makes it un-acceptable, although to be fair I wouldn't change my passion for business for anything.
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I think it's stupid to look down on the cleaning profession. If you stay at a hotel the Manager and 'professional staff' get all the respect from the guests, and the cleaners are just seen as little minions.
Nobody seems to sign onto the fact that it doesn't matter how luxurious the room is, if it's dirty then it's a waste of time, so therefore the cleaning staff have pretty much one of the most important jobs, right up there with the chef and management.
I guess you can't account for ignorance. It's funny though because when I was a little kid I always used to go out and watch the bin men collecting our rubbish, seeing the lorry and big the crusher etc was awesome - I would have said, without hesitation, back then that was what I wanted to be when I grew up. A shame really that society kind of makes it un-acceptable, although to be fair I wouldn't change my passion for business for anything.
Well I think the general consensus is we don't care about what other people think of us as cleaners and their views on us only begin to change by what we do for them and how they value it.
How many times have you made an instant judgement on someone based on what they are wearing, what they look like or their accent only to be suprised how wrong you were.
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Correctomundo !
Went to a running club last week and this guy had all the gear on he looked like a Jane Fonda work out dvd I was there in my non matching colours looking a bit 118 and he was last in the run and sprints by a country mile you'd have thought differnt with his attire.
As the saying goes," never judge a book by its cover "
Shaun
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How many times have you followed a bird down the street and thought that there was a bit of promise. Then you walk a bit faster and when you glance as you pass-- there's some old slag with a fAg in her mouth?
There's no telling at times.
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Well I think the general consensus is we don't care about what other people think of us as cleaners and their views on us only begin to change by what we do for them and how they value it.
How many times have you made an instant judgement on someone based on what they are wearing, what they look like or their accent only to be suprised how wrong you were.
Very true, it's human nature, people always judge everything and are quick to offer their opinion on aspects of other peoples' lives, as you say, it's best just to ignore it and get on with what you're doing.
Aside from that, the problem is 'non-entrepreneurs' seem to judge the mechanics of a business, they don't seem to take into account the overall picture. Whereas a fellow entrepreneur would see that business is about making money and lifestyle options.
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I'm just a stupid cleaner when the cold calls come in.
"you got what? get me to number 1?, oh I'm just the cleaner, call head office. bye.... click
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I'm just a stupid cleaner when the cold calls come in.
"you got what? get me to number 1?, oh I'm just the cleaner, call head office. bye.... click
I'm using that one thank you