Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: CARPET KNIGHTS on February 27, 2007, 11:06:01 pm
-
See this....
www.carpetknights.net
It is still undergoing construction but if you read what is there then you will get the gist of what i am doing.
I want volenteers to become Carpet Knights Affiliates. It is free but i will cream off a % from each job initially this will be £10 or 10% whichever is greatest and this will be reviewed on a regular basis so we can gauge what the running costs will be!
All enquiries will come through us and we will distribute them out and also all billing will come from us and we will pass on your earnings to you. This is also attractive for large contracts!
The full terms are to be arranged but the main stipulation is that you use eco friendly cleaning solutions!
Must also have proof of insurance and training (if less than 5 years experience) or Ncca membership. I need a photo of yourselves too for the website and locations covered and contact details!
I believe that we have a good brand image and you can also benifit from it.
Cheers Goron
-
Goron
Not quite shaw what this is.
Is it to do with world of clean or eco site?
And how will you get work across the country/
Paul
-
This is trying to level the playing field between independants and franchises!
Nothing to do with anybody apart from Carpet Knights. Once i have the coverage then i have the leverage to go after the bigger fish. the site is new but am working hard on the design and behind scenes workings to get it ranked high across the country!
It is free so there is nothing to lose and everything to gain!
Cheers Goron
-
Absolutely Ridiculous!
-
why
-
This is basically me building a list of subcontractors and the rate is good in your favour. All enquiries will be taken by us and then passed on to you lot to quote and price at your rates at the end of the job we invoice and upon receiving payment take our 10% and pass the rest to you.
Need the members to register thier areas so that we can proove the coverage.
Simple i think and if only people could see the bigger picture it will work!
Goron
-
Goron
Are you going to do the marketing for people on their patches?
-
Hi Nevil
How are you!
Would not be able to pay for marketing in that sense! but will be actively working on the site to get it ranked well in thier areas. It is free to join but i make no promises of work.
I'm not asking anybody to drop the name of their company or their individuality in any way just when work comes from me it is done as Carpet Knights!
Basically if you're in it then there is the chance of some extra work, If you're not then you're not!
Hope that clears some stuff up
Cheers Goron
-
worth a try nothing to loose where do i sign up or send information to
-
Hmmm now let me think about this.
No risk, no cost except on completion, its a no brainer!
Im in just let me know what you need.
Dene
-
Goron
What are your payment terms for the customer and also payment terms for contractor?
If you should pass a job my way and I service the customer and they are very happy, then 6 months later they get in contact with me would you still expect your 10% cut?
I could see this causing a problem for you in repeat work.
For me I would be happy to sign up as you say nothing to lose and maybe gain an extra few quid.
Rob.
-
what happend to the other guy who was setting this up a while back ? havent heard of him since on here?
-
Hi Guys
Thats great
Domestic payment terms are 7 days and commercial terms are 30 days although some require 60.
Basically you are trusting me to pay you and i am trusting you not to poach the customers, also as all correspondance goes through carpet knights ie. initial contact. billing and follow up then the next time they need it doing they should come to us anyway but that is something that is impossible to police so like i said works on trust. If they ring your business direct for work then that is your work not mine!
So for all you interested you can email me at goron@carpetknights.net
or goron@carpetknights.co.uk
The first thing i need is to know which areas you can cover places and postcodes please and i can then tell you if that area is available
-
Youv'e too much time on your hands.
-
Hi
With the new sub contractor law coming into force you are asking for a hell of a lot of paperwork!
You must declare by the 19th of each month, who has worked for you, you need all their tax details, numbers adresses etc etc.
I feel that this will come under that law as you will be sub contracting the work out to other people.
Good luck, you're going to need it.
Regards
Martin 8)
-
Paul are you talking about Eco carpet care? It is still very much going but it is a different setup in that you pay a yearly subscription for the site and you carry out the work under your own name!
Glynn
No not really just ambitious and i love things like this. What area would you like Glynn?
-
So if the billing is in the name of carpet knights if anything does wrong and a claim arises that would be dealt with by your insurance.
A lot of work, good luck Goran.
Mark
-
no another guy posted on here last couple months saying he was setting up same thing not heard anything since said he had an office an staff etc then nothing
-
Yeah thats the guy im thinking off too i think i rem who it is but don't want to say as it might not be him :).
The last i hard about him he said he was waiting for the systems to be connected up or something but that was ages ago, so what has happened to him?
matt
-
there does seem to be a lot of problems with what Goran is suggesting, but they are all on Gorans part, no ones mentioned a problem that might occur for the company doing the work, so what has anyone got to lose by putting themselves forward.
Mike
-
bin looking for the posts matt but i cant find them was his name jason ?
-
Exactly Mike
The problems that i will have to overcome are what i am charging the 10 % for. Basically nobody has anything to lose! so come on guys lets get this underway.
Cheers Goron
-
Paul yes that was the name i had in my head.
Goron i'm with you 100% mate it would be great its just other people have had the same idea but havent got very far with it so if you can make it work mate then sign me up.
Regards
matt
-
Matt i am not making any promises. You all know what i need and first and foremost i need to know where you cover to make sure the area is available.
Cheers Goron
-
Not having a go or anything it's a good idea but what/how are you going to make this work?
The allergstop network and eco carpet network are in place yet they struggled to get national contracts or is it mainly going to be domestic work you are aiming for?
Are there going to be stipulations on what chemicals you can use or what equipment you must have?
Can we use your logo or are you going to design a network one?
-
Why haven't you offered this idea over on the other forum to all the S. UK lot. they all use the green magic water.
Maybe networks are a sore subject over there?
Maybe this is a big plan to get more to use to the magic waters sold by the dark lord from Corwall and so that if you provide him with some freash blood he will release your sole or give you your money back for the alleg-stop.
Seriuosly does sound like a great idea, however if you are going to do it do it properly and get the members to properly promote it. If you had a link from every carpet cleaner in every town's website to yours you would get right up on the search engines.
-
I'm not asking anybody to drop the name of their company or their individuality in any way just when work comes from me it is done as Carpet Knights!
THATS WHY!
-
Hi Steve
As you know i am in AS and eco network (which as far as i know was directed at domestic) and for me they do bring me in some work, USP etc. What i am doing is allowing affiliate membership for free, this is to get the numbers up as high as i can thus giving it a true national coverage.Also the single point of contact and billing is unique, as you know this is what is attractive about franchises and they do very well from that.
The only stipulation on chemicals is that they need to be eco friendly preferably 1st or 2nd generation microsplitter (but from which ever supplier)
If there is an interest then i will allow my logo to be used in one form or another but that will need some research on my part!
Cheers Goron
-
Prodry it was on the other forums ct and cp but was removed by thier moderator as it was deemed a commercial advert!
Cheers Goron
-
Goron
looking between the lines on this,have sent you an email
-
sounds a good initiative - no risk on my part to give it a go... count me in - emailed you goran...
-
I think you should have asked Mike Boxall first.
It does look like a commercial advert to me but liked the idea of Carpet Cleaner Helping Carpet Cleaner not keen on using this Forum to make money from other cleaners, thats what Ebay is for.
So the Jury is out
Could you Clarrify what products you have to use.
-
Hi Ian not really making money just covering my time.
Chemicals to be used are eco friendly ones. Ie.
1st and 2nd generation microsplitters and i believe chemspec have some too but not 100% certain
Cheers Goron
Ps Jacko haven't received mail
-
Hi Goron,
Just sent you email. I'm interested in extra work as I'm sure most people are on here, busy at the moment but can always fit an extra job in if need be :).
Could be a nice little earner for you and people getting the work!
Wouldn't fancy your job of promoting all areas of the country for carpet cleaning through search engines, its gonna take a lot of time and hard work, not impossible though especially if you share links with companies signed up!
Good luck, I'm in!
All the best,
Jason.
-
It was me that originally posted this idea, my site is under construction, the only way mine differs,is that I will take a deposit from the client to secure the booking, the details will then be passed to the local op. That way a sale is made and we get round sub contractor/employee .
This idea is common in other industries, there are dozens of such services, from plumbers to florists, check out interflora... or www.limobooker.co.uk .
Downside.... so far i have invested £3500 and dont have a working site!
-
Any more news Goron,what is the uptake like?
-
Hi Goran
Nice idea as you know I do some thing similar and my site gets a lot of traffic, although mine is referral only, nothing along the lines that you are planning to undertake.
Good luck with it
-
it just the same as Tevor Woodman does,
no thanks i'll market myself and i'll have the money, i not paying for the privaledge of work being given to me on my patch and you take a slice, checky really.
-
With Craig.
I don't want another site competing with mine.
Na sorry.
-
what i want to know is
if you say get 10 calls aweek in newcastle or any other town/place and you pass work on to you new friend :P
how long will this last until you employ your own staff to do the work yourself putting out of buisness the trader that helped you move in his own town ?
-
Paul
Got a take up of about 25 so far around the country but am waiting on photos and other details before adding to site.
Thanks Woodman
Craig and rabby
You will be competing against the site whether you're part of it or not so surely best to be part of it and gain from it than lose out to it!
1stclean don't really want employees, that is a totally different kettle of fish! Have seen what it is like trying to control staff all under one roof so controlling staff all over the country no thanks!
Cheers Goron
-
Is Fairy non bio considered more eco friendly than Daz or do you have to use the magic water on its own? ;D
-
lol
There no way Ill be working under any other name than Capital Carpet Care.
Like Craig said, we can look after ourselves.
Better to concentrate on the carpet cleaning IMHO.
No offence intended.
-
i'll just stick a site in Turo then. if you want any jobs call me, 25% to you.
-
Goron,
Are you going to narrow the areas down or leave them as shown on your map?
Also are you only having one "CARPET KNIGHT" for each area?
What about the "SQUIRES", "FAIR DAMSELS" and of course "JESTERS"
How are you going to market it?
It looks very similar to what Trevor Woodman is doing, we'll probably end up with a situation like the forums, where everyone is setting up their own national network of cleaners.
Maybe that's the way to go, set up a National Carpet Cleaners Association, lets call it the NCCA........Brilliant, I think I may go for that!!!!!!!!!
-
Maybe that's the way to go, set up a National Carpet Cleaners Association, lets call it the NCCA........Brilliant, I think I may go for that!!!!!!!!!
That will never catch on ;D
-
So any knews Goron hows it?
matt
-
Hi All
The affiliate program is still undergoing its membership growing exercise And is doing very well in that department but until i can prove nationwide coverage that will be continuing after this i will be starting the marketing.
Cheers Goron
-
Goron if you have 25-30 members then you can get national coverage
-
Well no not really, for instance Scotland and south wales are not covered at all. As you know the allerg stop network has around 55 - 60 members but there are still big gaps on the map!
This has to be right first time there is no point in going for big contracts and them saying well can you cover here? NO can you cover there? NO.
It would instantly lose its credibility!
Just as an update for everybody this is what i am doing
www.carpetknights.net
It is still undergoing construction but if you read what is there then you will get the gist of what i am doing.
I want volenteers to become Carpet Knights Affiliates. It is free but i will cream off a % from each job initially this will be £10 or 10% whichever is greatest and this will be reviewed on a regular basis so we can gauge what the running costs will be!
All enquiries will come through us and we will distribute them out and also all billing will come from us and we will pass on your earnings to you. This is also attractive for large contracts!
The full terms are to be arranged but the main stipulation is that you use eco friendly cleaning solutions!
Must also have proof of insurance and training (if less than 5 years experience) or Ncca membership. I need a photo of yourselves too for the website and locations covered and contact details!
I believe that we have a good brand image and you can also benifit from it.
Cheers Goron
-
You've been spending too much time with Nick.
-
Goron
I think you will find that most guys will travel.
If you get a call from an area not covered then just quote a much higher price to cover travel costs ;)
This way you will/ we will be up an going quicker :)
-
Goron
Give us all a quick up date.
How are things going ?
-
Hi Paul
Things are coming along well. I suppose so far i have 50% coverage probably rising to about 70% for big jobs where people will be prepared to travel. Have been looking into different ways of promoting it for instance i am working on yellow pages to get listings in all of the directories, all i need is seperate address and telephone numbers for each one so all members may soon be getting telephone numbers allocated to there areas redirected here! also yell.com pay per click, it is a new scheme solely for national companies which puts you at the top of the top for national searches (still thinking about that one).
Am still working on google and live rankings, this is the slow part but the most important part.
Still got large gaps in Scotland, North West England and South East england.
Cheers Goron
-
Goron,
You have email
Murky
-
Sounds a reasonable idea, but if the invoicing is done through carpets knights, it wont take long before you have earned enough to become VAT registered, so in theory we will have to charge our customers VAt which will push the price up even more, which could lose us more than what we could gain from it, as we wouldn't be able to compete effectively with non vat registered CC's in the area??
I don't beleive you answered a question earlier, about if a claim was to arise, as the booking and billing is done through carpet knights, if a claim was to arise, surely your insurance company would have to deal with it as all the paperwork would be in the name of carpet knights??
Richard
-
The idea of the affiliate scheme is to go after the bigger contracts. Larger companies prefer contractors that are VAT registered anyway so no problem there. As for the insurance thing as basically subcontractors you will be liable for insurance yourselves.
SUBCONTRACTOR shall effect and maintain with a first class insurance company,
policies of insurance adequate to cover its liabilities
Cheers Goron
-
I can cover south wales..what do i need to do?
-
Did this ever take off for those that signed up or die a death?
Not seen much talk about it on here.
tihson
-
I may be missing an opportunity here, but why do I have a bad feeling about this?
-
I missed this too. Goron, dropped you a mail.
Pete
-
I can remeber Doug trying to do something simular, I think we all paid a small fee but don't know what has happened to it, it must be 2-3 years ago.
Shaun
-
Good luck, I think it's going to be like hearding Cats.
-
Hi Shaun
It was not me , Mark Roberts I think, he called it UK Carpet Cleaners , although I do have www.ukcarpetcleaners.com
Cheers
Doug
-
Sorry Doug either way it wasn't a slur.
I can remember it having a big green map of the UK and you clicked on the area you wanted.
Shaun
-
it wasnt mark roberts mite have been that idiot andy roberts tho
-
Hi
It was somebody Roberts. big green map of UK, cant find it now.
£12 for 2 years, now that is cheap marketing!
Dave
PS Return over 2 years eeeerrr........£0
-
Hi all
Thanks for the comments.
The affiliate scheme is still running and there has been a couple of jobs from it but not as much as i would like. The site is a difficult one and preparing a site to give national coverage is proving more difficult than i first though. Trying to get good results on listings across alot of different areas is tricky and so far the things i have tried haven't been too succesful.
I am in the process of reworking the site from ground up to try to refine things a little more.
To those of you who have shown more interest in joining the scheme, thanks very much and we will be contacting you all shortly. Unfortunately myself and the family are taking our annual leave tomorrow for 2 weeks so will not be doing anything to it until after that. The phones are still maned though and any work coming in will be passed to the rightful resipient!
Remember though that no money has ever been asked for to become a Carpet Knights Affiliate and that is the way that it will stay so there should be no hard feelings if it doesn't perform in your areas.
It was Mark Roberts of Devon that set up the other site mentioned which was a directory not an affiliate program like the Carpet Knights one.
Anyway folks i've got a suitcase to pack ;D 8)
Cheers Goron
-
Hi Goron
Have a nice holiday.
To achieve top ranking in lots of areas would be very difficult because you will be competing against the best sites in each one.
The people running those sites only have to concentrate on their area so you will have to make this your last holiday and burn the midnight oil ;)
I tried for a while with UK CC's although I didn't charge and did not get very far.
Cheers
Doug