Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: nicky_spencer on July 10, 2007, 09:54:14 pm
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hi there well im not a carpet cleaner yet, but am making tentative enquiries about maybe starting. I have contacted a couple of suppliers of carpet cleaning machines, and the figures that have been banded around seem a bit too good to be true. I had a call today from a chap from alltec, who told me that 50k in the first year moving onto 100k into the second year are quite easily achievable . I must admit to be a bit scepitical when figures like this are mentioned as obviously the gentleman in question has a vested interest in me purchasing one of his machines. I am just wondering what ball park figures are achievable from people who are already in the trade .
My concern is i have have a young family, a little bit of redundancy money and a lot of hope, but what ever i choose to do feel like i have only one bite of the cherry .
regards nick
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Nick
You may get some replys if you fill in your profile.
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ooops ok aplogies there paul , not called a newbie for nothing :)
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I can guarantee you will earn £50k in your first year, all you need to do is spend £60k on marketing. ;)
how much do you need to earn in year 1 & year 2?
Mike
Ps a simple answer to your question is £12k year 1 & 17k year 2
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i was earning about 18 grand a year so obviously want to be realising that sort of figure asap, but feel with the buffer of what remaining redunancy that i may have could probably eek it out for the first year , question is mike do the earnings get better each year as your reputation grows? i know that you mentioned 12k to 17k from one year to the next but is it right to assume that in the 3rd year i might be pushing 22k ? And in response to my first question the man from alltec was spinning me a yarn of immense proportions ...right ????
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Most cleaners earn under 20 k in the first 2 years. Many only last a year.It depends on how lucky/good you are and how committed you are.
It does depend on you and how you go about it.
If you do a couple of search's on the forum ou will find loads of info about starting up,training etc.The most important and the biggest cost in the early days after you have bought your kit is marketing.
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Nick the man from del-monta was not lying 50k 'gross' could be achievable, but at what cost? (hence my first sentence)
your earnings will grow yearly, by how much depends on how how good at marketing you are, but search out free marketing knowledge, don't buy it
Mike
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There are no "realistic "figures, just as there is no "true" average income.
You will get a return, according to several factors and I'm afraid these factors vary hugely, depending on who you're talking to.
Mainly your marketing ability
How focussed and energic you are
Your physical ability to get through work
How much you are investing
Notice............I have not mentioned, what you charge, or what machine you buy, or chemicals, you intend using, or system of cleaning, you intend using.
How unhelpful is that ?
You could do worse than follow Alltec's advice ! Or Mikes, for that matter.
It's about 12 years since Robert was showing c/c 's how to earn £50k a year and today, it's not too difficult for an energetic, individual to exceed that figure, but, as Mike says, it's the cost of getting the clients, that's important.
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thanks very much lads for your responses really apprieciated, im not a fool well aware of the fact that in this life you get back what you put in, just have them intial fears when it comes to the unknown (like evrybody does) and you have allayed them to a certain extent thanks alot :) just got take a deep breath and .......go for it i suppose
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Alltecs 50 & 100K earnings speech was probably going to lead to joining fast track.
Listen to what people like Mike tell you and you wont go far wrong
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First year made £7000 with 1 add in yellow pages.2nd year about £13000 but thats with spending more on advertising halfway through 3rd year and will be over £20.000+ at the end of the year.£50.000 in your first year cant see it and depends on what part of the country your from.
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Have a read of this thread
http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=33701.0
Remember the figures quoted are Turnover, NOT profit.
regards
Chris
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fast track was mentioned art , is this something to be wary of ?, all i know is and ive seen it with friends its so easy to be sucked in with promises of high earnings and its not a luxury i can afford
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fast track was mentioned art , is this something to be wary of ?, all i know is and ive seen it with friends its so easy to be sucked in with promises of high earnings and its not a luxury i can afford
It's a marketing programme http://www.alltec.co.uk/page/1gfq/Training/Discovery_Days.html
No first hand experience of it myself, but there's very few times on this or any of the rest of the forums where loads of people say how well they've done out of it.
IMO there's enough info on the forums to get you started and it wont cost you anything other than your time, reading through posts and deciding for yourself what to try and how to try it
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Before you dive in and spend thousands on machinery, training and advertising, research your local market, how much competition is there, what prices are they charging, how busy are they?
If there are very few carpet cleaners advertising, their lead times are in excess of 3 weeks and they want to charge you £100 or more for a 3 piece, or £60 for a lounge carpet, then go for it.
However, if yellow pages and your local papers are full of them, doing work for next to nothing, can fit you in tomorrow or in the same week, then the market is probably flooded and you'll struggle to even get started.
£50K in your first year, as a sole trader..........not a hope.
Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity! ;)
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A lot of sense has been said here. The cost of machinery, training and chemicals is the easy part! you should really have enough money in the bank to last the first year, because every penny you take will need to be sank back into advertising.
Cheers!
Make that a VERY deep breath!
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Nick,
CC is a lot harder to get established in than many suppliers would have you believe.
Other things to consider.
Do you like physical work ?
Have you any sales skills ?
Do you have strong family support ?
Cheers
Doug
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Nicky
I sympathise. However if you think cc will get you out of a short term hole then forget it.
If you think you could survive at least 12months with a few hundred pounds living expenses per month with a view to earning £30-£50k in 2-3 years then it's a definate possibility.
I started from broke after I gave up my previous career as sat on my arse till the money ran out. Now on the face of it I'm £12k worse off.
However I'm in a much better place now than I was then, just not on paper.
There is some merit in buying second hand kit, a van and doing it part time. Get some leaflets and you are away. The downside is you still have fixed costs like insurance no matter how much work you do. It's also hard to get any momentum going.
These will keep your startup costs down
insurance HSBC
chems Craftex
kit CIU bought & sold
Leaflets DP Print
Don't skimp on training though
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Kind regards
Mark
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We liked to starve at first if it wasn't for some janitorlial accounts to pay the bills. Our experience was that in the first 3 months can be quite discouraging however towards the end of the first year things pick up. The second is better and the third things for us took off! We were busy and weren't cleaning buidings at night anymore. We started out with a Bane Clene which was good because of their great support and eventually contacts through them. However later I tested out a Prochem Cub XL and that was the end of the Bane Clene Way. As I look back on it now however it wasn't the best decision. We really didn't make anymore money with the Prochem. And of course Prochem doen't provide any support like Bane did. We had customers through Bane for years. Clear up to when I semi retired due to my back. Of course over the years I used many machines partly because I was a distributor for a few years.
You must market but in the end it is word of mouth that builds a buisiness of this nature. Also learn everything you can and apply it to improving your product (Cleaner carpet). Don't ever buy cheap chems. On the other hand don't jump to every new thing that comes around.
I wish you well!
damien71
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What's wrong with your back Damien............I might be able to help
rob
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Nicky, some sensible advice has already been given. This is a good forum despite being slagged off by some people who should know better.
As has been said it is easy to get going in some areas than others due to competition etc.
A lot of people, myself included took anything that came along at the start. If you contact your local estate agents and letting agents you may pick up some carpet cleaning work but also tout for anything else they have to offer, it all pays the bills. I did garden tidies, full house cleans, getting rid of old furniture, minor repairs etc. This can tide you over until you build up your customer base for your carpet cleaning. In fact you can also keep it going quite nicely along side the carpet cleaning as a few on here already do.
But please do one thing, don't charge bargain basement prices. This is the main cause of people becoming disilusioned and struggling.
I'm glad to say all the people I have helped start up over the last year have taken this on board and are thriving.
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Nick.
Here is my pennies worth from a South African perspective. I started by drawing up a business plan. Part of this plan was to phone many CC's to understand pricing (I do this every year at the beginning of the season). I then looked at how many jobs the average CC did per month and took into consideration seasons. One of the ways I did this was information supplied from the US as to the average number of hours people where clocking on their TM's. I took my bench mark as 500hrs (I achieved 475hrs in my first year).
Even by doing this I quickly realised that I was never going to buy my Porche.
As mentioned in a previous thread, I decided to look at all the things that I could do with my TM and branched into hard floor cleaning as well.
I'm not suggesting that you do this, but it is important to not limit yourself just to CC, unless you are happy with a basic income.
My machine clocked 800hrs in the second year and the major income is from hard floor cleaning and natural stone cleaning/stripping and sealing.
I also decided to aim more at commercial (Hotels, Shopping Centers, property managers) and this is usually big ticket items.
In Summary, I really believe that you should plan to start with Carpet Cleaning but brainstorm other things that you could do and then put dates as to when you start.
Hope this helps
Jeremy
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You've seen many good comments and feedback.
Any self employed person needs to be able to sell, to make the person they are talking to believe they can deliver what they require.
If you don't like speaking to strangers, taking knock backs, then think about whether self employment is right for you.
I think everyone would agree that it' hard and there is no silver bullet. f you are prepared for for that, then good luck.
Nigel
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Jeremy is right in what he is saying, start with carpet cleaning and add ad ons. I am not saying this is right for everyone, but in an area like mine it has been alife saver.
I clean ovens as well, and a good example is what happend today, went to measure up a prospective customers carpets for cleaning, while I was doing the survey I mentioned to the customer that I also clean ovens, now not only am I cleaning her carpets I am also doing her oven at the same time. Another £40 in my pocket from my add on service. And hopefully a very happy customer as well who will recommend me to her friends as well.
Good Luck
Duncan
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In the first 2 or 3 years you have to be prepared to realise that your earnings are not going to be that high. You may even make a loss in your first year. You will have to spend a lot of money on marketing initially and keep it going no matter what at least until your repeat business takes off properly which will be in the 3 to 4 year period normally. You have to have patience, it is not going to happen overnight.
Dave.
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I think what Dave has said above this post is that it isnt going to happen over night and you have to be prepared to wait.
Be care full in thinking that the more you put in the more you will get out. I say this as if you put a boat load of money in to say the yellow pages (just as an example) it doesnt mean you will get a boat load out of it.
Same goes wherever you may put your advertising monies into.
What has also been touched on and is quite true is that what is realistic to one person is beyond someone elses fathom. For those who earn and it doesnt matter if its turn over or profit for this conversation around £100 or £200 per day will think it unrealistic to be earning £400 or £500 a day. The same applies in reverse.
What and how I do things are to most totally unrealistc but as above it also is true in reverse in that I dont think what most cleaners do is realistic.
I know what I wanted to do so I just went out and got it so to speak.
I would advise people to do the same.
Just decide what you want from a money point of view and then go find the client that will pay you that amount. Sounds easy but I appreciate that it isnt. But if I can do it then so can most anyone else on here.
Best, Dave
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well nicky this is how it is for me , trading 12 years, ads in three bt books,2 thoms books all qaurter page , 6 local numbers on each ad, 240000 mags a year (20000 a month) sighn written van , ads on web etc my turnover 12000-15000 year, how do i keep going ? my wife has good job ;D, not saying people tell porkies about what they earn but u belive what u want ;) good luck mate
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Paul,
Rather than suggest others are lying about how much they earn why don't you figure out why after 12 years and all that advertising you are still failing?
You are right, you believe what you want, and what you believe is it's easier to slag others off who are making a go of it in a sixth off the time it's taken you to earn employee wages.
Sorry if this seems harsh but it's probably the best thing you could hear.
Mike
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Paul
You need a properly targeted web site , email me doug@1st4carpetcleaning.com.
BT book, Thompsons are not lokely to bring in much !
On the general subject of realistic earnings , while there may be some who exagerate , there are quite a lot who do well, look to see what they are doing.
Cheers
Doug
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Paul
With so much advertising you should be getting a much greater return ! Obviously, it's impossible to judge what you're doing on a computer screen, with no information, but, and this is intended to be constructive.
Are your adverts just...................chuck loads of ads around.....................bound to get a return, or are your adverts offering a service, that sounds like..... best quality / best drying times / best stain removal / simply the best, etc. Does your phone ring all day, every day and is your phone diverted to your mobile when you leave home ?
If you were looking for a carpet cleaner, would you choose your advert, or would you be drawn to others, if so, why ?
You are obviously putting in the effort, but maybe need a change of approach. Another point......are you always prepared to "price match" This can get you volume, but in this industry, you can only, physically, get round so many jobs in a day !!!
I have no advertising and have had none for the past three years and very little over the previous five years, I don't carry cards, my van is clear, but I get more than double your turnover and this is me backing out of the business, currently doing about 1/3 rd of the business I was doing 3-4 years ago.[
Although I have done dozens of sales and marketing courses, I have been lazy and barely imlemented any of the ideas suggestions.
What has worked in my favour, over the past 40 plus years, of working, not just in c/c has been, my obvious empathising with people.................this is just being chatty, polite, pleasant, showing an interest in others................and being very thorough in the work I do!
The result, is referrals, (without asking) but you could and should ask ( provided that you have done an excellent job) and I mean a genuinely excellent job. There are many who regard themselves as being excellent, but miss details, skip corners / hard to reach areas, don't move, easily moved items, etc.
They won't get the repeats and referrals, year after year.
rob
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hi my ads allways say half price/ oap prices/ no vat etc etc, my prices are 30 living room 40 hsl 20 bedrooms 80 3pc with discounts for whole houses etc my biggest volume of work is from the thoms but it was allways local hence y i put in more local numbers to cover more areas of the book. p.s mike not saying they lying some just big it up a bit ;) pps not really bothered anymore just treat it as partime job ;D
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just outer intrest just added up jobs for each month so far this year jan 18 feb 12 march 18 april 16 may 16 june 15 july 13 so far
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Morning again Paul
If you look back over the posts from Susan ( 1st clean ) you will find how she inherited a business from her father, that was trading in high, very high volume, but low prices.
She was encouraged, rather than slagged off, to raise her prices, even slightly. and sh has never looked back, is very happy with her better profitability and has even gone, partly T/M
Susan's experience is a good example of the success that comes from a slight change in thinking.
remember..............if you offer half price, make sure the original is high enough to make it viable !
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Hi
I am coming up to my 4th year is business that is EOT & CC. I only have advertised in YP (not anymore) and direct mail.
Last years books showed a £35,000 Turnover (not sure on profit yet)
I did some painting jobs in that as well.
I am quite pleased with that seeing as I actually started my cleaning business on 4th of september 2003 with £50.
Regards
Martin 8)
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Good for you Martin, sounds like your doing well for yourself.
Better than me. I have just started my 4th year in business myself and last years books showed £18,000 turnover.
I have been slowly progressing each year. The only form of advertising I do other than Yellow pages are putting leaflets out myself, just the odd few hundred probably once or twice a month as well as word of mouth.
I am overall pleased with this steady growth, will admit though feel I could do better if I pushed the marketing side a little harder.
Nigel.
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Hi
Thanks.
But, it is only through diversifying that I can get to that, if I was only CC it would be a lot less.
I have tried leaflets but did not find them productive, maybe if I had 20,000 a week/month put out.
I am at the stage where I feel I may need staff if I am to grow as I am maxing out on my time (summer student season), we'll see?
regards
Martin 8)
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Paul
I wish I had a rich Mrs, all I inherited was 2 teenagers. ;D
Anyway if you are happy with your lot then fine, it's when people blame everything else but themselves for their predicament that gets my goat.
At the momemt I do three things. Leaflet good areas myself 300 ed, use Parish mags in good areas and have several referral systems in place.
I have done door knocking and works well if you have nothing on, but the other week I put leaflets through for a 'free' demo.
This brought in almost instant cash, but I didn't like doing it and was desperate mesures.
I don't do papers, YP etc and I have no website
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Remember, there are suites in every house in the country, which need regular cleaning, but also remember, they are retailing at lower prices today than a couple of years ago.
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i must say when i first started i had 3 times the amount of work i get now and didnt do half as much advertising , and every other job was a 3pc now i do 20 carpet clean jobs for every 1 3pc clean job intresting i wonder y this is ?
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The old pattern of work over the year has gone. When I started in 1985 you could tell which week it was by the work coming in. Not any more, I have as much work in Jan as any other month. All to the good.
The other point is that you must ask where the enquiry came from. Then you can adjust your ads to suit, knocking the ones that have stopped working and pushing the ones that do.
I am now running down as I have had enough and get my pension.
Good luck.
Trevor
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Cheap leather suites at £350.00.
Regards
Murky
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Hi Martin,
I am coming up to my 4th year is business that is EOT & CC. I only have advertised in YP (not anymore) and direct mail.
What does EOT stand for?
matt
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C/C END OF TENANCY
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ah cheers carpet guy. EOT i suppose he means general cleaning cause he put AND c/c
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Hi
I can answer that myself.
Yes I do general cleaning and I am also a carpet cleaner. EOT although it can be sporadic, is a good earner
Monday £200
tuesday £240
Wednesday £205
Thurday£145
Friday £770
There are some carpets within those prices.
Regards
Martin 8)
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I was talking to a window fitter yesterday I was asking him about upvc doors and how easy they were to fit as I was interested in a fitting franchise I had seen, we got on to the tricky bit of earnings and he said that he charges £300 labour for half a day.
Do you price like this? I think the days are gone when you should be pricing to make £150-200 there's nothing left for a rainy day, brakage, sickness or days off!
Shaun
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Hi
I can answer that myself.
Yes I do general cleaning and I am also a carpet cleaner. EOT although it can be sporadic, is a good earner
Monday £200
tuesday £240
Wednesday £205
Thurday£145
Friday £770
There are some carpets within those prices.
Regards
Martin 8)
Martin, was that you working on your own?
Arthur
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Cheers Martin, You must be loaded lol. How do you go about pricing for general cleaning if you don't mind me asking?
regards
matt
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Hi
Thats this week, so I am on Wednesday.
Yes I am on my own and I am in the middle of student season.
Come October it will go very quiet again but at the moment I have having to turn work away, which I don't like doing.
EOT is dirty, hard work, with Student EOT feeling like just a step above trauma cleaning, with what they leave behind. Stains on the carpets as you can imagine are a nightmare.
Problem with all of us of course is that you can end up being owed loads and the bills are still coming in regular, LA's can take a month to pay, whereas regular CC you get paid there & then (usually)
Regards
Martin 8)
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Martin
What did you do on Friday to earn £77O?
Shaun, I did have a qoute from a plumber who wanted £350 a day
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Hi
It's a 5 bed/ 5 bath £1 million pound house.
Full clean & carpets with windows inside & out (courtesy of Ross)
I have a 6 bed, 4 storey £2.45 million, house coming up (once the banks have reposessed, which can take upto 3 months)
Full clean, no carpets with Windows (Ross again) which I have got at £1200.
Once you are established in EOT ( a tough market) it can be a good earner but like anything it can take time.
Regards
Martin 8)
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It has taken 6 years to reach this stage.
Carpet cleaning side £30k
Window cleaning side £60k
Office cleaning side £15k
My advice: Use the smaller earnings side to promote the more specialised carpet cleaning side. the window cleaning is also more regular/guarenteed income.
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Neil, do you have staff or is that what you do on your own?
Arthur
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I do all the carpet cleaning but up until last week I had 2 guys on the window cleaning side (got rid of 1 now!). If it's a buisy day I may take one of the window cleaners off to help me with the prep work.
As it is I am now in the process of franchising the window cleaning side because it is too expensive to have full time staff on the books.
There is 1 girl who does the office cleaning side.