Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: maxcarpets on October 07, 2008, 08:05:03 pm
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Hi all,
We have noticed a DRAMATIC drop in business over the last 14 days, is it only us or is this pretty general??
Cheers
Justin
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every week is better than the last up here, or down here if your further north.
derek
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I find the beginning of Oct always a little bit slow, people are now thinking 'we'll wait and have it done for Xmas'
mike
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Yes Justin just as you have said screach...
Derek no offence mate but you are a new start every week is going to be better for you!
It seems to have just stopped had a good year though!
Goron
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When I started in this game 15 years ago things were exactly the same. A lot of people down South didn't realise what a wasteland we had up here after Thatcher and her mob closed most of the industry. There were always periods where the phone stopped ringing, sometimes for 2-3 weeks then all hell would break loose and you'd be non stop for weeks than dead again. Most businesses run on cycles and you are very lucky if you have a steady stream of work. This is one reason why sensible pricing is so important. It means you can earn enough to even out the quiet periods and over the year enjoy an adequate return on your efforts.
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no offence taken goron
derek
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Justin
pretty busy at the moment, Sept never good but Oct has started well, I must of trod in something since I got that big one as it getting busier and busier at the moment.
Neil
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Also busy here.
Awaiting numerous answers on submitted quotes including a single 2000 sq/m of commercial carpet.
Numerous quotes on full house carpet cleans to be done this week
and several regular customers who are on the 'Do it when you can fit us in' types.
Compared to this I'd say September was quiet.
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Feeling a bit better now just thought it was me that was slow.Not everyone is as honnest as you Justin.
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When I started in this game 15 years ago things were exactly the same. A lot of people down South didn't realise what a wasteland we had up here after Thatcher and her mob closed most of the industry. There were always periods where the phone stopped ringing, sometimes for 2-3 weeks then all hell would break loose and you'd be non stop for weeks than dead again. Most businesses run on cycles and you are very lucky if you have a steady stream of work. This is one reason why sensible pricing is so important. It means you can earn enough to even out the quiet periods and over the year enjoy an adequate return on your efforts.
Wise words Indeed! there will always be peaks and troughs! they tend to go in 2 weeks cycles, ie. flat out for 2 weeks then slow for a couple. I could not agree more about pricing get that right and a slow week is still good!! ;D
I have just made £598 from 5 jobs this week BUT last week I did £551 from 1 job alone, Its so much easier to do 1 big job than 5 little ones.
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Sometimes I do two big jobs in the morning, but that's because I'm nervous about the economy. ;D
Just watched the news about winners and losers in the 'recession'.
Cobblers are doing a roaring trade because people are repairing instead of buying new. Now when you think how cheap shoes are compared to new carpets I think things are in our favour.
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Got my regulars keeping me busy but am not getting much new buisness ???
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Hi Guys
I had an excellent last week for new work but this is not looking so promising, but hey it's only Tuesday.
I've heard the govermenent has just bought half of RBS, who knows where it all ends.
Cheers
Doug
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I'm going to try to go bust and see if they will offer me any money!
Shaun
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I heard you'd offered to lend them money.
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New enquiries really slowed down for me through September but I find that normally anyway, just a little more exaggerated this year than others. Due to other distractions I'm behind on my marketing to existing customers so I'm missing a few of them at the moment too :-\
New enquiries starting to pick up again the last week or so, but not up to a level I'm happy about. I'm doing more work this week than the same week last year, but I was lying on a beach in 40 degrees of sunshine at that point ;D 8)
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We are very quiet, last week 3 jobs, went 5 days without 1 enquiry.
This week 2 jobs on Mon, 1 yesterday and nothing now until next Mon.
Just taking leaflets out 5 hours a day and getting xmas letters ready to send out to all our customers on November 6th. Looking back in the book last October was just the same, so hopefully things will pick up again soon.
Mark
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Last week I thought I must have forgotten to pay the bill it was so quiet on the phones. I've put it down to just one of those things that once a year or so I will have a quiet week.
Having said that it suited me down to the ground as it was my financial year end so could work uninterrupted on completing my paperwork for submission to the accountant. I'm also organising a "black-tie" dinner for 310 people this Saturday and believe me that takes time. So to some extent I'm relishing the quietness.
I firmly believe that it is the lack of certainty and confidence that is holding us back at present. Once people know what the worst holds then they will come back into the market, be it financial or purchasing carpet cleaning services.
Keep the faith guys and think positive!
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Septemeber was a very good month - best turnover yet!
October is much quieter :(
but used the time to do my 06-07 accounts and got them to the accountant this morning.
Now starting on 07-08 which will bring me up to date (now thats rare).
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The glass is half full :)
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this is the calm before the storm !! come back to this post in months time
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The glass is half full :)
No Jim
Neither is the glass half-empty. We've all just got the wrong sized glass to start with! ;D
Roger
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hi folks im having my best year ever so far but this week has been slow and next week ive not got a single job booked in
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John,
They won't take shillings at the bank anymore but you should be OK as the Government are guaranteeing all of that money in the bank you have got.
Shame about Iceland they are going bust so try and get some frozen stuff before they do!
Shaun
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Am sure there was a post in around march this year on when we all went quiet :(
Least we know its most of us that are quiet period before the run up to xmas and it will pick up for us all :)
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no one ever tells the truth about being busy on this thing and they never have done over the years :P
The post was asking if anyone else slowed down and most say as per normal on this no way busy as ever......yeah rite you cant fool all the people all the time ....
:P :P :P
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??? The posts I've read seem to be mostly people agreeing that it's a little slow at the moment.
Of course there are always one or two who say they're rushed off their feet 24/7, 365 days a year and barely have time to scratch their arse. Maybe they are, maybe they're not, I don't know ::)
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I have been busy all year, this is the quietist the phone has been but today it picked up and Monday was good but it is quieter but I am still busy apart from 1 slot on Friday that won't fill for love nor money, may even do my Mum's lounge carpet as the slot is at dinnertime and you know what that means!
Shaun
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Busiest week of the year by far last week, quiet in comparrison this week.
Dave.
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I've noticed a big difference in the last 10 days, hardly any phonecalls. It was like this last October started to get a bit worried then in November it picked up and was flat out til Christmas.
I definetely think people are thinking 'oh lets wait til nearer christmas'. Although things may pick up with interest rate cuts few pound less on the mortgage??
Barbara
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Just lost one of the few commercial clients I'd kept on..................Singers and Friedlander, I didn't realise they were part of an Icelandic Bank.
Ah, well, it's the only city centre office I had left and the only place I've had parking tickets in recent years.
robert m
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Question for Jim Neal, Mark Powell and Doctor Carpet
What internet presence do you guys have? do you have websites or advertise with yell.com?
I can't compare to you guys who are all well established but just wanted to say as a relativly new business, I do get a good response from the internet, been fully booked this week.
Also I'm sure something else that makes a difference is the radius your willing to cover, I'm personally willing to travel and by appearing "local" to all these more distant areas with your marketing your net will become larger thus increasing your call rate, only 3 of the jobs booked in for this week are within 5 miles of my home.
Paul
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I have a website and also have used advertising with yell.com in the last couple of years.
I have a ServiceMaster franchise, and supposedly the national website ( www.servicemaster.co.uk ) was being pushed a year or two ago but basically I think they hired the Chuckle Brothers to do the SEO, it's nowhere. I get naff all from it, don't know about other SM franchisees.
I threw up a one-page website of my own about 3½ years ago and haven't done diddly squat with it since! It still gets me work, believe it or not. It's got a favicon though!!!!
Up until very recently, I was the only business round here who bothered to list himself on google maps, which did occasionally get me a call or two.... but now I think they've all caught on, so obviously my market share's gone down on that front.
Unlike some other areas, I'm convinced that my target market in my area aren't as switched over to the net as in some other places. I do still get a decent return on my directory ads (YP & Thomson) unlike others who've stopped them because they've become unprofitable.... whether that's because they've been running huge full colour ads or whether they've had no calls from their ads I don't know, but my ads are monochrome and not big and they return many times their value so I'm happy with that.
Yell.com is a bit of a funny one, it is extremely variable. Last June I bought a single 12 month priority listing based on my home postcode, it cost me 180 bucks and returned a respectable percentage. This year they've put it up to £240 but I wanted to place myself in the two other main towns I cover, so I've added on two more additional listings using postcodes of two flooring suppliers I work for, one in each town. The additional listings cost me £85 each so my total spend is £410.
I'm getting a few calls, but the quality isn't great. I'll only review it after 12 months, it's been running only three so I won't pass judgement either way yet.
I do most of my work within a fairly small radius as my franchise licence is territory-based. I live towards the south-east corner of my area though, so some of my jobs are a 20-30 minute drive in morning traffic. The ones furthest away are in the most affluent area though so it does make up for it. Myself and the previous two franchisees have all been based in the same place, literally within 500 yards of each other, so local business is very strong, I do many jobs within literally a 2 minute drive of my house.
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Guys
With respect
what are you doing to protect you and your family if there is a down turn? get creative think of new CHEAP ways to bring in work. what can you do that you don't do now to get a job?
lets not forget that the experts say if its happens it will not last forever. I for one want to come out the other side.
In times like these we need to take on cleaning contacts. business will be looking to save money its your chance to show them some value.
Business what to be more competitive and attractive. having a clean building will help more than a dirty one.
People want value for money. by giving them more than others will get you the job when the phone rings.
Its the law of the jungle.
Respect and good luck
Ian Harper
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I agree with Ian,
every situation creates opportunities, its wether you can see them. Domestic clients need to hear how cleaning thie carpets will SAVE them having to replace them and commercial clients the same thing with a twist on image (work on clean building etc).
Sometimes it takes working in your business rather than waiting for the phone to ring!
Gary
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This is very true I added a slogan along these lines to my advertising and this made a big difference
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Question for Jim Neal, Mark Powell and Doctor Carpet
What internet presence do you guys have? do you have websites or advertise with yell.com?
I can't compare to you guys who are all well established but just wanted to say as a relativly new business, I do get a good response from the internet, been fully booked this week.
Also I'm sure something else that makes a difference is the radius your willing to cover, I'm personally willing to travel and by appearing "local" to all these more distant areas with your marketing your net will become larger thus increasing your call rate, only 3 of the jobs booked in for this week are within 5 miles of my home.
Hi Paul,
I dont have a website, i have had no need for one. however next year i will be jumping in with both feet and spending half of our marketing budget on them.
I have used Yell.com up until July this year, a complete waste of money. I also used 118247 Yells directory service never had 1 call from that neither.
I do use the YP though and will continue to i do get around 30% of all work from this.
We get approx 30% of work from local parish magazines and leaflets, then the rest from repeat custom and referrals. I try to keep all jobs within a 10 mile radius if possible.
Mark
Paul